COLOR

Last night students worked with color pencils from their own still life arrangements. They were given the option to work on two small pieces for the week or one large. Pix to follow.

INK: wash

Guendalina Codella

Last Friday students made wash drawings from a large still life arrangement. The whole class dug in a bit more than expected so we didn't get to color pencils. We will address color pencils this Friday. Guendalina has made a beautiful drawing exploring ink and wash techniques. Her approach employs both direct wash drawing as well as wet on wet. The values are rich adding volume and a strong sense of light. Those of you familiar with this still life arrangement will notice that she pushed the funnel and book out to the right strengthening the direction and balancing the composition.

COLOR PENCILS: Dice and Balls

Jay Odenthal

Leah Lehr

Last night students began working with color pencils. Before drawing we briefly discussed color schemes and the properties of color and working with color pencils in particular as opposed to paint. The drawings above illustrate two different approaches.
Jay, at the top, has taken a more layered and expressive method of applying color. Notice how subtle accents of red in the yellow and blues and reds in the violet help to unify the composition by relating to each other and the background as well.
Leah's drawing is more tonal and objective in her rendering. She ,as well, has balanced the colors unifying the space and objects. Her rendering with soft contours accented in white rather than black has captured the soft, foam composition of the dice. In addition, both drawings have used the black of the paper well, drawing around the cast shadows and darker tonalities. 

INK WASH

Last night students tried their hands at ink and wash. To achieve the most amount of clarity with washes, it is best to work in layers allowing the first to dry before applying the second. In addition, students mixed 2 - 3 values in cups of water. As in Richards drawing above, some students employed pen techniques as well. The strong diagonal division balances the cluster of forms against the open, atmospheric background. The cloud-like washes  are achieved by working wet on wet (flooding the ink into pools of water). The linear elements add structure while the wash provides a sense of light as well as addressing the local values.

INDIA INK: The Exquisite Corpse and Still Life Studies

Friday morning began with a game of the "Exquisite Corpse" as an introduction to the tools and techniques of working with India ink and pens. In the afternoon, we drew from still life arrangements. Both drawings below illustrates the combination of wash and line techniques. The wash provides a foundation tonality while the line work adds structure, texture and value.

Gianna Davy

Guendalina Codella

INDIA INK: Still Life

Lauren Tokunaga

Last night students continued drawing with India ink. Lauren's drawing above is an example of the stippling technique for creating value (dots). The stipple technique yields smooth gradations and soft tonalities.

Jane Collier

Hatching techniques tend to be bolder images as evidenced in Jane's drawing. By employing criss-crossing patterns of lines, she has established strong, contrasting tonalities. In addition, she has diluted the ink with water to create light gray lines as well.

INDIA INK: The Exquisite Corpse

Last night students made Exquisite Corpse drawings exploring the techniques of hatching, stippling, and patterns using India ink and pens. The seal head above exhibits a short hatch technique. The midsection of the drawing also employs the short hatch technique with patterns as well as bold, solid shapes of black. Lastly, the bottom section illustrates a range of thick and thin marks addressing tonal qualities as well as texture.