Two-day extravaganza drawing a human figure

Liz Bos

Liz Bos

If you like to draw, assistant professor Fatih Benzer’s upcoming figure drawing workshop might just be the class for you. The workshop, which takes place at the South Dakota Art Museum on Feb. 28 and March 1, will feature a live model, as well as a brief PowerPoint presentation by Benzer.

“Fatih is an excellent teacher and is really knowledgeable of figure drawing,” South Dakota Art Museum Curator of Exhibits John Rychtarik said.

No prior background in drawing is required to participate in the workshop. Some of the mediums that will be used include color pastels and black and white charcoal on color paper. Some materials will be provided, but not all.

“It’s going to be an intense crash course on figurative art and how to draw the figure,” Benzer said.

Barbara Wakeman, senior history and geographic information systems major, said that the workshop was definitely something she would be interested in attending.

“Fatih is a very creative teacher who enjoys teaching students the art of seeing,” Wakeman said.

As part of the workshop, Benzer will give demonstrations on proportion, shading and rendering. His demonstrations will attempt to give a better understanding of body language and how the body’s expressive qualities work.

“[Figure drawing] is the most respected and widely covered subject in the history of art,” Benzer said. “It has a long history.”

The PowerPoint presentation will detail some of the history of figurative art and include samples by old and new masters of figurative art, such as Leonardo Da Vinci, Michaelangelo, Pablo Picasso and David Hockney. Following the presentation there will be a discussion about the samples.

“It’s for people who would like to learn about figure drawing,” Benzer said.

Benzer teaches drawing, figure drawing and painting. His past collaborations with the art museum have included figure drawing and portraiture workshops. He was contacted by the South Dakota Art Museum a few weeks ago and was asked if he would be interested in teaching a figure drawing workshop. He had previously had a show at the art museum that Rychtarik said demonstrated his capabilities, which influenced the museum’s decision to ask Benzer to teach the workshop.

“[Fatih] is very talented,” Rychtarik said.

Since figure drawing is one of the classes Benzer teaches, he agreed to instruct the workshop.

The sessions will take place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Feb. 28 and 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. on March 1. The session costs $60 for both days for SDSU students or members of the South Dakota Art Museum and $75 for non-students or non-SDAM members. Benzer said that 10 people had signed up for the class so far, and there is still room available in the sessions for anyone who is interested. For more information, call Dianne Hawks at 688-4313 to pre-register and obtain a list of supplies.

“It’s a great opportunity for people in the area to take figure drawing from Fatih,” Rychtarik said. “It’s a great opportunity for people to be able to do this. It’s very likely that we could have more (workshops) in the future.”