Will Weston Figure Drawing Workshop

This workshop teaches a clear, and simple figure construction technique suiting today’s modern educational (and professional) environment where students have to learn more in a short period of time. It is updated from classical drawing traditions, but is easier to grasp and more quickly learned in the beginning

The approach allows students to address figure composition more easily and assumes students will soon want to draw figures in motion, and composed in groups as part of a narrative story.

The techniques learned in this workshop can be applied to animation, graphic novels, children’s books, game design, or character design.

The workshop is based on courses Will developed as seminars for professionals at DreamWorks’ TV and Feature Animation, Blizzard Entertainment, for the Art Directors and Animation Guilds in LA, the Society of Illustrators in LA, and in college classrooms.

Core Principles

This is a structural figure drawing class that views figure drawing as a component part of larger art ambitions. Students learn easy to use drawing processes that combined with design concepts discussed in class, allow students to draw figures addressing figure drawing, narrative, and figure composition.

Suggested Materials

Students should bring their own materials and may work either traditionally or digitally. 

In addition to any dry media you prefer, consider bringing a large drawing pad (roughly 18’x24′) and a drawing board. Will, uses Prismacolor black pencils and a simple drawing pad. An eraser and sharpener will be useful as well.