Drawing Fundamentals with Thomas Fluharty

Drawing Fundamentals with Thomas Fluharty – download video tutorial by Schoolism

Every great artist begins with the fundamentals. In this course, award-winning illustrator, Thomas Fluharty, will coach you in the foundational skills that he employs to draw. You will learn how to see your subject, effectively use tones, perspective, and composition, and much more. So whether you're a young artist just beginning your artistic journey, or an older artist who has never been formally trained in fundamentals, in sharing with you his vast experience, Thomas will help make drawing simple.

This course consists of five video lectures presented over six weeks.

Lesson Plan

Lesson 1 - The Power of Seeing
In my first lecture, I will talk about the difference between looking and seeing. Anyone can look at a subject, but it takes a deeper understanding of that subject in order to truly SEE. Seeing is about knowing, thinking, and asking questions. I will talk about how to LOOK at a subject and SEE simplified shapes. I will discuss my thought process while observing and drawing the shapes in a dog's face. We will then draw a frog together using this shape technique.

Lesson 2 - The Power of Values
In this lecture, I will talk about value or tone. When we use lights and darks in our images, we give them power, create drama, and communicate form. I will talk about how the great masters effectively used value and together we will make a value scale. You will be asked to follow along by drawing a lion that I provide using shapes, and then adding values to it. In my demo, I will take my frog drawing from Lecture 1 and add values, creating drama.

Lesson 3 - The Power of Perspective
I will start this lesson by discussing perspective and the horizon line. I will show you how ellipses relate to the horizon line and introduce the grid line. I will show you how objects sit on the grid and demonstrate the power of the grid in a quick and simple sketch. You will be asked to draw a picture of Venice from an image provided, applying what we talked about in this lesson. Then I will draw the same image while talking through my thought process.

Lesson 4 - The Power of Composition
In this lecture, I will talk about what good composition is and is not. In essence, good composition means placing and arranging objects in a picture in a balanced and pleasing way, thus establishing the power of an image, making it attractive to the viewer, and ensuring its success. I will discuss the rule of thirds and relate it to the grid principle from Lecture 3. Through multiple video demos, I will show you my approach for good composition (as well as examples of poor composition).

Lesson 5 - The Power of Gesture (and Other Cool Things)
In this lecture, I will talk about an oft-overlooked aspect of storytelling: gesture. I will show you great examples of gesturing and explain what makes them dynamic and expressive. Other cool things: in your drawing career, you will likely draw a lot of faces, so I have included a 45-minute demo of how I draw a face. I will offer you my observations about the face, my tips for constructing and semi-blind contour drawing of an easily recognizable face.

MP4 1280x720 | 5 lessons | ENG | Project Files | 5.25 GB