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Extended Studies

Illustrate Your Art

Learn to Draw Illustrations with Drew McSherry

Victoriam illustration
Drew McSherry Drawing Class

We’re changing our gaze from the rainy outdoors to people and places from sunnier climes. In this edition of Inspiring Instructors, we share the spotlight on Drew McSherry, a relatively new arrival from Salinas, California.

Drew brings with him his skills in drawing & illustration, to broaden our course offerings with his inventive, imaginative classes and so that you can learn to illustrate your art through his drawing class! As no one can speak more eloquently about their skills, we open the floor to Drew: “The arts are a source of constant discovery and exploration. I have a fondness for most movements, styles, and mediums of art and the classes I teach reflect this. I have tried to familiarize myself with a lot of different techniques not only because it make you a more well-rounded artist but that learning is a never ending process and one should never be content on the journey of their artistic development.

Originally from the United States, my artistic journey began at around the age of five. I was always drawing and my favourite activity was copying illustrations from the Ed Emberley series of drawing books. This was my first introduction to art, and I fell in love. For a good portion of my young childhood I was primarily self-taught, drawing from my imagination or from art books that my parents purchased. However, in eighth grade I began to receive a more formal drawing class education in the form of a private art teacher. As I progressed through my art education my skills and passion developed and after leaving high school I pursued a bachelor of arts in graphic design from Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles. Upon graduation I was not satisfied with the heavy design emphasis of my education and wanted to pursue a more traditional art avenue. I decided to attend The Academy of Art University in San Francisco in order to receive my Masters in Fine Art in children’s book illustration. After graduation I slowly began a career in illustration. I began freelancing, taking on small jobs illustrating for various products including wine labels. A few years after graduation I met my wife who happened to be a journalist for National Public Radio. We soon combined our talents to write a series of children’s books based around shapes that teaching students the fundamentals of drawing and geometry. From there I began and illustrating my own books and illustrating and partnering with authors on their projects. Some of the books I have illustrated are: Terrance the Trapezoid, The Alphabet Book of Legendary Creatures, The Wild Buck, and The Mutant Counting Book.

Currently I am working on several books. Bella Sophia: A Mermaid’s Tale is a book I am working on with an author from my hometown of Monterey. I am also writing and illustrating a young adult novella entitled Arthur Grimley of the Damned. As well as illustrating I am also constantly creating artwork for Ugallery, an online art gallery based out of San Francisco, and showing my work locally.” Drew has been introducing a wild range of art and drawing classes, all designed to help strengthen drawing skills for beginners. Be it based around monsters, animals, or improving your storytelling skills, Drew has something for every imaginative person! NSCAD Extended Studies prides itself on offering classes designed to encourage every beginner and to help you grow your skills. Our unique art classes are for all ages, and don’t require prior knowledge: all you need to engage in a class with us is enthusiasm!

This term, Drew has Intro to Illustration (Wednesday evenings 6:30-9:30pm from May 9th-June 20th) and Intro to Animal Drawing (Thursday evenings 6:30-9:30pm from May 10th-June 21st) on offer, with many exciting classes for youth in the summer and some truly fantastic courses coming for Fall 2018!

Drawing Class
Drew McSherry’s Illustration Drawing Class

Registration is available online or by calling our Finance Office at 902 494 8185. For NSCAD Alumni and seniors (age 65+), we’re happy to offer a 20% discount; just call our Finance Office for more information.

In addition to Drew’s drawing classes, we have many other fantastic classes available: Intermediate Drawing with Patrick Burgomaster, Comics & Sequential Art with Kyle Bridgett, Letterpress Printing with Katherine Taylor, and many more. Stay tuned for our next Inspiring Instructor blog post!