Portrait Drawing with Francesca Gagni (3)

Learn the basic rules for portrait drawing, following simple steps to master proportions and how to add the details that make the drawing lifelike.  

About Francesca Gagni-Allen 

I studied fashion design (1989-1994), where the drawing of the human figure was largely explored and stylised, In 2006 I obtained an NHC in fine art and I attended various life drawing classes which strongly contributed to develop my interest for life drawing. I currently teach drawing and life drawing at Bedford Arts and Crafts centre. The shapes and forms the human body takes are salient elements of my work. They take full expression through the movement, the struggle and fluidity of bodies. 

I work with watercolour and ink washes to create a sense of space and time in connection with gas clouds and celestial bodies. In my view humans are powerlessly caught in a vast system to which we are intimately connected and dependant on. 

In our world anything is never still, it is continuously changing in an everlasting cycle of entropy and regeneration. This concept is reflected throughout my recent work, including the washes representing abandoned buildings, which also show elements of melancholy for the past and precarious hope for the future. I am currently working on nature scenes, experimenting with washes and pastels. Such scenes may show subtle elements of discrepancy with the natural world. This is a reflection of my worry for the precarious present and future of our planet.