In The Figure in Space, students will cover the foundational principals of figure drawing while incorporating elements of composition and narrative.

Students will work with a naturalistic approach and cover the important areas of proportion, measuring angles, tonal studies and the use of light and shadow. Students will be encouraged to experiment with materials and the instructor will introduce surface preparation techniques including shellac and graphite to tone paper.

Together, instructor and students will work together on simple sketches, practicing these skills and investigating the use of photography as reference. Each student will then have the ability to develop more realized drawings and benefit from peer review.

Supplies and Materials- Class #4001:

• Graphite pencils: 6B-4H (Recommended Faber Castell, Staedler)

• Paper for experimenting: Whichever you prefer but I can recommend Canson Edition, Arches Watercolor, Stonehenge, Fabriano

• Generals White Chalk Pencil

• Utility Knife or razorblade to sharpen pencils

• Sand paper blocks (fine grain) for sharpening pencils and white chalk

• Kneaded eraser

• Mono Zero eraser round, 2.3 mm

If interested in shellac method for coating paper:

• Shellac flakes

• Graphite powder

• Denatured alcohol

• Wide, flat bristle brush 

• Jar with lid

Heather V McLeod received a BFA from Rhode Island School of Design in 2016 and her MFA from The New York Academy of Art in 2021. In 2017, she was awarded a Fulbright Study/Research Award in Perugia, Italy where she lived and worked for a year. She is a recent recipient of the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant and The Leslie T. and Francis Posey Scholarship. She has been featured in a number of exhibitions in the U.S. and abroad and has been the recipient of a number of art related awards, including most recently AXA Art Prize Finalist. She is currently based in Manhattan and her work explores identity and the psychology by which we perceive others.