Pencil Drawing Focus for the New Semester – Observing, Simplifying, and Drawing Hands with Ease

Pencil Drawing Focus for the New Semester – Observing, Simplifying, and Drawing Hands with Ease

The focus of our upcoming semester’s intensive study will be pencil drawing, with a particular emphasis on the hand and its various poses. In this course, students will be encouraged not only to draw but also to observe more deeply and challenge themselves more frequently.

Above all, the key to this class is learning how to draw with ease. Rather than getting caught up in excessive detail, students will practice capturing the overall form and movement first—training themselves to see the forest before the trees. The approach will be almost like croquis drawing: quick, light strokes that still maintain accurate structure and proportions.
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To support this, I am preparing a variety of sampling exercises. These will include demonstrations of hand gestures in different positions, compositions, and lighting conditions. Students will repeatedly go through the cycle of observe → simplify → depict, building confidence and developing techniques for creating drawings with depth, form, and vitality—without the burden of overworking the details.

​This semester’s intensive study will center on pencil drawing, focusing on hands and various poses. Students will learn to observe, simplify, and draw with ease, using croquis-style exercises to capture structure, proportion, and movement naturally.