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Workshops: Oil Painting Charcoal Acrylic Portrait Journaling
Charcoal Workshop
June 11, 2011
Arts Alliance
Sandpoint, ID
This very flexible, fluid and forgiving way to draw is much like painting. It's fun and a great way to practice picture making. You will learn to work with values alone to make a picture, an important skill to master. Charcoal drawing can be a stand-alone work of art. It can also be used as a preliminary sketch or study for a painting. It’s recommended for on location work prior to going out with paints.
Hard at work.
Participants completed multiple drawings.
Schedule
1. PLAY WITH MATERIALS AND TOOLS
2. EVOKE "SPRING" WITH CHARCOAL
3. SEVEN VALUE GRAY SCALE
4. CONTINUOUS TONE GRAY SCALE
5. APPLE & PEAR FROM IMAGINATION, METHOD 1
6. DRAWINGS FROM REFERENCE, METHOD 2
1. First we played with the materials and tools.
Mine became a forest interior.
2. We tried to express 'Spring'.
3. Seven-value gray scale
4. Apple and pear from memory & imagination.
Method 1
Draw border with marker.
Sketch in apple and pear with 4B pencil.
Think of five or six simple shapes.
Fill in each shape with a smooth, uniform value of it's own.
Modify each shape slightly to make it look like
apple, pear, shadow, background, table.
5. Working from reference.
Method 2
Make border with marker.
Sketch with 4B pencil.
Black areas with marker.
Overall gray tone with vine charcoal.
Pick out light areas with kneaded eraser.
Charcoal and white Conte as needed.
All participants did very well.
So well that I proudly awarded to each
The Coveted
Reference used by participants
-s.jpg)
A few examples:
Snow Creek in Spring
Art Print starting at $19
On location drawing.
Charcoal is a great way to practice picture making...quick and easy.
Study for painting.
Backyard sketch.
Storage shed sketch.
Mountains to the south.
A charcoal sketch, 15x10", study for an oil portrait. It is actually on blue paper since that was readily available...vine charcoal and white pastel. By doing this I become familiar with the subject, the pose, the values. It allows me a preview of the finished piece. Unlike most traditional portraits this one will be strongly backlit. I've made the features too prominent in this.
Breakwater
Charcoal/Felt tip pen on paper
6x9"
8.5x11" cover stock from life.
From life.
The old tree.
Sketch from life for portrait.
Preliminary sketch.
From life on toned paper.
Plein air at the wildlife refuge.
Life drawing.
Study for painting.
Poplar and shed.
Thumbnail sketch.
Plein air sketch with digital adjustments.
Materials List
The items
below are available from
Dick Blick Art Supply online.
Support this site by
using this link,
Thanks!
4B pencil;
Felt-tip markers, fine and chisel;
Vine Charcoal, fat and thin
Conte, black and white;
Erasers, Extra Soft and kneaded;
Paper Towel and facial tissue;
Chamois;
Stumps;
Sketch book,
Fingers and
Can of Hair Spray for fixative or workable fixative.
Old shirt or apron
Note: Charcoal pencils have not been included in the materials list. That doesn't mean you should never use them. They are perfectly acceptable and well worth giving a try. Vine charcoal is easier to work with. Large areas can be covered quickly and then removed easily.
THE PROCESS:
1.Draw a border all around. Sketch in the composition with the pencil.
2. Confirm the drawing with the fine felt tip pen darkening only essential key points you don't want to loose because all the pencil lines are going to disappear.
3. With the broad felt tip fill in the darkest shapes.
4. Rub the large vine charcoal over all the white area remaining. Gently smooth the charcoal with the chamois to make a uniform middle gray.
5. With the extra soft eraser remove charcoal in light areas. The kneaded eraser will bring back the white paper in the very lightest areas. The paper towel is for removing charcoal, blending, making marks and wiping fingers. The stumps are good for blending small areas.
6. Then it's a matter of adding and removing charcoal, working back and forth until you're happy with the effect.
7. Use the white Conte at the end for white lines and highlights or even to make a black area white if needed.
Downloads
Right click on the link, left click 'Open link in new
window..."
Save to your harddrive
Color Wheel & Mixing Grays Chart...pdf, 7kb
Workshop Guide...doc, 261kb
Videos
Final Advice
. You will find a lot of instructional material on my website: www.buildart.com/blog.htm and in my new book, 'Real Art Real Easy', search for it on Amazon.com.
More Learning Activities
1. Copy an old master's painting.
2. Paint on location, en plein air; or do a still life.
3. Study art history.
4. Memorize and understand the elements and principles of art.
5. Attend life drawing sessions.
6. Frequent galleries and museums.
7. Study art instruction books and videos.
8. Join a critique group.
9. Sketch everywhere you go.
10. Try a new style.
11. Do timed paintings of 25, 45 and 60 minutes.
Learning to paint is a life-long journey. Remember...it's supposed to be fun!
Robert Bissett
rbissett@buildart.com
www.buildart.com/blog.htm
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Charcoal is a great way to practice picture making...quick and easy.
Next was a color mixing and brush handling exercise. We
copied a Calvin and Hobbs cartoon.
Bill Watterson is a very good artist. His cartoon landscapes employ many of the
elements
and principles of art we are interested in learning in a simplified form. Here
is one done by a student...
This 12x12" painting was shown and discussed. See the steps below.
Concept - pleasant moment in the woods.
Finished
The black outline. Notice the pencil lines used to 'square
up' the drawing.
The cropping and composition had already be worked out on the computer.
The wash in. First attempt at color and value. Notice how the
black lines
have nearly disappeared.
Another layer of paint has been added correcting drawing,
color and value.
Interest and variety has been added.
Nearly done. The faces need more attention and the plastic jug
needs to be
lowered in value because it is competing with the face.
Finally, I did this painting demo of a corner of the studio.
1. Divide up the 2D space of the canvas with black paint in an interesting way.
2. Much of the scene was left out...simplify.
3. Block in - mix approximate colors and scrub on loosely and thinly.
4. Began rendering the chair.
5. About half an hour...not enough time to finish.
6. I would have mixed thicker paint correcting colors and values.
7. I would have added accents and highlights, the darkest and lightest spots,
plus more intense color accents here and there.
Thanks to Lizzy for handling all the arrangements and to
those
who attended. A lot of material was covered in two days.
My plan was to expose participants to techniques and methods of picture making.
Not so much 'how to paint' because while putting paint on canvas is important
the thinking
and planning that happens before ever picking up a brush is far more important.
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