Through the history of figurative art there is a strong tradition of artists who have combined accomplishment in draughtsmanship with an expressive approach to the subject and the materials which they use. Artists like Egon Schiele, Rembrandt, Kathe Kollwitz, Rodin, Eugene Carriere, Lucien Freud, and others.

There are many different ways of approaching drawing the figure; these approaches influence things like how we start a drawing, our use of measuring, our choice of materials, when we think about things like shading, what order we do things in, what we consider important and when. I believe these different ways are intimately tied to the way we think about our subject and ultimately to the kind of communication we make in our artworks. A drawing by Giacometti is certainly not expressing the same thing as a drawing by Ingres, though the subject may be the same.

By "expressive" I mean an approach which is sensitive to the subject and also reflects the individual making the image and their relationship to the materials used.

In this workshop I will explain approaches which allow for expressive, yet disciplined draughtsmanship. These methods are simple, logical and effective. These do not constitute a "style" but a series of principles which I believe can be developed in a number of ways by the individual artist. I will put these in the context of the other methods which are commonly used.

It is my experience that no matter what particular aspect of figure art I am teaching (figure painting, portrait, anatomy etc) the majority of problems that people have are in the drawing. If we can get on top of this then everything else becomes liberated.

Over 3 days we will be focusing on monochrome work - using charcoal, pencils, pastels etc, Subjects I will look at are ways to begin a drawing; composition; mistakes; measuring; tone; mark making; edges; gesture; contour.

If you are interested and have any queries please drop me a line at mail@alanmcgowan.com
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