ADAM Architecture has hosted its first office exhibition of life drawings which showcased the work of several members of staff who participated in the recent life drawing classes. The life drawing classes were encouraged by the directors as a way to allow individuals to continue the practice and improvement of hand drawing.
Unlike with buildings, the figure has a less forgiving nature. Often the contours are less predictable and require a more focused lens to capture the image onto paper. Instructor, Michelle Buhl-Nielsen, often emphasized the importance of capturing the gesture, or in other words, capturing the whole frame and highlighting the most important angles and shadows with each exercise. Michelle also introduced a wide range of mediums which continuously challenged individuals to see and draw things in different ways.
The mediums that were used included watercolour, pastel on coloured paper, sanguine, marker, charcoal and of course, pencil.
The exhibition impressively encompassed work from the whole office, not just the architects and urbanists. Very quickly, it was possible to recognise the unique traits and styles that each individual brought forward.
Some were masters at capturing small details, others were better at quick full body gesture drawings. Some enjoyed powerful overlapping strokes on paper while others appreciated a cleaner, more carefully crafted line. With each drawing came its own set of learning opportunities for someone else.
Director Robert Adam commented, “These life drawing sessions are a great success. They drew in experienced participants and novices and everyone raised their game. Not only did everyone enjoy it but, as architecture is first and foremost a visual discipline, the unique challenges of drawing the figure from life enhances visual acuity”.
The exhibitors include Robert Adam, Ginny Clover, Robert Cox, Jackie Critoph, Peter Critoph, Jonathan Fox, Mark Himmens, Katie Hubbard, Farhana Jiwa, Andrew Moneyheffer, Liam Gordon Price, Keith Shearer, Robin Stannard, Mark White, Qing Xue, and Diana Yu.
By Diana Yu, June 2017
