Cast Drawing with Angela Cunningham

After copying the Charles Bargue plates (this is called working from the flat), an atelier student progresses to working from three-dimensional plaster cast, which is referred to as working “in the round”. In the cast drawing, the student begins to understand how controlled light falls across a three-dimensional form. In addition, this process enables a student to translate a three-dimensional object to a two dimensional picture plane, while maintaining the illusion of space and introduces the concept of “big form modeling.” This is where values and edges are introduced to the student and the concept of the ‘classical pattern of light on form’.

In April I attended my first cast drawing workshop presented by Angela Cunningham. This was a week-long workshop at Townsend Atelier in beautiful Chattanooga, TN.  Angela is an excellent teacher in the classical tradition. She studied at various art colleges in CA, ultimately earning her BFA in drawing and painting, with a minor in sculpture from Laguna College of Art and Design. After teaching in CA for a while, she decided to master the classical approach to drawing and painting and moved to NY to attend the rigorous Grand Central Academy of Art under Jacob Collins. Angela now lives and teaches in her new studio in Ashville, NC and at various other locations here in the Southeast.

               Here I am struggling with getting the tones and values correct after completing the block-in.