Transforming Techniques - a review

Each year AGSA Education offers a series of speciality programs designed to give students the opportunity to develop their technical abilities, visual literacy and arts language. Transforming Techniques is a series of student drawing workshops covering anatomy, self-portraiture, life drawing and fashion illustration, the latest addition being design. Each workshop, which comprises a full-day intensive course, is facilitated by an established South Australian artist experienced in the relevant field.

These workshops are doubly beneficial in that students are taught by a professional artist and they are provided with the opportunity to view rarely seen works on paper from the Gallery’s collection by artists such as Hans Heysen, Ben Quilty, Ivor Hele, Robert Hannaford and Nora Heysen. Viewing the works on paper enables the students to make direct connections between the topic, the subjects and the variety of techniques used by artists since time immemorial. After the students have looked at the works, the artist facilitator will conduct a series of drawing exercises to demonstrate the various aspects of the works, such as line, proportion and tonality, as well as rendering in a variety of different materials.

All of these ‘practice’ exercises will contribute to the creation of a large final piece by each student, which will be exhibited in Transforming Techniques, a SALA drawing exhibition at the Gallery and an event that will provide an exciting opportunity for these young South Australians to have their work widely showcased.

Thomas is Tarnanthi Education Officer at AGSA, a position supported by BHP. This article first appeared in AGSA Magazine Issue 35, 2019.