Testimonial:

I have thoroughly enjoyed Robin's teaching style for her intro level portraiture and figure drawing classes and would highly recommend them to anyone who is looking to take their first life drawing class or further develop their skills.  Robin runs a very structured class that strategically builds from week to week.  She has an incredibly in-depth knowledge of anatomy as well as the ability to make it digestible for her students.  Robin is also sensitive to the fact that many students have different learning styles and will help you to hone in on what works for you.  I came to her classes with previous figure drawing experience and have watched my drawings become more dimensional and lifelike over just 6 weeks.  I am starting to understand the figure and see light and shadow in a more masterful way as well as becoming faster and more proficient with my drawings— *deep sigh of relief*. I am so very grateful to have found such an incredible teacher, and I cannot wait to take more classes from Robin.

— Sharon (student)

Fundamentals of drawing I: Line, shape, tools, and tricks
Dates & Location: TBA
Prerequisites: none

Description: This class—one of my favorite to teach, on account of the quantum leaps in perception I witness—is an introduction to drawing as the foundation of all art-related endeavors, beginning with line as a basic method of exploring the visual world and accurately representing the information we discover. You will acquire essential observational and interpretive skills through projects including contour drawing, construction drawing, linear and atmospheric perspective, and an analytical look at form, structure, volume, and space as they relate to elegant, engaging line/mark quality. We will work with the simplest (and cheapest! J) of materials—graphite and white paper—in order to lay a foundation for the atmospheric possibilities of tonal charcoal drawing in Part II of the course. We’ll prioritize visual thinking (structural understanding of three dimensional space) and the development of true observational skills (differentiating between what we know and what we see).

Fundamentals of drawing II: Light and Shadow
Dates & Location: TBA
Prerequisites: Fundamentals of Drawing I or portfolio review

Description: Building upon the skill set acquired in Part I, this second portion of the course will introduce (or re-introduce!) you to the seductive, beautiful world of light and shadow. You’ll learn about the basics of light logic—those wonderful, reliable behaviors of light and shadow—as well as some of the confounding optical illusions that can make value (light vs dark) decisions tricky. I will show you how to set yourself up for success in spite of these, and how to lean into our psychological and visual tendencies in order to create compelling drawings that don’t simply mimic the objects in front of us, but rather, embody the experience of seeing. This class is highly recommended for those interested in intermediate or advanced drawing (figure, portrait, landscape, etc) and all painting courses.

Special Topics in Intermediate Drawing: Composition, Luminosity, and the Art of Omission
Dates: TBA
Location: Everywhere….in the world!
Prerequisites: Fundamentals of Drawing I & II or portfolio discussion with Robin
Description:
Please click the “Register Now” button to read full descriptions of each topic below as well as detailed info about available study tiers.

Week 1 & 2: Composition: Rhythm and Abstraction
Weeks 3 & 4: Luminosity: Creating a source of illumination
Weeks 5, 6, & 7: The Art of Omission: Navigating landscape in shape and texture (+ Critique)

Atmospheric Charcoal Drawing
Dates & Location: TBA
Please contact ASLD to register.
Prerequisites: some drawing experience recommended

Description: This six week course focuses on strategies for befriending the beautiful and unruly medium of charcoal, equipping students with the understanding, versatility, and finesse needed to achieve beautiful gradations, edges, and chiaroscuro. We will work with a variety of charcoal and explore different tools for both additive and subtractive marks, focusing on the edge quality and value structure that allow one’s drawing not only to convey visual information, but to truly embody the experience and process of seeing.

Figure 1: Short Pose Figure Drawing: Gesture, volume, and elegant line
Dates & Location: TBA
Please contact ASLD to register.
Prerequisites: none

Description: This six week course—the first in our five course Figure Drawing series—is an introduction to drawing the nude figure from life, perfect both for those who have always wanted to explore the figure drawing world, as well as more experienced drawers who are looking for a methodical approach to the human form and proportions. We will emphasize the importance of gesture, energy, and movement throughout our weeks together with additional focus on the skeleton and its helpful landmarks, volumetric thinking, sighting, line quality, and some introductory elements of anatomy.

Figure 1.5: Skeletal Anatomy & Simple Volumes: Primer & Review (Weekend Workshop)
Dates & Location: TBA
Prerequisites: none, but some figure drawing experience recommended.

Description: This fast-paced weekend workshop is intended as a primer for those who are interested in the upcoming Muscular Anatomy class: it will act as an introduction to the material for those who are new to it, or a review for those who have taken Short Pose Figure Drawing (Figure 1), but would like to refresh their skills before plunging into muscular anatomy. We’ll spend the first day on gesture, skeletal anatomy, and bony landmarks with lots of time for practice both from photos and two different live models. The second day will cover simple volumes (thinking through the geometry and directionality of each major part of the body) and “big shapes”: sighting and using a more objective, right-brained shape-language to make sense of tricky poses. You’ll be prepared to plunge right into muscular anatomy the following Tuesday!

ONLINE Class: Figure 2: Muscular Anatomy Boot Camp
Dates & Location: TBA

Prerequisites: Short Pose (Figure 1) or Primer Workshop (above) or portfolio review

Description: You build physical muscles in real bootcamp….but we’ll be flexing our mental muscles to tackle artistic anatomy in this bootcamp! This intensive six week course is a continuation of the practices covered in Short Pose Figure Drawing with an strong focus on muscular anatomy. If you’ve always wondered how to make sense of—and then creatively translate and design—the immense variety of body types and muscular structure artists encounter, this course is for you! Emphasis will be on memorizing major muscle groups as simplified forms in order to gain immense interpretive and expressive freedom. We will focus on a major area each week, progressing through the torso, neck & head, legs & pelvis, arms & shoulders, ending with an overview of hands and feet. This course is one of the quickest tracks to accuracy and informed design choices in your figure drawing, and provides a jumping off point for advanced practices in Figure Drawing 3 – 5.

Figure 3: Elegant line and Introduction to value
Dates & Location: TBA
Prerequisites: Figure 1 and/or Figure 2 or portfolio review

Description: This course builds on the knowledge gained in Figure Drawing 1-2 as we touch on elegant line work and take a deep dive into the world of light and shadow. We will draw on your knowledge of anatomy to learn how to creatively interpret and design the cascade of light across the human form and build the illusion of three dimensionality with careful attention to shadow transitions and edges. We will also touch on the tricky nature of lighter midtones, and talk about how to use optical illusions to your advantage.

Figure 4: Long pose figure drawing
Dates & Location: TBA
Prerequisites: Figure Drawing 1-3 or portfolio review

Description: After reviewing all we’ve learned about shorter poses and gesture in Figure Drawing 1-3, we will explore some alternative approaches well-suited to longer poses. You’ll learn a precise measuring technique that will eventually allow you to be as accurate as you wish in any drawing! We will work through building a strong foundation or “block-in,” quickly mapping light and shadow, and moving forward into finished, fully-developed drawings with poses ranging from 40 minutes to three hours.

Figure 5: Advanced long pose rendering
Dates & Location: TBA
Prerequisites: Figure Drawing 1-4 or portfolio review

Description: This is a class about finessing your figure drawing skills, and it may be repeated as many times as you wish as your skill progresses. Now that you’ve acquired a versatile tool kit in Figure Drawing 1-4, you will put it to use in a relaxed atmosphere with ongoing personally-tailored instruction, feedback, and peer critiques. Poses will range from 40 minutes to 5 hours.

Intro to Portrait Drawing: Proportion, form, and simplified features
Dates & Location: TBA
Prerequisites: none

Description: This six week course—the first in our five course Portrait Drawing series—is an introduction to drawing portraits from life (and photos), perfect both for those who have always wanted to try their hand at capturing a likeness, as well as more experienced drawers who are seeking a methodical approach to the human head and proportions, or who need a bit of review after some time away from charcoal and paper. We will focus on the basics in this class, with emphasis on conceptualizing the planes of the head and face as simplified forms and memorizing your own version of these “artistic abstractions.” Once equipped with strong recall for proportions, we will progress through an introduction to basic light and shadow and facial features.

Portrait 2: Light and shadow
Dates & Location: TBA
Prerequisites: some previous portrait drawing experience

Description: This workshop portrait class offers an extended focus on building three dimensional form with light and shadow and careful attention to bone structure. We will draw on toned paper and cover some of the trickier aspects of reflected light, highlights and drop-offs, edges and transitions. We will take a look at each of the facial features as a simple three dimensional form with its own aspects of light and shadow, and touch on the elusive topic of drawing hair. The first evening will involve a review of (or introduction to) the parts of light and shadow, the difference between form and cast shadows, and specific techniques for “turning” form and soft/hard edges (no model). Saturday we will draw from two different models with poses ranging from 20-40 minutes. Sunday we will discuss some best practices for photographing people and take well-lit, high quality reference photos for self portraits (or you can swap with another student and draw each other), which we will then spend the remainder of the day working with—each student will have a finished portrait drawing to take home! 

Portrait 3: Facial features
Prerequisites: Portrait Drawing 1-2 or portfolio review

Description: This course is continuation of the practices introduced in Intro to Portrait and Portrait Drawing 2, with an extended focus on facial features. We will learn, practice, and memorize the nuanced characteristics of eyes (brow, sockets, orbital, lids), noses (planes and nostrils), mouths (the “muzzle” and lip anatomy), ears, and hair. The goal is to build a flexible vocabulary and artistic short-hand for each of these features so that interpretation of individual characteristics becomes easier. This course involves longer, focused pose sessions and will equip you for more advanced drawing in Portrait Drawing 4 & 5.

Portrait 4: Long pose portrait
Dates & Location: TBA
Prerequisites: Portrait Drawing 1-3 or portfolio review

Description: This course is continuation of the practices introduced in Intro to Portrait and Portrait Drawing 1-3 with an emphasis on a strong, speedy, and methodical “block-in” that provides the foundation for a fully developed and rendered portrait. We will focus more attention on catching a likeness of the model, and discuss how to select (or eliminate) details for best effect. We will work on both white and toned paper with poses ranging from 20 minutes to 2 hours.

Portrait 5: Advanced long pose portrait rendering
Dates & Location: TBA
Prerequisites: Portrait Drawing 1-4 or portfolio review

Description: This is a class about finessing your portrait drawing skills, and it may be repeated as many times as you wish as your skill progresses. Now that you’ve acquired a versatile tool kit in Portrait Drawing 1-4, you will put it to use in a relaxed atmosphere with ongoing personally-tailored instruction, feedback, and peer critiques. While you work on a fully developed portrait drawing at home, in class we will focus on fun, rewarding details like skin types/ages, lively eyes, and glossy hair. Poses will range from 40 minutes to 5 hours.

Testimonial:

This art class has been what I have always been looking for (I really do mean it)! Robin has such an amazing understanding of the human body, and weaves in the technical aspects that you need to understand both the logic and the drama that make a drawing come to life.

— Melinda (student)

Robin has the uncanny ability to coax out the budding extent of your artistic ability all the while shaping—in tantalizing glimpses—the artist you can become.

— Bill