Prima Materia Art Institute
Finished drawings made by students who completed the Essential Drawing Course.

Sep 23rd 2026 – Dec 9th 2026

Essential Drawing Course for Beginner

  • Instructor

    Nikusha Beatty

  • Dates

    Sep 23rd 2026 – Dec 9th 2026Also Jan 6th 2027 – Mar 24th 2027

  • Lessons

    12 classes

  • Class time

  • Skill level

    Beginner

What you'll learn

  • Learn fundamental techniques that will allow you to draw realistically and convincingly
  • Focus on structure, tonality, shading, form, and texture in monochrome
  • Receive photo references for each technique
  • Watch the instructor’s live step-by-step demonstration
  • FREE 6-week on-demand course
  • See what other students are creating in class
  • Ask questions & receive instructor critiques in real-time
  • Access to recordings for one year

Course Overview

In 12 weeks you will learn all the basics of drawing: how to express the light, the form, the space, and how to bring any object to life on paper. The topics include landscape, interior, still life, floral bouquet, face, and other subjects. Materials you will be drawing with are pencil, charcoal, pen/ink, conte, and oil pastel. You can enter this course at any time, as each class is a stand-alone lesson. Home assignments are provided after each class so that you could practice the skill you learned in class, on your own, and strengthen it through this additional practice. PLUS receive recordings of every class in the course. This will allow you to pause, rewatch, rewind, and replay any part of the course, for life. Course Schedule: Shading: Learn 12 shading styles inspired by techniques of the masters throughout history and find your style. Shape: Learn to draw a floral bouquet with the Right-brain method called the Negative Shape Technique. Volume: Learn to express 3-D and your point of view by using the power of line. Tone: Render a realistic still life by creating smooth tonal transitions between light and shadow. Composition: Learn the key principles of drawing and discover 15 ways to compose any subject. Perspective: Learn to construct an interior in accurate one-point perspective. Line: Learn from the Great Masters and practice 2 ways of correcting mistakes without an eraser or starting over. Proportions: Learn a technique to achieve realistic portraiture without detailed lessons in anatomy. Texture: Learn to express texture in a landscape and create near and distant planes through aerial perspective. Right-Brain: Draw a Parisian interior upside down to practice drawing shapes instead of things. Sketching: Learn to draw in quick hand. Tonal Relationships: Learn the concept of Pushing-and-Pulling, which is used to achieve depth, realism, and elegance in a drawing. Become an artist you've always dreamed of!

Classes

12 classes in this course

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