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Drawing Classes
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Has anyone taken drawing, painting or art classes to improve their photography?
Could you share your experience?
Where?
When?
Why?
Cost?
How many classes?
Good value?
How is it helping?
Would you do it again?
If we want to take a course, what should we be looking for?As mentioned in another thread, I am currently taking a drawing class. I’ve never drawn before, but felt it would be a good way to experience another artistic strain, and potentially have some knock-on benefits for my photography.
The course I am doing is the ‘Drawing and Painting’ course offered by Rathmines College, which is quite close to me. The course itself is offered each Autumn, and is 25 weeks long. I am taking the beginners level, but an intermediate level is also offered.
The course costs €250 for the 6 months, with materials supplied initially, and the student then bringing their own. Costs are not too high in this regard, and paper is always supplied, so you only have to buy some pencils, etc.
Class size is about 20, or a little less than that, with classes being two hours long, starting at 7 and finishing at 9 each week.
I must say I am enjoying it, although given the time to complete a full drawing, the classes each week only give you a taste, and you really need to work on your drawing outside the weekly classes to see a piece through to completion, at least thus far.
The biggest benefits I find, are in the areas of seeing and composition, where focussing on different methods to draw accurately, really wakens your mind to the different aspects in an image, such as texture, negative space, etc. This has even encouraged me to look at composition in a new way, and am enjoying reading ‘Photography – The Art of Composition’ by Bert Krages, which in turn is similar in nature to the classic drawing manual ‘Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain’, in focussing on utilising our non-analytical facilities also to perceive and express ourselves in images.
With learning materials on composition in photography mainly influenced by design, and the use of rules/ grids/ means/ etc, it is refreshing to see how composition is approached in drawing and the other arts, where the emphasis is more on acquiring the ability to ‘see’ the image. It’s hard to explain, but design-based composition is often more analytical in nature, where composition in the arts tends to be a little more organic, and less structured, instead focussing on the students ability to perceive instead, before beginning to structure the image with our analytical faculties.
In all, I am very much enjoying the class, and find sometimes my photography helps with my drawing, and sometimes my drawing teaches me things that will help in my photography. We are due to move on to some painting next, and am interested in how things develop, once classes restart for the new year.
I would recommend a drawing class to anyone feeling so inclined. Although each of the arts is different from each other, there are enough common grounds, that what you learn in one field will often aid you in another.
There is not much that has been taught thus far, in the area of technique, that cannot be found in any good drawing manual, but then I have found the level of instruction, and the environment of the class quite beneficial. It helps also to have a good teacher, and I feel I lucked out in this regard, with our instructor being someone who is always in the background to offer gentle advice, but never dictating and forcefully guiding what the student is creating.
In all, I would take the class again, and depending on how the 2nd term goes, may very well consider the intermediate class for next year.
Hope this is helpful, should you be considering taking a drawing class yourself.
Damien,
thanx a bunch for the depth of your reply. I hope others will speak up.
You have pushed along the road toward taking a class
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No worries, Ted.
Drawing is a great skill to develop, and dovetails in nicely with some of my other interests, such as design, architecture and of course photography.
Besides, at the cost of two beers a week, I figured that was a cost I could absorb :)
It seems like that inexpensive course will inprove your work by more than any piece of kit.
I see a beginners 10 week course and another for 25 weeks. Which are you taking and why?
It’s not a bad way to tackle things. Many of the photography courses on offer can be quite expensive. I normally miss the enrollment deadlines for these things, so was glad I didn’t this time.
I’m doing the 25 week course, by the way. It incorporates both drawing and painting, and is lengthy enough to provide some real depth.
thanx
The 50e course looks quick and dirty. Maybe I’ll do it this winter and return next fall for the longer course you are taking.
Now if I just had a helicopter to get me up to Rathmines without braving the city traffic. :)
Lol, check out nightcourses.com, you may find something close to you. Rathmines is handy for me, otherwise I would have looked at other options :)
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