The School of the Arts · visual, musical & performing arts
Drawing, Painting & Illustration
Observation before style: learn to see accurately, draw what is actually there, and paint with intent.
Contour, value, and perspective — the trainable skill of drawing what your eyes actually report.
Syllabus · 4 units · ~24 hours
Unit I — Seeing Before Drawing
Contour and blind contour · Sighting and measuring with a pencil · Negative space as a check on the eye · Proportion and the envelope
Unit II — Value and Form
The value scale in graphite · Light logic: highlight, halftone, core shadow, cast shadow · Rendering spheres, cubes, and cylinders · Edges: hard, soft, lost
Unit III — Space and Depth
One-point perspective · Two-point perspective · Overlap, scale, and atmospheric depth · Ellipses and boxes in space
Unit IV — The Sustained Drawing
Composing the page · A long still life from start to finish · Self-critique with a checklist · Keeping a sketchbook that teaches you
Gesture, skeleton, muscle: the figure drawn from structure outward, not guessed from the outline in.
Syllabus · 5 units · ~36 hours
Unit I — Gesture
The line of action · Thirty-second and two-minute poses · Weight, balance, and the tilt of the hips · Exaggeration in service of truth
Unit II — The Skeleton Beneath
Landmarks you can see through skin · The ribcage and pelvis as masses · The spine's three curves · Measuring in head lengths
Unit III — Muscle and Surface
The major muscle groups by silhouette · How muscles change a contour in motion · Simplifying anatomy into planes
Unit IV — The Hard Parts
Heads and the skull's geometry · Hands: from mitten to structure · Feet and the standing figure
Unit V — The Long Pose
Sustained figure drawing · Value on skin · Critique against the landmarks
Hue, value, and chroma as separate dials, then mixing and harmony that hold up in real paintings.
Syllabus · 4 units · ~20 hours
Unit I — What Color Is
Hue, value, chroma as three separate dials · Why value does most of the work · The color wheel without superstition
Unit II — Mixing
Limited palettes and why they help · Mixing grays on purpose · Temperature: warm against cool
Unit III — Color in Pictures
Harmony schemes and when to break them · Local color versus observed color · Color under different light
Unit IV — Studies
Copying a painter's color choices to learn them · Small landscape studies in four values · A final study defended in one paragraph
Materials, fat over lean, and the block-in: a first oil painting built the durable way.
Syllabus · 4 units · ~30 hours
Unit I — Materials Without Mystery
Pigment, binder, solvent · Grounds and supports · Fat over lean · Brushes and the marks they make
Unit II — The Monochrome Start
Toning the canvas · The wipe-out method · A grisaille still life
Unit III — Working in Color
Block-in and big shapes first · Mixing flesh tones and neutrals · Wet-into-wet versus layered work
Unit IV — Finishing
Edges and focal points · Glazing and scumbling · Varnish, storage, and honest self-critique
Washes, reserved whites, and timing — a medium that rewards planning and forgives almost nothing else.
Syllabus · 3 units · ~18 hours
Unit I — Water First
Paper weights and stretching · Washes: flat, graded, variegated · Controlling water with timing
Unit II — Transparency
Reserving whites · Layering without mud · Granulation and blooms as tools, not accidents
Unit III — Subjects
Skies and simple landscapes · Glass and reflective still life · A loose portrait study
Pictures in service of a story: composition, character, and sequence made for readers, not galleries.
Syllabus · 4 units · ~24 hours
Unit I — What Illustration Does
Image in service of text · The brief and its constraints · Gathering reference without copying
Unit II — Composition for Meaning
Focal hierarchy and eye path · Silhouette and readability · Cropping for drama
Unit III — Character and Sequence
Character shapes that tell before they speak · Expression and body language · Two-image and four-image sequences
Unit IV — The Finished Piece
Thumbnails to final · Ink and digital finishes · Presenting work to a client or editor