Portrait & figure in different media- 6 weeks

About this course

This drawing course led by experienced children’s book illustrator and interior designer Siglint Kessler, offers a fun and engaging way to build your skills in drawing the human face and figure, with room to explore animal figures too! Perfect for all levels, this hands-on course balances technique and creativity in our inspiring working studio in Twickenham.

What you'll learn:

This isn’t a life drawing class, so no need to worry about live models. Instead, we’ll use photos and take inspiration from famous artists' work. It’s a supportive, hands-on environment, perfect for growing your skills and trying out new techniques!

You’ll get the chance to experiment with different media, from black and white to vibrant colours—pastels, watercolours, acrylics, paper cutting, collage, and even combining these. We’ll explore both realistic and playful ways to apply colour, opening up lots of creative possibilities.

We’ll start with simple sketches using pencil and charcoal, gradually adding light and shadow to bring depth and life to your work. You'll learn how to observe details like proportion, body language, and movement, and think like a sculptor as you “construct” shapes on the page. Once you've got the
basics, we’ll also play around with distortion to add extra expression.

Course agenda:

Focused on observing features, movement and body language of people and animals using photographs or other printed reference. There is access to some printed reference material in the studio but please bring as much as you have or would like to use.

1. The head part 1
   • Profile sketches using paper shapes to observe a variety of features
   • Main: Portrait in profile, detailed drawing trying to capture likeness from a photograph (charcoal or pencil)
2.  The head part 2
   • Sketches of heads from magazine photos
   • Main: Portrait in front or three quarter view (coloured pencil / pastel)
3.  Body language
   • Whole figure and body language, play with paper puppet to sketch movement
   • Process and methods of drawing: mid point, help lines, directions, trusting your eye, comparing sizes, negative space, search for shapes
   • Small sketches with the above methods
   • Details of hands, blind drawings or continuous line 
   • Main: Full figure drawing or painting (black and white or colour, media of choice)
4. Movement
   • Figure in movement - dialogue, walking, dancing, interaction
   • Figure and its cast shadow
   • Animals
   • Main: Depict movement in a more detailed work, using any media
5. Extreme perspectives + abstraction
   • Looking at exaggeration, distortion, foreshortening
   • Using collage as ways into abstraction.
   • Main: Remove yourself from depicting reality by using extreme perspective or translating elements of collage into your picture
6. Narratives
   • Inspiration from artists’ work who use two or more interacting figures to create a narrative
   • Compose your picture using personal photographs
   • Preliminary sketches from different angles before settling for one
   • Main: start a personal picture using memory, family or childhood photographs, abstraction, bringing in outside or symbolic elements

Materials supplied: limited selection of media
What to bring:
A3 hardback block or sketchbook
Soft pencils (2B to 7B)
Charcoal
Kneadable putty rubber
Watercolour or any other coloured media you have: pastels, pencils, acrylics,
Inks
Selection of brushes
Collection of papers: magazine or book pages, burnt, printed, found paper,
wrapping paper etc.
Photographic portraits that you might like to draw from - your own family,
found, historic…

About the instructor:

Siglint Kessler is a versatile freelance artist with a rich background in
children’s book illustration and interior design. Her work gives her a strong
foundation in drawing from life, composing imaginative scenes, and a deep
understanding of space, volume, and colour. Currently, Siglint is a resident
artist at Redlees Studios in Isleworth, where she has dedicated much of her
recent practice to the art of ceramics.

As an art instructor, Siglint embraces a wide range of approaches and
techniques. She combines clear instruction with a spirit of experimentation,
encouraging her students to explore their creativity freely. Whether guiding
them through her own methods or promoting the beauty of chance
discoveries, Siglint fosters an environment of learning that is both structured
and open to artistic exploration.