Depicting the human face has been a subject of fascination for centuries.

Even with the development of photography, hand-drawn portraiture continues to be a relevant and expressive form of art. This course is meant to encourage your curiosity and help you better understand how to create expressive portraits that showcase the individuality of the subject.

The goal of this 6 week course is to make approaching portraiture less daunting by approaching portraiture with a systematic method that will encourage students to tackle any obstacles. Students will create drawings in graphite from live models in both short and long pose formats. By simplifying the face to its most essential components, students will be able to create a solid foundation with accurate proportions in mind.

Graphite proves to be an excellent medium for learning as it does not require many expensive resources and is safe and convenient to use with little mess. It is also much easier to erase and make corrections compared to other mediums like ink or color pencil. By working monochromatic students will be able to focus on the principles of light and shadow to create the illusion of form.

At the end of the course students will be able to more confidently render the face with a clear set of tools and objectives in mind.