Drawing Fundamentals (D)
Adult Multi-Week | Registration opens 11/5/2025 9:00 AM EST
Learn the basic tenets of drawing and composition. We’ll cover line, shape, space and value. Hone your observation skills and use charcoal to translate what you see to paper.
- Salis believes that anyone can learn to draw well! She comes from a classical drawing and painting background. Her teaching method draws heavily on tradition (the Renaissance through 19th century) back before the photograph, when artists really had to be skilled to represent nature. They developed excellent methods and incorporated tricks. The class is taught in such a way as to develop basic skills that lead to realistic representational drawing from life. She incorporates exercises from the classic (1979) book Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, as well as methods taught in the ateliers of the past and present. This version of Drawing Fundamentals stresses drawing from life. We draw on (very) traditional methods stretching back centuries. Emphasis is on learning techniques taught in ateliers. Homework will be assigned and it's highly recommended that students draw between classes. Who is this section for? The student who is looking for a specific, focused, structured method to get the technical skills to draw in a realistic way from life.
Instructor speaks Spanish, but class will be held in English.
Accessibility notes: Many artmaking processes require the ability to sit or stand for extended periods of time, fine motor skills/finger dexterity, repetitive motions, vision, and some amount of physical strength. VisArts values making classes accessible to everyone, and is always happy to work with students to make accommodations when possible. Please reach out to info@visarts.org with specific questions related to accessibility or accommodations.
We typically stand at easels for the entire class, but the student may sit on a high stool and work at an easel if standing isn't an option. Also, students should have good vision, either unaided or with glasses.
Paid studio access is available through our Studio Access Program. Please visit visarts.org for more information.
Classes are confirmed one week prior to the start date. In order to help us confirm classes, please register as early as possible.
- Students are expected to bring materials to class, please download the materials list HERE: Download materials list
Salis Dembling
Salis was raised in New York City and Massachusetts and spent formative years in L.A. and South America. She's mixed/Black and the daughter of Black Historian Sterling Stuckey and granddaughter of poet Elma Stuckey She studied drawing and sculpture at Columbia University, where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree. She studied painting and illustration at The School of Visual Arts and in the studio of portrait painter John Murray, both in New York as well. She completed the professional four year atelier painting program and teacher training program at Studio Incamminati in Philadelphia. As well as being a visual artist she is a musician/composer. She co-founded art and activism collectives and a radical community center called Better than Television.