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Adult Programs | Adult Classes | Drawing

Summer Session B Starts August 2!



And coming soon ...

Fall Programs Start September 13


Fall Registration Opens August 2!

Online Registration: Enroll online any time of day for Gage classes, workshops, lectures and studios with your Visa, Mastercard or American Express card.

IMPORTANT: If you wish to take advantage of any discounts or are a scholarship or an atelier student, you must call the Gage registrar at 206.323.4243 to enroll in programs. See our Frequently Asked Questions for more information.


Drawing, one of the core disciplines upon which a classical art education rests, serves as a foundation for the training of artists. Fortunately, drawing is teachable like learning to play music or to speak a foreign language. All the early moderns — Matisse, Picasso, Mondrian — studied classical drawing before engaging in painting and before developing their innovative artistic careers. At Gage, we recommend our students to master drawing before commencing painting studies, and we also offer advanced classes and workshops that use drawing as a tool for personal exploration and invention.

     BEGINNING  |  INTERMEDIATE  |  ADVANCED
 

BEGINNING DRAWING CLASSES



D1052 | BEGINNING FIGURE DRAWING
8/3-8/31, Tuesday, 1:30pm-4:30pm
SUMMER SESSION B
 
 
Gain technical mastery and intuitive understanding of the human form. Working from quick gesture drawings up to longer, more considered poses and drawings, you learn to incorporate proportion and anatomy, the use of light and shade in the depiction of volume and the use of line and tone to describe planar changes in the body.

BEGINNING
 
 

D1053 | PORTRAIT DRAWING: FACIAL TYPES
8/4-9/1, Wednesday, 9:30am-12:30pm
SUMMER SESSION B
 
 
Acquire a more comprehensive approach to drawing facial features as you tackle issues such as seeing the whole of the face in relation to individual features, gaining a better resemblance of the model, capturing the character of facial types and using exaggeration to capture expression. As you work from the model, learn to build convincing form through shading and methods for building tone with graphite.

ALL LEVELS
 
 

D1054 | SKETCHBOOK IN THE CITY
8/4-9/1, Wednesday, 1:30pm-4:30pm
SUMMER SESSION B
 
 
Bring your studio outside into Seattle city parks as you study form and mark-making with materials such as conté crayon and drawing ink. Meet in a different park each class — with every location offering a research library of different subjects in a variety of environments. Explore variety of line, form in space, texture, value and composition while drawing animals at Woodland Park Zoo, plants in Volunteer Park Conservatory, trees in the Arboretum and more.

ALL LEVELS
 
 

D1055 | BEGINNING FIGURE DRAWING
8/4-9/1, Wednesday, 6:30pm-9:30pm
SUMMER SESSION B
 
 
Teaching artist change: Michael Lane will now lead this class.

Gain technical mastery and intuitive understanding of the human form. Working from quick gesture drawings up to longer, more considered poses and drawings, you learn to incorporate proportion and anatomy, the use of light and shade in the depiction of volume and the use of line and tone to describe planar changes in the body.

BEGINNING
 
 

D1056 | BEGINNING FIGURE DRAWING: LIGHT & SHADE
8/5-9/2, Thursday, 9:30am-12:30pm
SUMMER SESSION B
 
 
Capture the drama and dynamism of the human form by learning to render the large masses of light and shade in a simple and clear manner. Focus on rendering the planes and forms of the figure in a traditional tonal drawing method, as you create your drawings on a large scale — special drawing boards are provided.

BEGINNING
 
 

D1057 | DRAWING PORTRAITS OF TREES
8/5-9/2, Thursday, 1:30pm-4:30pm
SUMMER SESSION B
 
 
Learn to accurately render a variety of tree forms and translate the delight of the arbor into drawings, as Brooker introduces you to a step-by-step approach for working en plein air. While outside in the scenic Washington Park Arboretum, you learn the basic skills of rendering volumes in space and interpreting light and shadow through various drawing media. Your goal is to gain an understanding of the dynamic structure of trees, accurately depict a variety of tree forms, draw foliage through texture and see the landscape in perspective.

ALL LEVELS
 
 

D1059 | BEGINNING FIGURE DRAWING
8/7-9/4, Saturday, 10:00am-1:00pm
SUMMER SESSION B
 
 
Gain technical mastery and intuitive understanding of the human form. Working from quick gesture drawings up to longer, more considered poses and drawings, you learn to incorporate proportion and anatomy, the use of light and shade in the depiction of volume and the use of line and tone to describe planar changes in the body.

BEGINNING
 
 

D1060 | FOUNDATION DRAWING I
9/14-11/18, Tues: 9:30am-12:30pm & Thurs: 9:00am-Noon
 
 
Master the practical and theoretical aspects of drawing from observation through rendering the still life and the figure in black and white media and learning to draw the face and head from models. Development of visual problem-solving skills is stressed through concentration on accurate drawing, tonal value, perspective, composition and spatial arrangement. Furchgott devotes 10 sessions to still life and 10 to the model, while Davidson will focus all 20 sessions on still lifes. This course is the first in a series, which continues with Foundation Drawing II (winter), Aesthetics of Drawing (spring) and Figure Drawing in Interiors (spring).

This class fulfills a Foundation Drawing Program requirement. Learn more about the Foundation Drawing and Painting and the Modernism Programs.

BEGINNING
 
 

D1061 | PERSPECTIVE DRAWING
9/14-11/16, Tuesday, 1:30pm-4:30pm
 
 
Explore methods for creating pictorial space using perspective. Drawing from the imagination, memory and observation, learn to use aerial as well as one-, two- and three-point perspective to develop strong compositions. Drawing, discussions and critiques are part of each session. Some drawing experience is recommended but not required.

This class fulfills a Foundation Drawing Program requirement. Learn more about the Foundation Drawing, Painting and Modernism Programs.

ALL LEVELS
 
 

D1062 | NEW! MASTERWORKS ON PAPER:
REMBRANDT, RUBENS, GOYA
9/14-11/16, Tuesday, 1:30pm-4:30pm
 
 
Rembrandt, Rubens and Goya are very different from each other, but they share one wonderful thing: they all made drawings that sing with clarity, intensity and an ability to speak to people, even us, all these years later. In this class you study these drawings and the men who made them. Work in pen and ink, ink wash and chalk, and copy some of their works as well as develop your own drawings, learning from what they did, and why they did it. Learn to put real humanity into your drawings, harness the power of mark-making on paper and depict your ideas in a way unique to drawing.

This class fulfills a Modernism Program requirement. Learn more about the Foundation Drawing, Painting and Modernism Programs.

ALL LEVELS
 
 

D1063 | FOUNDATION FIGURE DRAWING I
9/14-11/18, Tues/Thurs, 1:30pm-4:30pm
 
 
Working in a variety of drawing media, you build a foundation of skills and methods for creating accurate, emotive renderings of the human figure. You learn concrete techniques for conveying form, contour, structure and volume. Anatomy and proportion are stressed throughout, while class discussions and critiques add context and breadth to your new skills.

This class fulfills a Foundation Drawing Program requirement. Learn more about the Foundation Drawing, Painting and Modernism Programs.

BEGINNING
 
 

D1064 | FOUNDATION DRAWING I
9/14-11/18, Tues/Thurs, 6:30pm-9:30pm
 
 
Master the practical and theoretical aspects of drawing from observation through rendering the still life and the figure in black and white media and learning to draw the face and head from models. Development of visual problem-solving skills is stressed through concentration on accurate drawing, tonal value, perspective, composition and spatial arrangement. Furchgott devotes 10 sessions to still life and 10 to the model, while Davidson will focus all 20 sessions on still lifes. This course is the first in a series, which continues with Foundation Drawing II (winter), Aesthetics of Drawing (spring) and Figure Drawing in Interiors (spring).

This class fulfills a Foundation Drawing Program requirement. Learn more about the Foundation Drawing, Painting and Modernism Programs.

BEGINNING
 
 

D1065 | BEGINNING FIGURE DRAWING
9/14-11/16, Tuesday, 6:30pm-9:30pm
 
 
Gain technical mastery and intuitive understanding of the human form. Beginning with quick gesture drawings and building up to longer, more considered poses and drawings, you learn to incorporate proportion and anatomy, the use of light and shade in the depiction of volume and the use of line and tone to describe planar changes in the body.

BEGINNING
 
 

D1066 | DRAWING FOR BEGINNERS
9/15-11/17, Wednesday, 9:30am-12:30pm
 
 
In this introductory fundamentals class, drawing exercises expose you to key concepts and artistic principles to accurately render line, shape, proportion and negative space while working from the still life and the human figure. You explore various drawing media, including charcoal and graphite, as you progress from simple lines toward a nuanced understanding of tonal description.

BEGINNING
 
 

D1067 | DRAWING FROM NATURE
9/15-11/17, Wednesday, 1:00pm-4:00pm
 
 
Discover the beauty of the plant world while exploring the drawing experience from the minutely detailed to the wildly expressive through a structural and aesthetic lens. Learn to apply the basic building blocks of drawing — line, texture, shape, tone and composition — as you draw from direct observation of botanical life using pencil, charcoal, pen and ink and more.

ALL LEVELS
 
 

D1068 | PEN AND INK I
9/16-11/18, Thursday, 1:30pm-4:30pm
 
 

In this class you work with a variety of pens and inks, including pens you construct yourself from bamboo and forsythia. You learn hatching, stipple, line, brushwork and even unusual techniques like eyelashing, as you work from actual still-life set ups and copying from such masters as Rembrandt, Dürer and van Gogh. Emphasis is placed on developing direct pen-and-ink drawing skills with no preliminary pencil under drawing.

Intermediate and advanced students are welcome and are offered more advanced projects on which to work.



ALL LEVELS
 
 

D1069 | BEGINNING FIGURE DRAWING
9/17-11/19, Friday, 9:30am-12:30pm
 
 
Gain technical mastery and intuitive understanding of the human form. Beginning with quick gesture drawings and building up to longer, more considered poses and drawings, you learn to incorporate proportion and anatomy, the use of light and shade in the depiction of volume and the use of line and tone to describe planar changes in the body.

BEGINNING
 
 

D1070 | LINE DRAWING
9/17-11/19, Friday, 9:30am-12:30pm
 
 
Drawing, like so many other skills, is a matter of being able to think of several things at once. This class breaks down the process of drawing into its constituent parts so you learn how to develop and refine a drawing, see and draw the shapes of forms and planes, capture light and shade and express pattern, movement and rhythm — all in the language of line. You work from a variety of subjects and explore different media.

ALL LEVELS
 
 

D1071 | BEGINNING PORTRAIT DRAWING
9/17-11/19, Friday, 1:30pm-4:30pm
 
 
Working from portrait models and self-portraits, study the essential techniques and concepts of proportion, line, value, volume, structure and composition. Focus on the basic concepts of drawing applied to the human form and learn to think visually, translating what you see into a compelling portrait using simple techniques.

This class fulfills a Foundation Drawing Program requirement. Learn more about the Foundation Drawing, Painting and Modernism Programs.

BEGINNING
 
 

D1072 | RENAISSANCE DRAWING TECHNIQUES
9/18-11/20, Saturday, 10:00am-1:00pm
 
 
Study the beauty and clarity of Renaissance form as you practice drawing in four Renaissance drawing media — silverpoint, pen and ink, brush and chalk. You copy selected old master drawings to approximate a modern version of period aesthetics, looking at why and how these early masters rendered form to create such brilliant effects.

ALL LEVELS
 
 

D1073 | DRAWING FOR BEGINNERS
9/19-11/21, Sunday, 2:00pm-5:00pm
 
 
In this introductory fundamentals class, exercises expose you to key concepts and artistic principles to accurately render line, shape, proportion and negative space while working from the still life. You explore various drawing media, including charcoal and graphite and ink, as you progress from simple lines toward a nuanced understanding of tonal description. Homework required.


BEGINNING
 
 


INTERMEDIATE DRAWING CLASSES



D1051 | EXPRESSIVE FIGURE DRAWING
8/3-8/31, Tuesday, 6:30pm-9:30pm
SUMMER SESSION B
 
 
Each week, Fugate leads you through exercises exploring a specific art element while drawing from the figure. You begin each class making gesture drawings, progressing to longer poses and investigating the formal issues of drawing, including line, contour, volume, mass and space, as you work life-size with charcoal on 24 x 36” paper.

INTERMEDIATE
 
 

D1074 | ABSTRACT DRAWING
9/13-11/15, Monday, 1:30pm-4:30pm
 
 
How do artists create convincing abstract forms? Explore methods for developing a new personal vocabulary of form and shape in this workshop. Working from small life subjects, you take known objects on a journey of transformation to discover their potential as abstract elements. Use drawing materials and collage to create unique forms and place them in compositions.

INTERMEDIATE
 
 

D1075 | ARTISTIC ANATOMY: BONES AND MUSCULATURE
9/13-11/17, Mon/Wed, 1:30pm-4:30pm
 
 
Acquire a fundamental background for developing your skills in figure drawing and figure sculpture. Buckner provides an enlightening and detailed illustration and discussion of structures of the human skeleton and musculature with attention to scale, cross section and action. Review, interpret and draw each set of structures under consideration in a variety of models.

INTERMEDIATE
 
 

D1076 | FIGURE GESTURE DRAWING:
CHARCOAL & MIXED MEDIA
9/15-11/17, Wednesday, 1:30pm-4:30pm
 
 
Delve deep into the meaning of gesture drawing, exploring movement while drawing quickly with precision and sensitivity. Expand your mark-making vocabulary, strengthen your ability to instantly visualize form and learn to fully participate in the act of drawing. Based on basic principles you make a multitude of drawings on 24" x 36" paper. Begin in charcoal, and add colored inks and soft pastel as the class progresses.

INTERMEDIATE
 
 

D1077 | EXPRESSIVE FIGURE DRAWING I
9/15-11/17, Wednesday 6:30pm-9:30pm
 
 
Learn to trust your intuition and make meaningful dynamic figure drawings with an expressive approach. Each session begins with gesture drawing followed by an extended pose to broaden and refine your understanding of specific drawing issues. Sharpen your observational skills, instill a deeper connection to your art making and improve your figure drawing accuracy as you draw large scale with charcoal.

INTERMEDIATE
 
 

D1078 | NEW! COMPUTER TABLET DRAWING
9/16-11/18, Thursday, 6:30pm-9:30pm
 
 
Life drawing with a computer tablet offers you a new medium to explore different ways to express the human figure. After becoming familiar with the tablet and painting software, you are free to focus your concentration on drawing and painting. A limited number of WACOM tablets are available for rental for $50/quarter.

INTERMEDIATE
 
 

D1079 | INTERMEDIATE FIGURE DRAWING
9/16-11/18, Thursday, 6:30pm-9:30pm
 
 
Create credible figures from observation as you draw from the model, starting with short gesture poses and working your way up to longer poses. You study anatomy, proportion, volume and form, and solutions to common figure-drawing challenges such as foreshortening, facial expression and placing the figure in an environment. Class time includes lectures, demonstrations and group critiques.

INTERMEDIATE
 
 

D1080 | NEW! 5-WEEK ALL-DAY FIGURE & PORTRAIT DRAWING
10/23-11/20, Saturday, 9:30am-4:30pm
 
 
Using the drawing medium of your choice (charcoal or pencil), refine your shape and value skills while working from the model. Achieve more accurate shapes, increase your understanding of the surface anatomy of the figure and head, and study the way light falls on three-dimensional forms. Morning demonstrations and work focuses on the figure, while the afternoons are devoted to the portrait.

INTERMEDIATE
 
 

D1081 | STILL-LIFE DRAWING
9/18-11/20, Saturday, 2:00pm-5:00pm
 
 
Still life is a wonderfully subtle genre of art, full of forms balanced in space, sometimes meaningfully symbolic, sometimes plain and straightforward. In this class you develop your skills in drawing light and shadow on form, composition, depth and meaning in still life. As you learn to render various shapes, textures and patterns you learn to draw the space they occupy, the air around them and the light and shadow that enfold them. You also work on both simple and complex compositional structures, creating the illusion of depth in various ways, and controlling the level of meaning and interpretation.

INTERMEDIATE
 
 


ADVANCED DRAWING CLASSES



D1058 | ADVANCED FIGURE DRAWING
8/5-9/2, Thursday, 6:30pm-9:30pm
SUMMER SESSION B
 
 
Teaching artist change: Michael Lane will now lead this class.

You apply techniques learned in beginning figure drawing to develop your work into more sophisticated renderings as you focus on a single pose for the whole class. You may explore alternative materials as you learn how to prepare, start, manage and resolve a figure drawing of lengthy duration. Lane guides you as you work toward accomplishing the goals you set with his help at the beginning of the session.

ADVANCED
 
 

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