COLOR: Dice and Balls

Christian

David

Veroncia

Last night the class made colored pencil drawings on black paper. When working on toned paper, it is beneficial to take advantage of the local value of the paper. In the case of black paper, the shadows are already present. Therefore, the approach is to work from dark to light as opposed to white paper where one works from light to dark. First the light areas are sketched in with white pencil working around the shadows. Then the colors are applied.
Christian's drawing at the top has a lot of character with a complementary color scheme of tertiary colors (yellow-green and red-violet or magenta). The quirky shapes are complemented by expressive rendering of the values and simple, stylized marks in the background.
David's drawing too exhibits lively mark-making and bold highlights. His drawing illustrates the power and importance in using the white pencil.
Veronica's drawing exhibits very acidic and electrified complementary colors. Again the mark-making supports the colors in a very active way. In addition, notice how she has placed proportional amounts of each color across the composition to reinforce unity.

COLOR: Still life, Dice and Balls

Apollonio Fontanilla

Devon Ste. Marie-Rubin

Lyric Croxford

Friday morning began with a discussion on Color Schemes and a still life consisting of colored dice and balls. In the afternoon, students made their own still life arrangements or drew from bones. Apo's drawing (top) exhibits a primarily complementary color scheme. He has embellished and manipulated the three objects giving them life by animating and exaggerating their forms.
Devon has very skillfully rendered a skull employing temperature changes with the colors. The skull is very warm with the yellow and white hues. The interior of the skull radiates heat with a fiery red glow.
Lyrics drawing (bottom) is very surreal and dreamy. The colors are muted and the light is soft, appearing moonlit. She has balanced the composition by dividing the space into groups. The placement of the eyeballs establishes a triangular movement.

MON. 4/29 Self-Portraits continued

Colton Davis

Students began work on self-portraits in the method and medium of their choice. In the drawing above, Colton has decided to work with colored pencils. His method utilizes long parallel hatch lines that follow the cross-contours of the face. The icy-blue color of his eyes is set of by the warm, reddish-orange accents in the flesh tones.

THURS. 11/10 COLOR: Large Scale Still Life

Govinda Taskey

Students began work on personal, large scale still life on black paper.  These drawings are a combination of objects from observation as well as imagination. This is a two-day project to be completed this coming Tuesday. The drawing above is in progress.

11/8 Color: Large Scale Comps

Monday night students completed the large scale compositions. Autumn La Rue's drawing above is a good example of the striking use of color as well as humorous narratives that many students explored with their drawings.  Autumn's handling of the pencils is very painterly in her application.  The layering of colors and accenting creates a very luminous and textured surface.  The intense colors complement the urgency of the situation evoking a scene from Jurassic Park or a Los Angeles billboard for a dinosaur theme park.

HOMEWORK #8 Color

Choose three small objects and make a drawing using a color scheme that complements the subjects in mood and/or function. Pay attention to compositional balance, positive and negative relationships and eye level. Remember when dealing with color to consider the value as well as hue.  Furthermore, you will get a richer and more luminous drawing when you layer colors rather than just filling in (ex. using orange to render an orange (fruit) would be somewhat dull and flat whereas layering in some red, yellow, white and possibly blue or green would be striking and more volumetric). In the drawing above note the use of blues and greens within the shadows of the yellow bottle and the combining of primary colors within the metal snips.

11/3 Color (Large Scale)

Students began large scale color drawings.  The assignment is to create a drawing in color consisting of three or more objects or one complex object like a skull.  These drawings are in progress; students will complete the drawings Monday night before we move on to Portraits.  The drawing above is by Travis Gilbert.

11/1 Color

Monday evening the class made drawings using colored pencils on black paper.  We discussed color schemes and their potential to complement and enhance the content or mood of a drawing before choosing our subjects.  Each student worked from a single item, mostly skulls and antlers, some bones.  Trevor Finley's drawing (top) is loosely based on a primary triad color scheme whereas Leah Erickson's drawing below illustrates the strong emotive quality of using a single hue for a monochromatic color scheme.

4/14 Drawing in Color

Drawings from T/Th class. This drawing by Ashley Duncan exhibits rich colors and textures achieved by slowly building up the values and colors through layering and using multiple colored pencils.  Note the range of color found in the hammer head.  Rather than just using black to create grays, Ashley has included a violet hue to add warmth, richness and luminosity.

Adam Sanchez has used a dominant color scheme of green and red with a subordinate color scheme of violet and yellow. Note with this drawing how he uses yellow to move the eye around the composition.  This drawing is in progress.

Jackie Kruzic's drawing, although unfinished, reveals a very smooth, layered and confident use of color.  The colors are rich and luminous.  Jackie too has used a very controlled and layered technique in her application of combining colors to achieve the desired color and value.  The key here is to"take your time."

4/12 Colored Pencil Composition

M/W class started working on 3-5 object compositions using colored pencil on white paper.  General compositional strategies applied (i.e. cropping, engaging negative areas, etc.) as well as the requirement to choose a Color Scheme. Above is an in-progress shot of a drawing by Kate Picchi.  Kate has chosen to go with a monochromatic color scheme of blue with hints of the other primary colors for accents and shadows.  The color blue is very complementary to the cold nature of the objects being drawn. This drawing also demonstrates Kate's understanding of composition.  Not only is it well layed out with implied diagonals and interesting negative areas but she has wisely chosen to repeat the puzzle pieces of which in actuality there is only one.

4/8 Colored Pencil on Black Paper

Selections from the Tues./ Thurs. class.

This drawing by Skye Walker exhibits some beautiful and textural rendering around the cut area of the antler.  The highlighted twisting forms are particularly well done as well.

Carol Venolia's manipulation of the colors is masterfully executed.  This complementary color scheme of yellows and violets was achieved with primary colors and white.  Furthermore, the expressive mark-making adds texture and volume to the form.

 Brenda Dixon's drawing exhibits smooth and fluid transitions throughout this almost complementary color scheme of greens and reds.  The strong use of highlights add an extra sparkle and richness to the drawing making it "pop".

4/7 Colored Pencil on Black Paper

M/W class began their colored pencil drawings. We started with a lecture on some color theory focusing on the various "color schemes"-- colors that work well together.  Students drew with the primary colors and black and white on black paper.  Alan DeMarche's employed a more dense and saturated application of color whereas Emile Rosewater used a more "airy" or layered technique.  Alan also began his drawing by laying in a base of white.  In other words, he started by addressing all the highlights and midtones in white working towards the shadows and dark areas.

Emile used the warmers on the surface of the skull and in the highlights and used the "cooler" blue hue in the shadows and receding planes.

Colored Pencil Drawings

Thursday evening we started working with colored pencils.  In the first example shown, the drawing was initiated in red.  Next, I went over all the red with blue.  And lastly I went over the red and blue areas excluding the contours with yellow.  Notice that the yellow doesn't cover the entire skull.  Some areas utilize the tone of the paper for highlights.  In the scribble gesture drawing, again I started with red, switching to blue and then yellow.  At that point, I began to alternate more rapidly between the colors.  Being a gestural approach to drawing, I tried to maintain the energy and spontaneity not only with the mark-making but with the color handling as well.  As I approached completion of the drawing, I added the black with yellow on top.  Finishing a drawing with a warm color like yellow is a great way to add a sense of luminosity and depth, not unlike "glazing" in painting.  In Arianna Preston's drawing (cow skull), she has separated the warm and cool colors which gives the drawing a sense  of time and place.  As in the last glowing rays of the sun as it sets.