Year One: Fundamentals in Drawing
In the first year of study at the Glasgow Academy of Fine Art, students will learn the foundations of drawing in the academic method, setting them up for future success in oil painting.
Course Schedule:
DAYTIME LESSONS:
Monday - Friday, 10 am - 5 pm
EVENING LESSONS:
Monday, Wednesday & Thursday, 6 pm - 8 pm
In the tradition of the great academies of the 19th century, students begin their academic journey with a rigorous focus on drawing.
As drawing is the foundation of representational techniques, this first year forms the bedrock of the rest of the programme. Students commence their first year with a series of two-dimensional master copies. Working their way through the famous Bargue Lithograph Course, students learn the method of the school in a series of exercises which grow from simple to increasingly complex.
Simultaneously, students will be working on figure drawings from the live model, honing their skills of interpreting the 3-dimensional world on a 2-dimensional surface. The figure drawings progress from a series of shorter poses, in which students focus on mastering the block-in, to more extended poses (2-5 weeks), in which students will have the opportunity to complete highly finished, full-value drawings.
Step-by-step figure drawing in graphite by academic director, Sarah Margaret Gibson
Student, Fiona Longley, working on her Bargue copy
Key Concepts for the First Year:
How to break down three-dimensional objects into two-dimensional abstract shapes
How to express forms in perspective through line
How to accurately measure proportion through both sight-size and comparative measure techniques
Expressing balance, weight and gesture in a pose
Line drawing vs. mass drawing techniques
Basics of artistic anatomy
Basics of perspective
VALUES:
-The light and shadow families
-Grouping values and arranging
within a finite scale
-Light over form vs. form over light
techniques
