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Essential Drawing Skills
with Nafisa
Mosman - Wednesdays - 8 Weeks - Starting 20 Oct
Baulkham Hills - Fridays - 5 Weeks - Starting 17 Sep
7pm to 9.30pm
Why Learn How to Draw
There is something incredibly pleasurable about drawing. Drawing was one of the first forms of commjunications. Being able to reproduce a likeness of a building, landscape, animal, person or whatever takes your interest can provide a sense of achievement. It is a foundation skill for all other forms of visual art.
In a world full of stress and pressure drawing can also be a wonderfully sim ple way of achieving meditative relaxation with nothing more than paper, pencils and eraser.
Drawing helps you to see the world through the "eye of an artist". By this we mean you see things as they really are - not just as your brain "interprets" them. You can develop a perspective on things that is often lost on people who have not learnt how to draw. If you're still not convinced see the article 8 Good Reasons to Learn How to Draw.
Anyone Can Learn to Draw
Everyone leant the basics of how to draw as a child. The problem for most people is that developing those skills and becoming proficient at drawing is not intuitive.
The good news is that anyone can experience the pleasure o f being able to draw proficiently and with ease. Like most things, drawing is just about combining a number of simple skills into a more complex task.
All you need is someone to give you instruction on each of the basic techniques that have been used by artist for centuries.
What You Will Learn in this Course
In this course you will be given in depth tuition in the science and practice of drawing. Topics covered include;
- getting started - how to set up your subject and easel and why it matters
- measurement and ratios - tips on how to use these to create an accurate drawing
- lines - the importance of boundaries and positive and negative shapes
- tones and shades - how to judge and apply tones to give your drawing depth
- qualities of light and shade and the rules of how to draw reflective and non reflective objects
- techniques for foreshortening
Your skills will be developed using a variety of subjects.
Tutor for this course is award winning artist Nafisa. Winner ofthe Archibald Packers Prize in 2010 and theFloerence Biennale in 2007
About NafisaNafisa has exhibited extensively overseas and in Australia and her most recent awards have included the Packers Prize for the Archibald 2010, the Black Swan prize for portraiture 2008, after having won the Gold Medal for Painting a t the Florence Biennale from a field of 800 artists from 60 nations in Dec 2007. She has been represented as a finalist in every major art prize including the Dobell Prize for Drawing, the Blake Prize, The Kedumba Drawing Award, the Portia Geach Portait Award, amongst others.
Since beginning her art career 11 years ago, she has won over 50 awards and commendations and has been in over 100 selected group shows. Nafisa founded the national association of professional portrait artists (Portrait Artists Australia) in 2002. Having graduated with a Masters of Fine Art from the National Art School in Sydney 2008, she sees her work paying tribute to the old masters and yet is concerned with researching and exploring new forms of expression in painting. She has strong ties to several medical based charities and also gives her time to working with wildlife conservation as artist on location. She founded Animal Works (www.animalworks.com.au) with zoologist/author Dr Tammie Matson and film producer/veterinary surgeon Dr Stephen Van Mil which highlights wildlife conservation issues concerned with habitat destruction.
Nafisa was awarded the FIRST PRIZE (GOLD MEDAL) for painting in the FLORENCE BIENNALE 2007, with the work 'Regeneration'.
Born in Mumbai, India, educated in Hong Kong and Sydney, Nafisa's interest in the human condition is reflected strongly in her figurative works and portraits. She came first in 3 Unit Art for the Higher School Certificate and spent time studying medicine at the University of NSW, Fine Arts at Sydney University before turning to operating a successful fashion business for many years. In 1999 she applied for, and won, the Arthur Boyd Scholarship to the Julian Ashton Art School and since then has had work in almost 100 group shows with over 50 awards and commendations to her credit. She has completed her Master of Fine Art degree at the National Art School, Sydney.
Nafisa's strength in portraiture is reflected in her work being represented in numerous portrait awards including the Portia Geach Memorial Award (2001, 2004, 2005), the Shirley Hannan Portrait Award (2000,-02, -03, -05), and was asked to judge in 2004 and again in 2006. Being one of 15 finalists in the 2002 American Society of Portrait Artists annual portrait prize at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York with the portrait of Salvatore Zofrea, and awarded a Certificate of Merit, Nafisa's presence on the international stage continued as her portrait of Dr Karl Kruzselnicki was hung in Washington as one of the finalists in the Cromwell's Art Prize 2004. Her 2003 Archibald entry, 'A Woman of Substance'-portrait of entertainer Maria Venuti AM, was chosen for the Archibald Salon des Refuses. Together with numerous local portrait prizes, she won the Willoughby Art Prize with a drawing of Salvatore Zofrea (2002) and the Mosman Art Prize 'People's Choice' (2003).
Nafisa was chosen as one of the Australian artists to be represented in the prestigious Florence Biennale 2005 and was awarded a Bronze Medallion for her installation of portraits of family and friends titled"101 Australians". In December 2007, Nafisa won the 1st Prize for painting in the Florence Biennale with the mural size work titled 'Regeneration- Beauty After the Burn'. She was also a finalist in Australia's most important drawing award, the $20,000 acquisitive Dobell Prize at the Art Gallery of NSW in 2005 and in the Blake Prize for Religious Art in 2006 and again in 2007.
Her work is also held in many local and international private and corporate collections including the RADF 1st Commando Regiment, Country Energy BDA , Royal and Sun Alliance, Kelda Group UK, Aussie Home Loans, Hills Grammar Collection, Charles Sturt University, Sydney University, Bega Valley Regional Gallery, Mosman Council and Burwood Press amongst others.
Materials
B,2B,4B and 6B General's charcoal pencils(General's because they have strong charcoal and soft wood, easy to sharpen and dont break as often)
General's kneadable eraser
Sandpaper "paddle"
Retractable knife (type which can be snapped off the blunt part of blade, not scalpel knife type)
6B or 8B progresso (lead)
A2 Pad of recycled paper and a pad of 110gsm cartridge paper
