Drawing as Thinking:
Exploration in Material and Process

Online Workshop
April 24, May 1, 8, 22, 29, 2025
3:00-4:30 Eastern / 2:00-3:30 Central / 12:00-1:30 Pacific

Drawing can be a dynamic process of exploration, where the act of drawing is not merely about creating a finished product but about the journey of discovering ideas, solutions, and connections. It explores the way different materials and techniques influence the way an artist thinks and interacts with the world.

Drawing is an essential part of the creative process, whether you're keeping thumbnail sketches or developing complementary works to accompany larger paintings or sculptures. It serves as a powerful tool for expanding your concepts in new forms, offering opportunities for experimentation, clarification, and deeper exploration. Through drawing, you can refine ideas, develop visual vocabulary, understand spatial relationships, and keep growing as an artist. Adding drawings to your practice not only enhances your main works but also provides an invaluable space to work through, explore, and experiment with your ideas in their purest, most flexible form.

Key Areas of Workshop Focus:

Drawing as a Tool for Thinking: Rather than just a form of visual expression, drawing can be a way to think through problems and ideas. Artists can use drawing as a method to work through complex concepts and generate new thoughts. The process of drawing can help to make abstract or complicated ideas more tangible and can even lead to unexpected discoveries.

Material Exploration: Different drawing materials—pencils, charcoal, ink, digital tools—offer varying tactile experiences, which can impact the direction of the work. Some materials encourage quick, fluid marks, while others might lead to more deliberate, careful rendering. The choice of material often shapes the thinking process itself.

Process: The journey is just as important as the finished piece. It focuses on the iterative, evolving nature of drawing, where each line or mark can influence the next. This exploration might involve layering, erasing, and reworking, mirroring how thoughts evolve and develop over time.

When drawing, the hand, the materials, and the mind are interconnected. The act of drawing can create a dialogue between conscious thought and unconscious, spontaneous marks. Through repetition, mistakes, and variations, artists learn more about their own thinking and their relationship to the materials they use.

When developing a series of drawings alongside paintings or sculptures, the drawings can serve as companion pieces that expand the narrative or conceptual exploration of the larger work. For instance, a set of drawings might delve into a different perspective, mood, or emotional layer that the painting or sculpture does not explore as deeply.

Drawings can provide additional context, presenting a multidimensional exploration of the same theme or subject matter. They allow you to approach your concept from different angles, giving viewers more insight into the intention behind the larger work.

Some charcoal and ink drawings that preceded the constructions that were made from oil paint, wood, and thread.

“Harum Scarum” - oil paint, wood, thread - 50” x 60”

A good portion of the class is looking at contemporary and historical artists—especially those with different approaches—and can be incredibly valuable to your art practice.

Sign up now for
Drawing as Thinking: Exploration in Material and Process

Drawing as Thinking - one payment - $595

Drawing as Thinking - two payments of $300
(2nd payment is made automatically 1 month after the first)

General Information about classes:

  • Classes use Zoom for meetings.

  • The Padlet app is used for the course curriculum. It is a free app to use on a phone or iPad. It can also be accessed on a desktop computer. Padlet is easy to use and requires no special computer skills. Each class has its own Padlet page with separate sections for each student's work, allowing us to share images for viewing and feedback.

  • The Padlet Library and Resources are free for students and contains hundreds of books, podcasts, and videos for inspiration and research.

  • Each class is recorded for students who have to miss a session or would simply like to review. Class size is limited to 12.

  • Questions? Email me.