We used charcoal and chalk this week to draw natural forms and used a viewfinder to help enlarge the small objects to fill a sheet of A3 paper.  Both charcoal and chalk take some getting used to, so well done to everyone for having a go, I was really pleased with the work you did.  Back to good old pencil work next week and we’ll be drawing from photographs.  I have plenty of photos for everyone but if you’d like to bring in your own then please do (it needs to be about A5 size).  See you all next week!

Well it was a tricky one this week – drawing white objects on a white background without using any black.  Not an easy task but you all experimented really well with colour and found out what colours to mix to create the shadows you needed.  Then you looked at the tints reflected onto white by other bright objects.  You did some fantastic drawings and I just wish we’d had more time to spend on them.  Find out next week what we’ll be doing with the textured surface we prepared.

So this week we moved onto manmade forms which are generally a bit trickier than natural forms but you rose to the challenge and did not disappoint me.  We practised our proportion and shading and not forgetting those ellipses!  Thank you to everyone who brought in their own objects to draw.  It helped to make a more interesting composition.  Remember it’s charcoal next week!  So wear something you don’t mind getting messy.

Last night we looked at natural forms and different ways of mixing colours.  Well done for trying out all the different techniques.  As the course progresses you’ll learn which ones work best for you.  You all created some really vibrant drawings last night and you can see your individual styles emerging.  See you next week and don’t forget to bring in a white object to draw!

Thanks to everyone for coming yesterday, it was nice to finally meet you all and put names to faces. You all created some lovely drawings of natural forms and well done on tackling those pesky shells!  Don’t forget to bring your manmade object to draw next week.

Thanks to everyone for coming last night and getting stuck in with the pastels.  You all produced some beautiful drawings based on Impressionist paintings.  Be very proud of the work you did and I’ll look forward to seeing what you can do next week.

It’s not too late!  If you’ve been thinking about it for a while but though you may have missed your chance then now is the time to act.  Contact the course tutor Wendy Atton to book a place on either of the 2 courses we have starting this week.

Click here to email Wendy.

Click here to view the Beginners Drawing Course and Beginners Pastel Drawing Course details.

Look forward to hearing from you.

New Year is the time for trying something new!  So why not try one of the new courses on offer with Leeds Art Group?  All materials are provided and the courses are designed for beginners, so don’t worry if you’ve never done any drawing before.  All you need is to turn up with some enthusiasm!

For further information about the Beginners Drawing Course or the Beginners Pastel Drawing Course please click here to see our “Courses For 2014” page