A Week in the Del Ray Artisans BootCamp

We kicked off the week with a full room of artists, some totally new to figure drawing, others returning for more practice, but everyone there for the same reason: to grow.

Day one started simple. We introduced ourselves. We talked about where we were in our art journey, what we wanted to learn, what we were already good at, and most importantly, why we were here. From there, we shifted into talking about goals, not just “I want to draw better,” but how to break that down into smaller, doable steps. How do you create a project for yourself? How do you actually finish something? We talked about setting up timelines that are honest, not too ambitious, not too easy. Giving yourself grace when things take time.

I also introduced Ale, my partner and co-teacher, who’s a fantastic artist in her own right. She helped with demos, supported the models, and kept the energy grounded and kind throughout the week.

Then we got into tools. Paper, charcoal, graphite. Why choose one over the other? What happens when you erase? How do different papers respond to blending or layering? We touched on newsprint and how it's great for practice, but not so great if you want to do heavy rendering. We went over erasers, blenders, kneaded versus hard rubber, all of that. The message was: start with what you're comfortable with, but know what’s out there.

After tools, we jumped into warmups, how to get your body and eyes moving before diving into a figure. Straight lines, curved lines, gesture exercises. From there, we talked about composition: where do you place the figure on the page? How do you think about visual weight and negative space? We discussed focal points, how contrast pulls the viewer’s attention, and how to design your page with intention, even when you're doing a fast sketch.

That all led us into gesture drawing, working with our first model, Tom Temin (a.k.a. Model T²). We talked about expression, movement, and how to draw the full energy of a figure. Then we shifted into light and shadow, learning to squint, to simplify what we’re seeing, and to break the figure down into blocks of light and dark. We wrapped the day with a check-in to see how everyone was feeling.

Tuesday was all about structure, mass, and perspective. Our model, Cat (Catherine Taylor), gave us some beautiful poses to work with. We looked at proportion by stepping back from our drawings. We talked about how to see volume, how the ribcage turns in space, where the hips are tilting, where the weight is sitting. T-shapes, squash and stretch, tips and tilts… all those little indicators that tell you how a body is positioned in space.

Ale gave a great lesson on constellation drawing, which is basically plotting anchor points and connecting them like a wireframe, think building the frame of a house. Then we added structure on top of that: boxes, cylinders, and spheres to give the body its form. We introduced the three main masses—head, ribcage, and pelvis—and started thinking about how those turn in 3D space.

We also played with mark making, learning to make intentional, specific strokes, and talked about how backgrounds can either support or distract from your main figure. We had a great conversation about contrast, and how to use texture, energy, detail, and value to bring out a theme. One favorite example was divine vs. demonic, how the subject matter can express create separation within the composition.

Wednesday was a deeper dive into keeping momentum, our theme centered on "how to get unstuck". When your drawing isn’t going well, what do you do? Where do you zoom in? Where do you let go? We talke about how to use landmarks and anatomy to continue and advanced the figure, and deepened our decision-making practice. Models Babs and Kayla brought energy and challenged the whole class with two-person poses which dimension and variety to the session.

The focus shifted later in the class to clarity: making decisions not just based on realism, but based on what you want from the drawing: whether that’s emotion, study, energy, or something totally abstract. Everyone was starting to lean into their personal style by this point, which was awesome to see.

Thursday was about mark making mastery and studies of hands and feet. We looked at drawings from other artists, studied how materials make a difference, and worked on accuracy, not just getting things “right,” but learning how to express what you mean.

We talked a lot about what makes a drawing finished: rendering hierarchy, contrast design, and where to leave things open or suggestive. We focused in on hands and feet (which scare a lot of people!) and broke them down into basic shapes and helpful shortcuts to make them feel less intimidating. Probably my favorite part of the week was asking what parts of the hands people had trouble drawing and was met by a silent room, but as I explained how to shortcut the hands using some simple tricks, people asked a million questions about how and why hands always look wrong in their drawings, how to make them better, how to draw them when they are foreshortened. I was overwhelmed! But honestly, they were such good questions and I wish we had the time to dive into all of the details, so I plan to teach a hand drawing class soon!

Our model that day was Jay (@BlueJayMuse), who brought some beautiful form and emotion to the poses.

Friday, we wrapped with portraiture and refinement, working with Abe Frischman (@CharcoalandSteel). We talked about the skull and facial proportions, how to break down the head into thirds, and how to build the jaw and cranial mass. We went over drawing the head as a box to better place the features and understand orientation. We even nerded out a bit on anatomy—my favorite parts: the sternocleidomastoid, the serratus, and the gastrocnemius. I was excited by everyone's enthusiasm to attempt the portrait and to place the underlying structure in the form to try to create a likeness!

From there, we transitioned into final touches: how to highlight the eye, push contrast, simplify the rest, and take photos to reflect on the piece. We finished with a group critique, celebrated the work, and reflected on the week.

Honestly, we covered so much. But the thread that ran through everything was this:

Make decisions. See truthfully. Draw what you see, not what you know.

I’m super proud of everyone who showed up for this BootCamp. Whether you were brand new or you’ve been doing this for years, you took risks, stayed open, and pushed your drawings further than when you walked in.

I literally can’t wait to do it again, it was such an amazing week.– Brando