Fridays; May 2, 9, &16; 4pm – 7pm

Instructor: Courtney Griffith

In this course students will practice drawing the human figure with a live model. Each class will be supplemented with lessons and demonstrations of foundational techniques such as gesture drawing, proportions, and value, including examples from art history and relevant contemporary examples. This course is suitable for beginner to intermediate artists. No prior experience is required – students will simply need the desire to learn to draw people from life. Ultimately, I hope to expand students’ perspectives regarding what they are capable of in a calming, community-based, and inclusive creative environment.

Courtney Griffith was born in San Diego, moved to the Bay Area to attend Santa Clara University, and received her M.F.A. from Mills College in Oakland. Having spent most of her life on the California coast, much of her work is influenced by time spent collecting shells, observing marine life in tidepools, and hiking among coastal redwoods. Her work is about California’s fragility and resilience in the wake of pollution and wildfires, as well as the inextricable link between humans and their natural environment. She has a particular affinity for charcoal due to its ability to function as both a symbol of wildfire destruction, but also as a symbol of artistic creation. Griffith’s drawings, paintings, sculptures, and photographs have been displayed in museums and galleries including the Palo Alto Art Center, Berkeley Art Center, Mercury 20 Gallery, Oakland, San Luis Obispo Museum of Art, and Florina Museum of Contemporary Art, Greece.

Fee: Members: $120; Non-members $138

Additional materials fee to be paid to instructor: $40

Where: Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, 1210 Fifth Avenue, San Rafael (at B Street)