A Structural Approach to Head Drawing with Brian Knox

Join instructor Brian Knox for a 3-day exploration of head drawing.
This workshop will focus on breaking the head down into its most basic forms and then use a logical approach to combine and build on top of them to create the human head.

Topics include

Basic shapes and markmaking
Structure of the head
Brow/Eye socket construction
Facial features -Lighting, shadow mapping, and edges
Difference between looking up or down at the head vs. tilting the head forward or backward (if time permits)

Schedule

Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 10.00 to 17:00
Lunch break from 13:00 to 14:00

Program

Each session will start with an instructor demonstration followed by individualized instruction as students work on their own drawings. Both photo reference and models will be utilized.

Day 1

Session 1: Meet and greet, basic shapes, markmaking, big shape of the head
Session 2: Head construction basics (front, ¾, profile)

Day 2

Session 1: Facial features (eyes, nose)
Session 2: Facial features (mouth, ears)

Day 3

Session 1: Bringing it all together (head drawing)
Session 2: Shadow mapping (lighting, shape, edge)

Materials

Instructor demonstrations will be done with Wolff’s Carbon 6B charcoal pencil and a kneaded eraser on smooth newsprint A2 (18x24"). Students are welcome to use either charcoal or graphite with their preferred paper. Note: Rough newsprint is not recommended.

Atelier note: See our materials list to find options where to buy smooth newsprint and Wolff's Carbon pencils.