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Thursday evening we studied the subject of value and created images by negative drawing (removing charcoal pigment from paper with an eraser.)  We also did drawings with charcoal on a white surface. At the end of the 4 hour session everyone did very competent and sometimes lovely drawings that created the illusion of light.  Everyone also now has experience in chiaroscuro, will be aware of the value scale in their work, and how it impacts the nature of the resulting drawing and the experience of the viewer.  Thanks again to all of you for your hard work and enthusiasm.  For a larger image, click on the thumbnail.

After a long day at work, it might seem that another half day in the studio would be arduous, but that was not evident.  Everyone seemed most engaged with their artistic endeavors.  Below is a collage of images which represent some of what we did. Next week we will spend the time on the subject of composition, including the framing and edges of the frame and how they impact the drawing.  We also will draw from the model, who is scheduled to arrive in the second part of the class.

We did gesture drawings for about 40 minutes last night, with everybody posing.  We then talked about analytical drawing, aids to measurement and careful observation and the connection between the eye and the hand in creating a representation.  We drew birds and each other.  Below is a collage of images from the evening.  Everyone worked very hard for about 4 hours, learned much and produced some very interesting images.  Thanks again to you all.  For those whose work and images are not represented as much as others, please note that I will be posting images all semester long, and that everyone will be represented.   Next class will be devoted to value studies using charcoal. Details will be sent to you later by email and are also summarized on the handout given out in class last night.  To see a larger and more complete image from the gallery below, click on the thumbnail.

We did a variety of drawing exercises last night, focused from the beginning on the topic of Drawing to Learn.  We looked at the drawing journals of creative people who use drawing as a way of exploration in their fields.  We then did a variety of exercises, exploring both intuitive and loose gesture drawing, as well as tightly controlled and measured analytical drawing.  We will continue this work next time.  Thanks to all of you who worked so hard for such a long time last night.  I appreciate your enthusiasm and spirit.  I’ll try and have an outline up on the web soon which will elaborate what we will be doing next week.  Below are some images from your work last night. You can click on the small thumbnail image to see a larger image.  Great work!!!

We met late yesterday afternoon and early evening (Thursday, Sept., 2) for the first class.  The room was 85 degrees and I marvel at the air conditioned Davis Center, with its restaurants, pool tables, lounges and 50 foot ceilings, while the lecture halls and rooms in Cook/Angell (even the 300 student rooms) were insufferably hot and humid.  My chemist colleagues and their hundreds of students came out dripping – not a good environment for learning.  But I  shouldn’t complain.  Our class went outside under the trees  (next to the bulldozers and backhoes) to begin learning the basics of drawing what you see, not what you know.  To mark, look, compare the drawing to subject, and repeat that sequence throughout the drawing process…. not look for a long time and then draw for a long time looking only at the emerging drawing. We practiced shape consciousness drawing hands and feet, drawing up close to the subject, and then farther away, and also how to measure relative sizes and translate them from the world to the page.  After each drawing we did a short reflective piece of writing on the process.  The collected reflections (at the end of the course) will be assembled, along with selected drawings, into a paper exploring the personal experience of each student learning about the drawing process in this class.  The images shown here are representations of some of the activities we did last night.  I tried to get the work of all in, but often do not.  My apologies to you if you or your work is not represented here.  It will be in future blogs as we go forward.  I’m going to try to do a summary like this each week. Click on a thumbnail for a larger image.

Thanks to you all for your hard work and enthusiasm.  I’m looking forward to a great class with you this semester.