The Fundamental Structure of the Human Head – The Key to Expressive Likeness – 4 Week Course

Class dates: Saturday, November 9, 16, 23 & 30; 2019.

Times: 9:30am – 12:30pm

This class is now full and will be run again in 2020. To be put on the waiting list please contact us via email. 

Materials Supplied :  Graphite, 2B/ 4B/6B Pencil, Plastic Ruler, Plastic Rubber, Heavy Cartridge Paper and Mixed Media Card

This incremental 4-week workshop is suitable for both beginners and more experienced artists. The basic tenet is that strategies for drawing should not be preoccupied with photographic reality, but rather with understanding core elements of all drawing. These involve learning how to see size, scale, shape, and spatial relationships as all equally necessary for representing any kind of formal idea. Learning how to draw accurately and eloquently through selecting, organizing and simplifying is a necessary precursor to moving on to more expressive ideas. The purpose of this particular workshop is to develop an understanding of the connectedness between structure and expressive interpretation of the human visage. The course will consider and provide strategies for the following perceptual and technical issues:

Thrust and axis of forms
Working from the general to the particular
Underlying bony structure of the head
Seeing flat
Planar approach/shape to plane
Height to width ratios and reconsidering any previous decisions.
Observation the generality of the direction /angle of a contour
The vital importance of negative shapes
Use of cross-referencing for questioning previous decisions and for discovering new and deeper levels of seeing, i.e. how verticals, horizontals, vectors of analysis, obliques, centre of gravity line, angles of axis or thrust as well as contour can be brought into play.
Drawing through – i.e. as if the subject were transparent
Phrasing of curves
Tonal considerations
Consciousness of the whole form always, i.e. always relating the various parts to each other

About your Tutor:

Kay Kane is a highly respected artist with 50 + years of art practice to her name and 45 years’ experience as a teacher in visual art – drawing and painting. She was employed at the Queensland College of art, Griffith University teaching drawing for nearly 20 years, 10 years at the prestigious Arts Academy, balmoral Queensland, as well as having conducted many workshops around Australia. She has been invited to and given papers at several conferences internationally on art, and on drawing in particular.  Her 12 years tertiary education includes a Dipolma of Fine Art, a BA in Fine Art Painting, (Both from Central St Martins Art College, London) as well as a PHD, Doctor of Visual Art, Queensland College of Art, Brisbane. She was honoured to be elected as a Fellow of The Royal Queensland Art Society and her work is held in many collections both Public and Private in Australia and internationally. To see more of Dr. Kay Kanes work visit her website.