3 Day Workshop
Drawing and Seeing
A Three-Day Intensive in Observational Drawing with Michael Wann
This three-day intensive workshop introduces participants to the core principles of observational drawing through a structured programme of tutor-led exercises, demonstrations and practical studio work.
Led by award-winning artist Michael Wann, the course focuses on developing the visual literacy, observational skills and technical drawing competencies that underpin contemporary visual arts practice.
Suitable for beginners and experienced artists alike, participants will be guided through a progressive curriculum designed to strengthen their ability to observe, analyse and translate visual information through drawing.
Who Is This Course For?
This workshop is suitable for artists, designers, illustrators, art students and anyone seeking to develop foundational drawing skills relevant to visual arts practice, creative industries and further artistic study.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the workshop participants will be able to:
Apply observational drawing techniques to a range of subjects.
Demonstrate an understanding of line, contour, tone and composition.
Use positive and negative space to construct accurate drawings.
Apply proportional measurement and scaling techniques.
Understand the role of perspective in landscape drawing.
Construct portraits using simplified structural frameworks.
Develop confidence in the use of charcoal as a drawing medium.
Course Structure
Day 1 – Observation, Composition and Visual Analysis
Participants will be introduced to a series of observational exercises designed to strengthen visual perception and drawing accuracy. Topics include:
Upside-down drawing
Blind contour drawing
Thumbnail sketching
Composition
Perspective
Tonal structure
Day 2 – Landscape Drawing
Building on the previous day's exercises, participants will develop larger landscape drawings while exploring:
Compositional development
Subject simplification
Scaling and enlargement techniques
Spatial relationships within the picture plane
Day 3 – Portraiture and Figure Construction
Participants will apply observational techniques to portrait drawing through:
Structural approaches to facial construction
Positive and negative space
Line and contour
Shadow and tone
Michael Wann was born in Dublin in 1969, and lives and works in Sligo. He studied under Sean McSweeney at Sligo IT, graduating with a Diploma in Fine Art in 1992, and a Bachelor in Fine Art in 2003.
Michael has exhibited his drawing-based work widely in Ireland, including solo exhibitions with the Ashford Gallery, RHA, Cross Gallery, Dublin, Hamilton Gallery, Sligo, The Model, Sligo, Custom House, Westport, Solstice, Navan, Draiocht, Dublin, and Claremorris Gallery, Co. Mayo. His drawings have been selected for the Royal Hibernian Academy's Annual Exhibition every year since 2004, and he was awarded the AXA Insurance Drawing Prize at the RHA in 2006, and the ESB Sean Keating Prize and RHA Silver Medal in 2016.
Michael is a Fellow of the Ballinglen Arts Foundation, and has held residencies at Cill Rialig, Co. Kerry, and the Heinrich Boll Cottage on Achill, Co. Mayo. In 2010 Hughie O'Donoghue selected Michael's work for the Tom Caldwell Drawing Prize and the Inaugural Rowel Friers Perpetual Trophy at the Royal Ulster Academy's Annual Exhibition, and in 2012 he was awarded a Merit Prize from the Trustees of The Golden Fleece.
* Unfortunately, no refunds are given. Please make sure that you, or the person you are gifting the workshop to, can attend this workshop.
If you cannot attend the workshop we can reschedule your workshop if you inform us up to 21 days prior to the workshop's start date. If you request to reschedule less than 21 days before the workshop starting date we will not be in a position to change the date. Places can be given to a friend if you can no longer attend - please inform us as soon as you can with the new attendee's contact details.
