Figure Drawing 1

The Best Way to Learn

I have taken this course twice. Both times have been two of the biggest leaps in quality for my artwork. The way Glenn teaches drawing is unmatched, and though this course is called Figure 1, it has forever changed my approach to drawing any subject. I cannot thank Glenn enough for all that he has taught me, and I will be coming back whenever I can to learn more from one of the best artists I’ve had the pleasure of learning under.

Figures that leap off the page

As a former dancer, I have always been intrigued with the figure and movement, and I wanted to find a class that would help me capture action on the page — to make a drawing that looks the way dancing feels. Thank goodness I found Glenn! I fortunately encountered a video of him drawing live, and I could have sworn he was a dancer too, since his movements were so graceful and rhythmic. (Turned out to be his martial arts training, not ballet, but close enough!) I had never seen drawings bursting with life the way that his do, and I knew I wanted to spend my life learning how to draw and paint the way he does. Figure 1 is a 10-week class where each week’s lesson represents a step in drawing the figure, from gesture to constructing forms to rendering 3-dimensionally. Thanks to this clever class format, I never feel lost while I’m drawing, because I simply work though his sequence of steps and easily identify which elements need more work. As in all of Glenn’s classes, the weekly critiques are my favorite part: they are always encouraging, never competitive, and cut right to the core of what each student needs to do to grow as an artist. I especially benefited from watching the crits of more advanced students in the class. Figure 1 is so dense with material that I’m sure I will spend the rest of my life attempting to master it; as Glenn often says, it’s a 10-week class, but a whole lot more than 10 weeks of material. If you want to learn to draw vibrant, dynamic figures, congratulations — you’ve just found the best art school in the world!