For the past year, the GCA has been offering a free after school class to ten students from two middle schools in Harlem. The course is taught once a week by Carla Crawford and is an introduction to classical drawing techniques for kids who’ve had no formal training. Students began by learning how to block-in from Bargue plates. Working from these, they’ve acquired the basic skills of drawing shapes, lines, tilts, and comparative measuring. You can see the progress of one 13-year old student here:

Students have also been introduced to the idea of form. They’ve completed a munsell-type value chart and still lifes of eggs—which was a challenge, but great for learning all about the effect of light on an object, form shadows, cast shadows, and reflected light. Using this knowledge students are beginning to complete the modeling on their bargue block ins. We’re so excited about this class and the students who are taking it.

example of work in progress by a 14 year old student