Courses and Memberships at The Drawing Source
Welcome to the realistic drawing curriculum at The Drawing Source!
The courses here are structured progressively - starting with the foundational skills needed to draw any subject successfully, and building toward advanced figure and portrait drawing.
Below, you’ll find the complete learning path: what to study, in what order, and which courses to take to develop each skill.
Foundational Skills
All advanced drawing relies on six foundational skill categories. At The Drawing Source, the Atelier is where these core skills are developed step by step, and applied to increasingly complex subjects.
You’ll learn and strengthen:
1) Proportion & Shape - in Intro to Accuracy & Measurement and the 14-Day Daily Drawing Drills Challenge
2) Construction – A few key principles in Phase 1, but Phase 3 (in development) will focus on this
3) Value Structure – in Smooth Shading in Graphite
4) Edge Design – in Smooth Shading in Graphite
5) Refining & Finishing – in Smooth Shading in Graphite and The Drawing Process
6) The Drawing Process – in The Drawing Process from Start to Finish
Figure Drawing
Once your foundational skills are developing (you'll need them for figure drawing!) you can learn figure drawing in four progressive stages:
1) How to Start a Figure Drawing – Learn this in Figure Drawing Quickstart
2) Constructing the Figure – In development
3) Figure Anatomy – In development
4) Rendering a Finished Figure Drawing – In development
Portrait Drawing
Portrait drawing also builds directly upon foundational skills, and progresses in stages:
1) How to Start a Portrait Drawing – In development
2) Features of the Face
------ How to Draw Eyes – Take the Eye Drawing Intensive
------ Lips, Nose, Ears & Hair Intensives in development
3) Head Anatomy & Construction – In development
4) Rendering a Finished Portrait – In development
Creativity, Inspiration & Productivity
We learn technique so that we can use it to express ourselves creatively and authentically. These resources support the creative side of your practice:
Your Unique Creative Voice
Learn to create drawings that are unmistakably your own. Uncover what you truly want to express, and how to bring it to life in your work.
Creative Momentum Planner
A weekly planning system and journal for building a consistent, fulfilling creative practice, week after week.
Fresh Eyes Challenge
Transform how you see the world through quick, daily observation prompts over 30 days.
Work With Me
The Creative Drawing Studio
Access all courses, monthly one-on-one critiques with Marina, weekly check-ins with a supportive group, monthly strategy sessions and live lectures. Creativity, technique and community for aspiring and evolving artists.
One-on-One Mentorship
Work with me one-on-one via live online Zoom calls or recorded videos and email correspondence.
About
The Drawing Source is an online school of realistic drawing, founded and led by Marina Fridman — a professional visual artist and former tenure-track college professor of visual arts.
With almost 20 years of studying, practicing, and teaching drawing, Marina has distilled the learning process into 6 foundational skills that unlock every drawing subject.
Alongside rigorous skill-building, The Drawing Source also helps students cultivate their unique creative voice — so that they can use their technical skills to express themselves authentically.