Workshop: Let's Draw More People - LEVEL 2

Congratulations on completing Level One and taking the first steps towards incorporating people into your drawings. In Level Two, we'll dive even deeper into the subject of drawing people, so you get to tell even stronger visual stories.

Drawing people can be hard or scary for many artists. Our minds often worry about getting proportions right, capturing likenesses, and depicting movement. We'd almost forget how fun it is to just be playful and trust the skills that we already gained. This level is designed to help you become more confident about your people-drawing skills, and to remind you how much fun the process of drawing people is.

People are part of the world around us, and when you include them in your drawings, they add life and relatability to your artwork. Whether you're sketching at home, a bustling street scene, or capturing a café ambiance, adding people will bring a new dimension to your sketchbook pages.

Throughout this level, I'll give you encouraging guidance and practical tips, straight from my sketchbook and experiences. I love drawing people, but I wasn't always great at it. Through practice, I grew my skills and confidence. And I learned to let go of expectations while embracing the wonkiness.

I am eager to take you further on this exciting journey and help you gain confidence when it comes to capturing people in your sketchbook.

Together, we'll explore various techniques that will make capturing people in motion or conversation exciting and fun. You'll learn how to quickly observe and sketch subjects as they pass by or interact with each other. By the end of this level, you will have developed creative courage, so you won't ever hesitate to add people to your sketches when you want.

Get ready to bring even more life into your drawings. It'll be an experience you won't want to miss!

The workshop will be split into two sessions of 2.5 hours, with a 1 hour break between the two sessions. Afterwards, you'll get access to the recording of the workshop.

Things we’ll cover in the workshop:

• Live drawing demos and assignments for you to work on during the workshop
• Guided exercises to practice and gain confidence for drawing people in your sketchbook
• Tips for getting better at proportions, postures, body language and gestures
• Tips and ideas to make your urban sketches lively and expressive
• Drawing hands and feet so you don’t need to “hide them” anymore by drawing people with their hands in their pockets
• Encouragement to embrace wonkiness, experimentation and playfulness in your sketchbook
• Tips and ideas to tell your own unique stories in your sketchbook pages, develop your style and artistic voice.
• Show&Tell: opportunity for participants to show what they make during the workshop so we can all learn from each other

After class:

• You’ll get access to the recorded video, so you can rewatch and keep practicing
• You’ll get a downloadable freebie as a souvenir and a reminder of everything you learned, so that from now on you will pluck the courage to draw people on the move and on location.
• You'll have gained confidence and skills to draw people whenever and wherever

Requirements:

• Participants must have a reliable internet connection and a device (computer, tablet, or smartphone) capable of video streaming (we will be using Zoom)

Art Supplies:

• A sketchbook or loose paper, your favorite art materials
• Some scrap paper, like a small stack of cheap printer paper
• For at least one of our exercises we will need a brush pen (for example the Pentel pocket Brushpen or Pentel Color Brush). These are brushpens with hair, not brush markers
• If you don’t have that, no need to buy it. You can just as well use a brush and ink/watercolor
• Just have your favorite art supplies at hand as well, and you're all set!

If you can't make it to the event, even though you signed up for it; you can watch the recorded video of the session, which I'll email you via EventBrite within 48 hours after the event.

Your teacher - Koosje Koene

I am a Netherlands-based artist who began teaching online in 2013. Since then, I have taught tens of thousands of people all over the world how to create a daily drawing practice and live a more creative life. I am the creator of Draw Tip Tuesday, a weekly YouTube series of over 500 drawing videos, and the co-founder of Sketchbook Skool, a global art-making community. In 2021 I self-published my first book Life Is Better When You Draw It, an illustrated book for people who love drawing and need inspiration. It's about how drawing can make you happy and mindful.

Whether I’m at home in the Netherlands with my musician husband or off on an adventure, I always have a sketchbook at hand.

What participants say about my online events:

"Dear Koosje, I enjoyed the workshop. I have noticed that I am more focused when I am given a task an a limited time to work on it. And I enjoyed especially the presentation and exchange of the results of the other participants." -Peter

"I enjoyed the session so much. You motivate me to make more time for drawing. You are so inspiring. Thank you Koosje" -Birgit

"Your class was inspiring. And your encouragement to be messy and playful spoke to me. Not just about sketching but about life!" -Sriram

You joined Level 1, so you are more than ready for Level 2!

In this 5-hour live online workshop you'll learn techniques, get tips and guidance, and work on assignments that will help you overcome your fears and draw people with an even more playful approach.

Whether you’re a seasoned urban sketcher or an enthusiastic beginner, let's break down the obstacles we see when it comes to drawing people. Unlock your creativity and have fun capturing the essence of people and making lively, expressive drawings.