Today's Class- Today we started by looking at the ink wash drawings completed in class last week. Then we spent most of the day trying a new drawing medium- conte crayons. They have a clay base and are a little harder than charcoal, which allows for a more precise placing of marks, but makes it a little more difficult to blend. Also, they come in a variety of colors.
How to make this up- Set up a typical still life. Put a box on a table and drape with a white or light colored cloth. Find 3 simple objects of similar size, one white or light colored, two medium or dark colored. Arrange on and around the box and shine a direct light on it to create light and shadow patterns.
Black Crayon- Draw the still life on a sheet of your 18" x 24" paper using the black crayon. As with charcoal, pay attention to the shapes of each object,and the relative proportions and locations of the objects. Try to match the original values from the still life as closely as possible. It will be difficult to blend it with just your fingers, but a blending tool (such as white paper tortillions or stumps sold in the drawing section of art supply stores), or even a bit of paper towel will make blending much easier. Some students like using kneaded erasers for this, while erasers for pencil do a better job actually erasing the crayon. Spend up to 90 minutes on the drawing.
Red Crayon- Rearrange the objects and draw the set up again on another sheet of 18" x 24" paper, this time using the red crayon. There are student examples from a previous semester above and below. All of the same concerns of value drawing still apply, however the red crayon is lighter than black, so at its darkest will never be as dark as black conte crayon or charcoal, and you may have to adjust your relative values in the drawing. Again, spend about 90 minutes working on it.
These are portfolio exercises, which must be made up by the last day of the semester in order to receive credit for them.
Homework- Arrange a knife, fork, and spoon on a medium dark surface, so that none of the utensils are parallel to each other. Draw the set up in your sketchbook using the black crayon. Account for any visible reflections or shadows. Draw the same arrangement again on a new page of your sketchbook using the red crayon. Then rearrange the utensils, again so that none are parallel to each other and draw two more times, once black, once red, for a total of 4 pages of sketches.
For next class 11/23/11- We will explore a new medium, the monotype, a form of printmaking that is very much related to value drawing. You will need a printing plate (a smooth piece of glass, plexiglass/plastic, or metal, about 8" x 10"), black oil paint or oil based relief ink, paint brushes and anything that can be used to manipulate paint and create textures, and your 18" x 24 pad. I'll provide everything else you'll need.
