A drawing by Robert Osti
A drawing by Robert Osti
Robert Osti explains how parts of the skeleton translates to the drawing of muscles.IF YOU GO* What: Workshops with Roberto Osti.* Where: Townsend Atelier, 201 W. Main St., Suite 107.* When: Friday-Tuesday, July 11-15.* Fees: $325 for Anatomy of the Head, $235 How to Draw the Body From Imagination, $535 to take both workshops. Does not include lunch.* Public event: The Human Figure and Today’s Art, Friday, 6-8 p.m., Townsend Atelier; free talk and demonstration by Roberto Osti on how the study of the human figure is relevant to making art today. Appropriate for teenagers and older.* Workshop reservation deadline: Tuesday.* Information or to register: 423-266-2712 or 1-877-903-1488WORKSHOP SCHEDULE:* Anatomy of the Head 101: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. July 11, 12 and 13. Robert Osti leads students in demonstrations and hands-on exercises drawing the human head, studying it from a variety of points of view. Students will be guided through techniques and approaches in drawing portraits, such as tonal, structural, graphite, chalk, charcoal and trois crayon technique.* How to Draw the Body from Imagination: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. July 14-15. Being able to draw the human body without a model is a skill that permits an artist to quickly visualize ideas about a composition. Students will draw the body from a model and from imagination to understand the basic volumetric characteristics of the body and proportional relationships between parts of the body.
Roberto Osti, internationally known New York artist, acknowledges Americans are currently living in “the era of selfies.”
Whether it’s the kid down the street’s self-portrait in a Facebook post, Kardashian kin living out their lives on TV, or soccer players and fans at World Cup games making a statement with their haircuts, Osti says they all are trying to project a specific image of themselves.
“The ‘image’ is central in our culture at this moment, and we are not going to settle for an abstract portrait of ourselves,” says the artist.
For this reason, he says, there is a national resurgence in a more traditional approach to art-making and how to draw the body.