This is a new course which I plan to run for the first time in July 2015 at RADA (Royal Academy of Dramatic Art) and has been developed with the help of my old friend Gary Thorne, who is Head of Design there. As far as I know it’s the only course of its kind focusing on theatre design, and one of very few short courses dealing with technical drawing at all.
Here is my extended version of the course description for the ‘Courses’ section above, the original of which can be found on the booking page of the RADA website:
https://www.rada.ac.uk/courses/summer-courses/production-design/technical-drawing/course-overview
An intensive, practical, week-long course for those practicing or interested in theatre set design July 13-17 2015 Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Gower St, London WC1E 6ED
Technical drawing is a graphic ‘language’ which enables the clear and completely measurable description of three-dimensional structures in flat, printed form. Good, clear technical drawings are essential in the theatre design process. Not only are they necessary for the practical development of the design even in the early stages, and useful for costing at the ‘sketch’ model stage, but the workshops require them at the final stage for clarification of the model and proper realisation of the set. Good technical drawings are an asset within any designer’s portfolio and the practice of drawing stimulates and refines one’s ability to solve problems.
Technical drawing is much like driving a car .. fundamentally it involves more knowledge than skill, though it can be taken to skilful levels. It needs practise, but it can all be learnt! However, there are those who drive well and those who do it badly! Technical drawing is not difficult to do well .. you just have to know how and to continue practising it. The course is a thorough introduction to ‘how’, and we start with an understanding of the fundamentals including:
.. thinking and working in scale; planning and laying-out a drawing; the principles behind ‘orthographic projection’ i.e. choosing multiple viewpoints; using a drawing board and other tools
In the process we look at many of the details of good practice including:
.. labelling or annotating elements in the drawing; styles of lettering, writing measurements; what to include on ground-plans and sections; using recognized symbols and types of line; how to indicate moving parts; tips on easy geometry etc.
The course is aimed at those who come as novices and need a ‘jump start’ in the journey of learning or those already ‘en route’ but in need of a refresher. The week is intensive ..10.00 to 5.00 each day .. involving a lot of concentration, but each day balances the receiving of knowledge through prepared examples and demonstrations, with more hands-on practical exercises. Particular advantage is taken of the fact that RADA has three working theatre spaces to look at and compare with their technical ground-plans and sections. We also make use of RADA’s stock of student models to draw from, illustrating the close collaboration of drawing and model-making within the process.
Another special feature of the course is that you will practise using plain drawing boards and T-squares as opposed to parallel-motion boards. There are a number of good reasons for this: it gives a more effective training in the manual dexterity and mental organization required; it involves less ‘hardware’ maintenance; drawings are easier to keep clean; and finally, once managed, the drawing process can often become easier and more fluid.
All equipment and tools are provided by RADA, but participants are asked to bring their own 0.5mm mechanical pencils (HB and 3H) and a means of taking notes.
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