COLOR: Dice and Balls

Morgan Caricchio

Sarena Dunn

Last night students began working with colored pencils on black paper. Each student had a still life of one die, one ball and a letter or number to hold the ball in place. When working on toned paper of any color or value, one should take advantage of what that tone provides. On black paper, you are working from dark to light. The opposite of working on white paper. The shadows are already present, you just need to create the lighter tonalities around them.
Morgan's drawing (top) has a more open and grainy application of the pencil. Much more of the paper is revealed through her marks than in Sarena's drawing (bottom). Sarena has heavily applied the pencil in the objects with a more open application in the table and background. Both drawings exhibit a strong, bold and dramatic sense of light. This is a benefit of working on black paper. In addition, both students have employed layered and expressive marks that add dynamics and energy to the compositions.