“Demonstrating the Craft,” Long Drawing Demo

While most of our in-class demos range from 25 minute drawings to three hour paintings, some of our demos stretch a bit longer.  These type of demos, usually done for long figure/portrait drawing sessions or multiple week painting poses, are generally done by our instructors  as they work alongside our students.  The advantages of these types of demos are clear; they provide the student with the opportunity to study the “finishing touches” and final rendering phases of a drawing or painting, something that can be difficult to get across in a 25 minute demonstration.

This long head drawing demonstration by Watts Atelier Instructor and illustrator Lucas Graciano is a great example of a multi-week demo.  Lucas completed this drawing alongside his students for our “Long Portrait Drawing” class.  Between giving hands-on critiques and trace-overs in class, Lucas tirelessly worked away at this portrait.  Doing so allowed his students to see how he would approach the problems they were encountering.  Being able to actively see how an instructor builds up value, uses directional strokes to indicate form, and designs the shapes and features of the face is instrumental to the the development of the student looking to add another layer of finish to their pieces.

 

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