More life drawing at Bucks - why should animators learn to draw?

For all our animators and digital artists who didn't manage to sign up with the Bucks Students' Union in January for their life drawing classes, or want second helpings of life drawing, the animation department will soon be teaming up with Mark Hudson's graphics students in the Timberlake Building to bring a series of new life drawing sessions.

Timberlake Building - Gateway to Graphics

We strongly recommend that our animators participate. Life drawing is an important skill to acquire and will help all our animators become better artists. Drawing skills help with design, storyboards, thumbnail sketches - all necessary parts of the animation process.

Life drawing classes will be run on Monday mornings from 10am until 1pm. We have four sessions scheduled, on Monday March 3, 10, 17 and 24th.

Where it all happens. Minus the table, of course

How do you get there?
The Graphics dept is located in the Timberlake building, just off the main car park.  You walk in the main front door from the car park (see photo above) and then take the first right into T0.05. You are now in Graphics. Once inside the double doors, turn left to find the life drawing classroom.

To make it all super clear, below is a short video showing how to get to T0.05 from the main Bucks car park.



Still can't find it?
Check out this map of Bucks below. The Timberlake Building is the building marked No9 on the map.

How does it all work?
We will supply the room, life models, instruction, and of course boundless enthusiasm. We will share the space with the graphics students - a great opportunity to see some of the fine work done by this excellent department at Bucks.

How do you sign up?
Let me know in advance that you're coming (email me at alexander.williams@bucks.ac.uk), so we have an idea of numbers. Then, all you have to do is show up. I strongly encourage all the animation students to come - sketching from life is a vital skill to learn.

Bring something to lean on

What should you bring?
You will need to bring the following:

• pencils or charcoal. Pencils should be soft, 2B or softer.
• rubber/eraser (preferably the soft kneadable kind)
• plenty of paper. A3 size is ideal
• Some kind of board to lean on. We don't have easels, so a light stiff board slightly larger than A3 size would be good.

soft pencils are best

We'll be doing quick sketches, trying to capture a pose in motion in just a few strokes, the kind of dynamic scribbles that can be used as a key pose for your animation. So this isn't a class where you'll be executing long, careful studies of a seated figure - it's all about action poses, speed and dynamism.

For more on life drawing and why it's a valuable skill for animators to learn, watch this video below.




Come along - it'll be fun!

---Alex