Higher Certificate in Drawing.

1 YEAR - FULL TIME - NQF 5 

  • Higher Certificate in Drawing:

    Drawing is seen as a fundamental skill for those entering the creative educational sectors or industries. The ability to see, imagine and visualise is a core skill to bring the world and new imaginative ideas to life. Being able to draw is like having the magical ability to record and transform reality in innovative ways.

    "I have learned that what I have not drawn, I have never really seen, and that when I start drawing an ordinary thing, I realise how extraordinary it is, sheer miracle." –Frederick Franck

    The Higher Certificate in Drawing is a one-year programme that gives students a solid foundation in techniques, practice and theoretical aspects of drawing. It focuses unashamedly on traditional, mostly observational, drawing and the theory that underpins this practice. As such, design principles and elements will be explored through figure, object, constructional and digital drawing. In this process ways of looking, seeing, understanding and rendering are developed.

    This programme is viewed primarily as wonderful preparation for degrees in the Visual Communication such as Design, Illustration, Animation, Multimedia, etc. However, the Higher Certificate could also allow students to gain access to entry-level employment in various sectors of the visual communication industry such as animation, storyboarding, concept art, book publishing, infographics and design studios. They could also embark on an artistic career.

  • Close-up of a marble surface with swirled and layered gray, black, and white patterns.

    The curriculum:

    The practical section of the curriculum has been divided into four parts, namely Figure Drawing, Constructional Drawing, Object and Conceptual Drawing, and Digital Drawing, while the more theoretical aspects will be dealt with in History of Drawing. Additionally, Methods and Techniques is a combination of both practical and theoretical aspects which explores the different drawing materials and substrates (i.e. paper). The following section will give a brief overview of each subject.