Hopper Drawing Family Day: Fabulous Figure Drawing
Jun 10, 2013
A family looks closely at the models to capture their poses, June 2013. Photograph by Filip Wolak
Just as Edward Hopper once drew from live models at the Whitney Studio Club, families were given the opportunity to try their hand and experiment with their own powers of observation at Hopper Drawing Family Day on June 2. The Whitney Studio Club, the precursor to the Whitney Museum, opened in 1918 as a space for artists like Hopper to work and exhibit. Hopper also attended life drawing classes while he was a student at the New York School of Art from 1900 to 1906.
Youth Insights teens pose for families to draw at Hopper Drawing Family Day, June 2013. Photograph by Filip Wolak
Organized in conjunction with the exhibition Hopper Drawing, the Family Day focused on activities related to Hopper’s drawing practice. Teens from the Whitney’s Youth Insights program modeled for families. Working together, the teens posed with dynamic, expressive gestures for parents and kids to capture on paper with different colored pencils. Museum educator, Nate Sensel, led families through a series of gesture and speed drawings as well as some longer poses.
Youth Insights teens ‘on the bus’ pose, Hopper Drawing Family Day, June 2, 2013. Photograph by Filip Wolak
Families made suggestions for poses (such as 'on the bus’ or a growl) that the teens interpreted in imaginative ways. Families were encouraged to do quick sketches as well as more developed drawings incorporating volume, mass, and shading.
Check out pictures of other activities at our Hopper Drawing Family Day. Photographs by Filip Wolak.
Stay tuned for a second Hopper-inspired family day on Saturday, September 28. Visit Family Programs for more information.
Billie Rae Vinson, Coordinator of Family Programs and Jamie Rosenfeld, Education Assistant