Atelier figure Drawing with Edith Dormandy returning 17 - 23 february 2025

 

​

We are excited to announce another Masterclass with our resident tutor and professional artist Edith Dormandy. Earlier in the year, she taught portrait and figure drawing for sell-out short courses.

​

Atelier Figure Drawing with Edith Dormandy (one-week intensive course) Learn classical life drawing with us in the charming surroundings of Hackney City Farm!

 

The format briefly:

We will be drawing a nude model in charcoal and chalk
using a classical technique. This class is for everyone from complete beginners (and yes, we mean complete beginners, and yes you CAN draw even if you think you can’t!) to advanced artists. 18 hours, 1 drawing. The time flies!

 

Drawing from the nude figure has a long and fascinating history and is a great way to learn the fundamentals of drawing from observation. Join us and spend an intensive week of 3 evenings and a weekend connecting and learning! All students will be following the same process, but the teaching style is individualised with guidance catered to each student, so everyone can work at different paces and levels.
 
By ‘Atelier Drawing’ we mean a traditional technique and style of representational (as opposed to abstract) drawing, which produces a high level of realism. This is a great method to learn, whether you want to draw figures or anything else, because the skills are transferable across all subjects. It is useful in itself and as a foundational skill for representational painting or sculpture, or for more abstracted work. We will work on a single pose from life for the entire week so you will have the chance to push your work to a high level of finish. This may seem like a long time, but don’t worry – there’s lots to do! And you will be guided every step of the way. All materials are included.
Each student will leave the class with:
​

• a completed figure drawing in charcoal and chalk.

• an understanding of composition

• posing a model for an effective image

• basic anatomy

• use of charcoal and chalk

• comparative measurement

• blocking in (how to start a drawing)

• shape recognition

• edge (soft and hard transitions and the effect of each)

• value (light, shadow and how to tell the difference)

• texture

• expression

• finishing techniques

• a reading list for recommended further study

• ​The studio is wheelchair accessible.​

Here is a student testimony from Karen who has taken courses several times now:
“I have found this very specific approach to life drawing very challenging but
enormously rewarding. Spending an extended period of time over one pose has given me the opportunity to focus on an accurate representation of the body whilst developing a range of techniques. The individual tutoring given to each student throughout the course has enabled me to move at my own pace and to determine my own learning goals which I have found invaluable. I believe that it is the quality of the tutoring that has enabled me to make huge progress over the weeks and I look forward to taking this further forward. Whilst maintaining a friendly and relaxed atmosphere the classes generate an intensity that is truly motivating and inspiring. For anyone seeking to take their own life drawing skills forward I highly recommend this course.”

About Edith Dormandy:
Edith is a contemporary painter with a classical training. She graduated with an MA in Painting from the Royal College of Art in 2024 where she was supported by the Vice Chancellor's Achievement Award and where she won the Colart Materials Prize. She has been working as a painter and teacher for several years, teaching at Hackney Fine Arts since 2020. She studied a Classical Western drawing and painting technique at The London Atelier of Representational Art from 2016-2020, supported by the ARC First Place Scholarship. Before that she gained a first-class Art History BA at UCL in 2016, achieving a place on the Dean's list for overall high marks. She has exhibited widely and has work in collections around the world. She loves teaching and feels that classical technique, although by no means something every artist wants or needs, is a great way to learn more about seeing, materials, and the way an artist and their subject interact. See more of her work on Instagram @edithdormandy or her website www.edithdormandy.co.uk

​

​