Environment & Composition 2022

Content 

This intensive on-location drawing workshop addresses two essential issues: 1) the specific drawing skills needed for composition 2) picture composition techniques applicable to film, animation, graphic novels, children’s books, games or landscape drawing & painting.

In brief, Will shows students how to draw a variety of plants objects and architecture and how to place them effectively in compositions. Drawing for composition differs from simply drawing objects. Everything in a composition is drawn with consideration of its place in the overall arrangement, using design concepts demonstrated and practiced in class that serve multiple purposes. Compositional elements (the things you draw) must be clear, easily recognized, organised in groups, provide depth, and direct the eye to focal points. They should describe the environment and ultimately advance the emotion and narrative of the image. This is visual storytelling. If a viewer grasps an idea or feels something, the drawing and composition play a big part in creating the effect.
The workshop is based on courses Will has developed at ArtCenter (where it’s considered an essential class) and in seminars for professionals at the Society of Illustrators in LA, for DreamWorks TV and Feature Animation, for the Animation Guild and other organisations in Los Angeles.