Figure Drawing Workshop

Figure Drawing Workshop with Janet Downingstar
Sunday March 22, 2026 from 1-4pm
Guild Gallery, 24353 Redwood Hwy. Kerby, OR 97531
Class Fee: $50-$75 Sliding Scale + $30 Materials Fee (optional)

Have you been wanting to hone your life drawing skills but working from photos or videos feels limiting? Join us for our first Figure Drawing Workshop at the Southern Oregon Guild on Sunday March 22 from 1-4pm! Enjoy 3 hours of moderated figure drawing sessions with 2 live nude models in the Guild Gallery. The sessions will include short gestures and longer sustained poses alongside breaks. Guild Member and local Kerby artist Janet Downingstar will instruct students through a variety of drawing excercises to practice accuracy and translation of the human form in various perspectives. Learn or refresh drawing techniques of gesture, contour, foreshortening, light and shadow to learn or refresh skills for creating art representations of our human form. Students will walk away with a basic understanding of anatomy to create unique, expressive drawings!

Adults 18 years and older from beginning to advanced levels are welcome. Students can either bring their own drawing materials for no additional fee (we suggest charcoal, conte, graphite, pencils, chalk pastels, kneaded eraser) or pay $30 and receive/keep:

• 4-pack set of Conte-a-Paris Classic Crayons
• 1 Faber-Castell Charcoal Sketch Set (include eraser/blender)
• 18x24 Strathmore Smooth Newsprint Pad (50 sheets)
• 19x25 Sheet of Black Canson Mi-Teintes Paper
• 18x24 Masonite Drawing Board + 3” metal clip

Students will be able to keep all materials after the workshop to continue working at home to finish drawings and/or continue in future Gallery sessions. If there is enough interest among students, we will form a lower-cost monthly series based on model availability.

Class fees are on a sliding scale $50-$75 to fairly compensate our 2 models, instructor, and Guild staff. When you register, please honestly self-select your contribution. Choose a tier that supports you to commit and that may be a stretch but not a hardship. By paying at the highest level you help subsidize others and offer scholarships to support a wider range of people. If the sliding scale would be a hardship and you’d like to request a scholarship, please send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call us at 541-592-5019.

ABOUT JANET DOWNINGSTAR: Early in her artistic career, Janet Downingstar started out as a portrait artist and gradually moved from human subjects to more-than human lifeforms, like birds and trees. Janet uses detailed techniques that put great care into her portraits in attempt to get to know the subjects better and to showcase their unique qualities. Alongside portraits, she also creates painted designs on functional and wearable pieces that celebrate nature such as room dividers, leather bags, and more. These designs are often inspired by Anishinaabe design styles – specifically Ojibwe of the Great Lakes region, who she is a descendent of. Janet uses acrylics, oil paints, fabric, metallic paints, and pigment powders in a variety of mediums on everything she creates. She enjoys painting scenes both in her studio and in plein-air that tell stories, combining both realism and design styles to showcase the unique interconnection to all things that which she is related. You can find a selection of Janet's artwork currently on display inside the Guild Gallery & Art Center in Kerby, Oregon.