charcoals and pastels and the end of a semester

I’ll miss this group. Students came in early and students left late. They took on every challenge with great attitude.

The main Drawing 1 assignment is a charcoal still-life focusing on volume and depth. I wish you could see the surface of these studies. The camera doesn’t do them justice.

The charcoal and pastel work are examples of the last days of drawing – sort of breaking out of some of the rules I’d set up for them all semester.

The master reproductions are Drawing 2 student’s final assignment.

…and maybe Collin ↓ will get extra credit for the imaginative title to his work. Please note.

Collin’s “Monkey Scream – The existential horror of being a gorilla skull in an art 111 still-life.

Travis’s Skull

Brittany

Kanata’s broken T-pot

Firm by Robert

Karen’s Tipsy

Jen’s Still-life

Margin’s T-Pot

Victoria

Kestin

Kestin’s Study

Robert’s Study

Gabriela’s Raphael (reproduction)

Jessica’s reproduction Amarita (Indian master)

Natividad’s Alex Katz (reproduction)

Happy Holidays to all my students!

pattern, clothe and the first charcoal study

The goals for this assignment: Learn to use charcoal. Look at and identify value.

In this first study (with new materials) students learn to see value, in particular they work with local value (value intrinsic to the form). Basically they look at darks and lights.
They learn to work charcoal (entirely different from the marker they just mastered).  They set in a ground (mid-tone value) across the entire picture plane. They use a fine point  eraser to set in the composition, going from the general to the specific (also different from the previous ways of developing a composition).  They put down charcoal to set the darkest darks and pick up (erase) charcoal to define the lightest light. They work the surface. They look at and learn to work edges.

I love watching this first charcoal study develop. A different type of understand is formulating and confidence is building.

Brittany’s knot and patterns

Victoria’s pattern and knot

Michael’s knot

Kestin’s swirl and pattern

Maygin’s slip knot and stripes

Robert’s knot and diamond pattern

Kanyata’s knot, stripes, diamonds, zebra, and silk

Natividad’s knot and red cloth

Drawing 2 students work in pastel, a more complicated medium. The focus: local color – true color.

Susan, an advanced student, works with collage. She takes numerous prints (she’s a printmaker) and works to create a new composition. She resists the process at first but then decides she likes it. I do ask her to include drawing – graphite and/or pencil color. One thin connecting thread is what she gives me. I’ll be working on getting her to do more.

Susan’s collage

It’s been a long week. I appreciate the critique and our discussion of local value. This class is committed and continuing the work feels significant.

charcoal and pastel – final work

Here is one good group of students. I know I said this before – they came in, focused, and drew – day after day after day.  Overall, I’d say they were a quiet group. They laughed a bit here and there just to relieve tension, I suspect. They never hesitated to point out which works they liked best and clearly express why.

Our last day of class was no exception. They came in with extra excitement and then we proceeded to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the work. We talked about how the semester played out for each of them.

A challenge I do have is teaching various levels of drawing students in one 2 hour and 45 minute class session. You’ll see examples from all the levels and you’ll note that some of the work might be unfinished.  I teach realism. They learn to look and they learn to put down what they see.

Susan’s Tortoise, mixed media on (we never knew what kind of) paper

Gwynn’s Flower Rag Boogie, pastel on BFK

Gwynn’s master reproduction, a Georgia O’Keeffe, pastel on BFK

Jessica’s charcoal still life on BFK

Sofia’s Glass Bottles on BFK

Yari’s Terrific as Terrific gets, charcoal study on BFK

Fabiola’s Friday Night, charcoal study on BFK

Deja’s Pearly Whites, charcoal study on BFK

Gabriela’s Still Life on BFK

Jennifer’s Rope, charcoal study on BFK

Ehteli’s Absract, charcoal study on BFK

Jennifer’s Great Knot, value study

Sofia’s Accidental, value study

Ehthlei’s value study

Bravilio’s Faint Memories of Freedom, value study

Dustin’s value study

Class is over. Grades are in.

I have a feeling most of this group will continue to draw throughout the summer.

the last day of drawing class

Discipline in art is a fundamental struggle to understand oneself, as much as to understand what one is drawing. Henry Moore

We have lots of conversation this semester. We talk about art, looking, seeing, putting down what one sees, and focus. We discuss art as discipline, as practice.

Look closely, work carefully. Look closely, draw slowly. Are you drawing what you see?  Look. Look. Look again. See.

This last critique includes final charcoal studies. The group stays focused with this medium. They work to make the surface of their drawing look smooth and rich. They consider the shape and material of objects, dark darks, light lights, values in between, edges, space and illusion of depth.

Have a good break – you all deserve it!

Susan’s knot.

 

Aimee’s knot.

 

Pedro’s pattern work.

Jorge

 

Jorge’s skull drawing.

Leah

 

Leah’s skull drawing.

Aimee and Susan

 

Aimee’s wine glass.

Renee

 

Renee’s bottle tops.

 

Pedro and Charles

 

Charles’ containers and candlestick

Giovanni

 

Giovanni’s metal watering can.

Below is an extra charcoal drawing Susan worked on. Susan doesn’t need any extra credit, she’s got 5 extra credit drawings in the queue – but just in case.