Form of the Fight: Live Historical Sword Combat Figure Drawing Workshop

"Form of the Fight" is a collision of passions. Stephen, a ranked competitive historical fencer, and Vicki, a trained fine artist, have collaborated to explore the history of the human form as seen in historical fencing manuals and manuscripts, bringing it into the modern era as a series of live figure drawing workshops.

Today, historical illustrations are used to recreate longsword combat as it was practiced 600 years ago. Models will demonstrate the skills they've studied and practiced as a series of live poses (performed with blunted tournament swords) to explore the movement, musculature, dynamics and momentum in each technique. In a series of timed posing sessions, sword combat positions will be demonstrated alongside the specific historical illustrations they’ve been translated from.

There will be opportunities for critique and review of each sketch after posing sessions, and a Q+A portion at the end. Between posing sessions, there will be short lessons on the principles, theories and techniques of sword combat throughout history, as well as the history of the manuscripts that recorded them. This workshop is designed to be welcoming to newcomers as well as experienced artists. Artists are welcome to bring their own mediums and materials; charcoal, soft erasers, paper and easels will be provided for up to 10 participants.

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