Course

No.2 Pencil: a Crash Course in Drawing CEXTN31-202680

Ended Oct 24, 2026
Instructor: Erik Parra

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Full course description

No.2 Pencil: a Crash Course in Drawing
 
10/24/2026, Saturday, 10:00am-2:00pm

This one-day drawing intensive workshop is for everyone, from absolute beginners to seasoned artists. Beginning with foundational exercises on building form, shape, line, and value, everyone will make progress with technique and concepts. One of the main ideas behind this workshop is that drawing is easy and can be done anywhere with minimal means. We’ll discuss sketching vs drawing, drawing as communication, developing a sketchbook practice, and successfully making drawings from different sources (life, photographs and our imagination). I will introduce and demonstrate use and preparation of a wide range of traditional and non-traditional drawing materials, and the class materials list contains both required and suggested tools. Ultimately this class is designed for the range of students to have success: from those who grab a few office supplies on the way to class, as well as for the established artist who owns a host of drawing materials, and everyone in between.

Materials:

Minimal Tools:

A no.2 pencil

Sketchbook

Pencil sharpener

Plastic eraser

Maximal Tools:

Drawing pencils (a range of hardnesses/blacknesses is preferred but at minimum 2B, B, H; buying individual pencils is fine as is buying a presorted kit)

Pencil sharpener

Plastic eraser

Kneaded eraser

Graphite sticks

Xacto knife

Sand paper

tortillon/blending stomp

Non toxic fixative

Sketchbook (size is your preference as is binding, somewhere between 5x7 ish inches and 11x14ish inches; for the absolute beginner I recommend a 9x 12inch wirebound sketchbook)

 

Pad of Drawing Paper (either 8x 10, 9x 12, or 11x 14inches)

Instructor Bio:

Erik Richard Parra was born and raised along the vibrant border metroplex of El Paso, Texas/ Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. He was raised by a father who was a painter and a mother who was a school teacher in a “Midcentury Modern” house full of books, country music, sports, film, jazz, painting, and cartoons. He began drawing as soon as he could hold a pencil but started studying painting, seriously at the University of Texas at Austin where he received his Bachelor of Fine Arts. After graduation Erik moved to San Francisco, where he taught at the San Francisco Children’s Art Center. One year later he went on to study and ultimately receive his Master of Fine Arts degree in the 2-d area at the University of Wisconsin—Madison, on fellowship.

Upon completion of his MFA he moved to Brooklyn, NY where he maintained a studio, taught art and exhibited his artwork. After three years he accepted a temporary adjunct position teaching color theory at his alma mater, UW Madison. After this appointment Erik moved his studio back to San Francisco in order to collaborate on Fivepoints Arthouse, a dynamic artist run alternative exhibition space based on the traditional “art house” model. He worked as head curator for three years and developed the visual art programme for this project that hosted film screenings, live music and literary events in addition to curated art exhibitions for five years.
 
Currently he maintains a studio based in the Bay View section of San Francisco, California. Erik has exhibited internationally in alternative spaces, commercial galleries and museums. He has had solo exhibitions in San Francisco, Portland and Reno and group exhibitions in Berlin, Brazil, Los Angeles, London and New York. In the Bay Area Erik’s work has been exhibited at Blankspace Gallery, Johansson Projects, The Headlands Center for the Arts, Root Division, Southern Exposure, Kala Art Institute, the Berkeley Art Center and most recently at Eleanor Harwood Gallery. His work is widely held in private and corporate collections in the US and abroad. Erik’s work has been included in publications including New American Paintings, the SF Bay Guardian and the LA Times.

Erik has taught art to students of all ages in a variety of media including painting, drawing, serigraphy and ceramics. He has taught at many different types of spaces & programs including Southern Exposure and the San Francisco Arts Education Project. Currently he teaches at City College of San Francisco and at the California College of the Arts. Additionally, he works on commissions, lectures at universities, and garners residencies. Most recently he was awarded an inaugural Liquitex Research Residency.

Image credit: Erik Parra

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