Basic Drawings

Examples from courses in basic drawing

These are samples from my experience in the drawing classes of the Preliminary Year (Vorkurs) at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Basel, Switzerland, and from a few later courses in drawing at the Fachklasse level.

Drawing classes started as a mixture of freehand structural studies with pencil or charcoal (three 3-hour classes a week); technical drawing with ruling pens and drawing instruments (4 hours a week); and perspective drawing, mostly with T-squares and set squares (4 hours a week.

The rest of the school week was filled out with classes in graphic exercises, color, color and form, textile design, material studies, spatial design, lettering, drawing from nature, drawing primitive sculptures and plaster casts, and drawing from memory.

Semesters were 20 weeks long with about 40 hours in each week, including classes Saturday mornings.

Most of these examples are from my basic drawing classes, with work from a few classes  in subsequent years.

A 4-volume set of books about the Vorkurs at the Basel Kunstgewerbeschule, Basic Principles of Design, by Manfred Maier is still available.

Vine charcoal drawings

Freehand drawing of a cube in charcoal
Freehand drawing of a cube in charcoal
Freehand drawing of a cube in charcoal
Freehand drawing of a cube with inscribed circles, additional offset rectangular solid, in charcoal
Freehand drawing of a cube with inscribed circles, additional offset smaller cube, in charcoal
Freehand drawing of a cube with inscribed circles, topped by half cube and cylinder, in charcoal

Pencil drawings

Freehand drawing of cubes, in pencil
Freehand drawing of interlocking rectangular forms, in pencil
Freehand drawing of rectangular forms, in pencil
Freehand drawing of interlocking rectangular forms, in pencil
Freehand drawing of triangular solids, in pencil
Freehand drawing of triangular solids, rectangular solids, in pencil

Vine charcoal drawings

Freehand drawing of triangular solid, in charcoal
Freehand drawing of triangular and rectangular solids, rectangular solids, in charcoal
Freehand drawing of inverted architectural capital, in charcoal
Freehand drawing of inverted architectural capital, in charcoal
Freehand drawing of inverted architectural capital, in charcoal
Freehand drawing of medieval architectural detail, Basler Münster, in charcoal

Pencil drawings

Freehand drawing of hexagonal solids, in pencil
Freehand drawings of ice-tray, in pencil
Freehand drawings of cylinders, in pencil
Freehand drawings of bottles, in pencil
Freehand drawings of bottle, in pencil
Freehand drawings of watering can, in pencil
Freehand drawings of cylindrical solid, in pencil
Freehand drawings of stamper, in pencil
Freehand drawings of motor parts, in pencil

Vine charcoal drawings: plaster casts; masks from the ethnological musem

Freehand drawings of household objects, in pencil
Freehand drawing of medieval architectural detail, Basler Münster, in charcoal
Freehand drawing of medieval architectural detail, Basler Münster, in charcoal
Freehand drawing of medieval architectural detail, Basler Münster, in charcoal
Freehand drawing:plaster cast of Egyptian sculpture, in charcoal
Freehand drawing:plaster cast of Egyptian sculpture, in charcoal
Freehand drawing of African mask, in charcoal
Freehand drawing of African mask, in charcoal
Freehand drawing of African mask, in charcoal
Freehand drawing of west-coast North American totem, in charcoal
Freehand drawing of African mask, in charcoal

Gouache renderings

Pencil drawings

Freehand drawings of wooden toys, in pencil
Freehand drawings of wooden toy steamroller, in pencil
Freehand drawings of cylindrical forms, in pencil
Freehand drawings of toy vehicles, in pencil
Freehand drawings of kitchen ricer, in pencil
Freehand drawings of meat grinder, in pencil
Freehand drawings of hand-held wood-plane, in pencil
Freehand drawings of pliers, in pencil
Freehand drawings of auger; ventilator fan blades, in pencil
Freehand drawings of latchkey, in pencil
Freehand drawings of latchkey; other keys; padlock; in pencil
Freehand drawings of motor parts, in pencil
Freehand drawings of clothes-iron, in pencil
Freehand drawings of garden-shears, in pencil
Freehand drawings of toy boat, in pencil
Freehand drawings of shoe-last, in pencil
Freehand drawings of baby boot, in pencil
Freehand drawings of lace-up boot, in pencil

Bamboo pen and ink drawings

Freehand drawings of pliers, in pencil
Freehand drawings of chains, with bamboo pen and ink

Pencil drawings

Freehand drawings of snail shell, in pencil
Freehand drawings of thorny plant stems, in pencil
Freehand drawings of plant stems, in pencil

Willow charcoal drawings

Brush and ink drawing

Freehand drawings of ruminant skull, in charcoal
Freehand drawings of rodent skull, in charcoal
Freehand drawings of glass snifter, with brush and ink

Bamboo pen and ink drawings

Willow charcoal drawing

Freehand drawing of mundane still life, with bamboo pen and ink
Freehand drawing of metal parts, with bamboo pen and ink
Freehand drawing of Meso-American statue, in charcoal

Chinagraph pencil drawings

Willow charcoal drawings

Freehand drawings of iguanas at the zoo, in chinagraph pencil
Freehand drawing of antique plaster cast, in charcoal
Freehand drawing of antique plaster cast, in charcoal
Freehand drawing of antique plaster cast, in charcoal
Freehand drawing of antique plaster cast, in charcoal

Conté crayon drawing

Ruling pen, brush, and black ink; French curves

Freehand drawing of antique plaster cast, in charcoal
Freehand drawing of antique plaster cast, in sanguine and brown Conté crayon
Ruling pen, brush, and black ink; French curves

Pencil drawings from memory

Compass, black ink, red ink

Gouache rendering

Last updated June 14, 2021

© 2021  Peter Millward