• chalk drawing of woman
  • red chalk drawing of figure's back
  • Red Chalk Figure drawing of man's face

Class Description:

This workshop invites students to explore design strategies that organize subjects, light, and space.

By integrating their sketches, studies, and reference images, students will learn how to shape visual narratives with heightened intention and clarity. The workshop will examine a variety of compositional tools and techniques, including compositional grids, using light and shadow to guide the viewer’s eye, manipulating crisp versus blurred edges to suggest focus and atmosphere, and experimenting with both open compositions that feel expansive and closed compositions that feel contained. Utilizing these approaches—supported by digital paint-over demonstrations from Williams—students will build more dynamic and expressive visual compositions.
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Spring I Dates:

Scheduled occurrences for this class are as follows:

Week
Date
Time
Week 1:
1/14/2027
6:30 - 9:30 PM
Week 2:
1/21/2027
6:30 - 9:30 PM
Week 3: 
1/28/2027
6:30 - 9:30 PM
Week 4: 
2/4/2027
6:30 - 9:30 PM
Week 5:
2/11/2027
6:30 - 9:30 PM
Week 6:
2/18/2027
6:30 - 9:30 PM

  1. Before Class - Welcome & How to Prepare for Class

  2. Week 1: Compositional Grids and Other Theories

  3. Week 2: Solecisms and Other Compositional Approaches

  4. Week 3: Historical Compositional Theories Adopted by Cinema and Photography

  5. Week 4: Light

  6. Week 5: Storytelling

  • $320.00
  • Online
  • 6 Weeks
  • Beginner to Advanced

Meet Your Instructor

Robert Dale Williams

Instructor

Robert Dale Williams studied classical drawing and painting techniques at the New York Academy of Art Graduate School of Figurative Art. Following graduation from the Academy in 2004, he furthered his studies under Odd Nerdrum during three summer residencies in Norway. A guest lecturer at the Susquehanna Art Museum and Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, Williams joined the Continuing Studies faculty at the New York Academy of Art in 2022, drawing from his extensive experience as an instructor of drawing, painting, anatomy, and design courses at six art institutions. Featured in collections worldwide, he has exhibited in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, France, Germany, Great Britain, Spain, and Norway.

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Join us to discover traditional skills and contemporary practice

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