V an Gogh. Da Vinci. Escher. They are all famous names in art history, and they all started with sketches before stepping out into the artistic media for which they are known.

And that’s why Andalusia Adult Activity Center art instructor Kathy Grantham hopes to instill drawing basics in minds of students taking her newest class – sketch art.

“Drawing is really a prerequisite to painting,” she said.

Thursday was the first day of the twice-monthly class, and students got right to work learning to sketch a sphere, while learning about lines, dots and positive and negative spaces.

Students also learned how to blend with stumps and how to utilize the stump tool in drawing.

“In the next class, we’ll work with cans and boxes,” Grantham said. “And then we’ll learn about vanishing points and perspective, and things like buildings and houses – geometric and organic.”

Grantham said eventually, students will learn to use color, oils and soft pastels.

“This class should lead them into oils,” she said.

The class meets on the second and fourth Thursdays from 3 p.m. until 5 p.m. Cost is $10, and students are responsible for supplies, which include items such as a sketch board, newspaper print, drawing sketch pad, charcoal, color charcoal, erasers, a drawing pencil set, conte pencils, soft pastel set and oil pastel set.

Grantham said there are seven or eight people signed up and she has room for two more students.