The Ultimate Photorealistic Drawing Classes | Beginner Level

This online course on photorealism is conducted by acclaimed artist and talented, art educator Richa Agarwal. Photorealism is an art style that focuses on making sketched pieces look realistic and true-to-life. While the subjects may sometimes appear somewhat stylized, photorealism seeks to present respective subjects as they look in real life. The curriculum, which spans over a duration of three months will lead you through the foundation of charcoal shading, portraiture, and study of the human body, paving the way to create hyper-realistic, slice-of-life art. In the first month, the enrolled students will pick up the basics of shading, in the second month, they will learn all about charcoal portraiture and the third and final month will be all about understanding the fundamentals of hyperrealism. The breakdown of the curriculum is as follows: 

Month I 
– Introduction to Sketching: learn about sketching tools, types of shading techniques, and a brief introduction to the value and gradation scale
– Understanding Scales: practice value scale and gradation scale in order to get the tones right
– Learning the Eye: Undertake a thorough study of the human eye
– Drawing Lips & Noses: Explore the human lip and nose in greater detail

Month 2
– Understanding Proportion and Form: Gain insight into using grid and freehand methods for drawing portraits and work on proportions
– Light and Shadow: Learn charcoal shading and blending techniques with an utmost focus on developing photorealism
– Portrait Study 1: Work on your first small realistic portrait
– Portrait Study 2: Apply your knowledge of shading to finish up your second charcoal portrait.

Month 3
– Introduction to Hyperrealism and hyper-realistic hand study
– Begin working on your third realistic portrait
– Sharpen your edges: Apply your knowledge on shading, and work on details to develop your portrait
– Finish Up: Add the finishing touches to your final portrait

About the instructor: Your instructor for the course is Richa Agarwal, a charcoal and graphite sketch artist from Siliguri, West Bengal. She mostly specializes in making hyper-realistic portraits by the healthy combination of both graphite and charcoal as art mediums. Apart from portraits, she has also worked on landscapes, still life, and caricatures as part of her regular experiments. She has conducted over 50+ successful online and offline sessions imparting basic knowledge of perfecting the features of a realistic portrait to over 1500 participants across the globe. As an artist, she perpetually expresses her thoughts, ideas, and feelings by means of her art.