SUMMER Term week 1
Date: 16th & 17th April
Tutor: Siân & Rob
Free Painting
what to bring
Bring along your usual painting materials. It will be useful to have a sketchpad or some rough paper on which you can draw/make notes. This term it will be essential to have either a sketchbook or a wad of paper. We will be exploring various drawing materials, but we would like you all to have a range of pencils, e.g. 2B, 4B and an 8B. These should be sharp, so a decent sharpener is also essential.
THIS Week: INTRODUCTION to the theme for the term
This term we will be looking drawing and the different approaches to it. We will be looking (hard!) at how drawing can increase our observational skills. We will be also be considering how different drawing styles can help us to notice more about our subject, and give us different types of information in preparation for painting.
We will also be looking at the challenges presented by the Weekly Sketching Challenge, and how to approach the exercise to get the most out of it.
We would also like to hear any ideas you have for what you would like to achieve this term. Please bring along any relevant reference material you have gathered for these ideas.
Drawing of the Week
Clifftop with shadows
Reason for making the drawing
Recording information with a view to a possible painting. Rob’s interest was in the lights and darks, not details of the scene.
Materials
8B pencil
Embossing tool
Sketch pad.
Mark Making
The very soft pencil to easily achieve broad areas of dark tone, It also enabled a wide variety of tone in the lines. White paper as left to indicate highlights. Strong tonal contrasts were important.
The embossing tool was used to draw marks by making a depression in the paper. When shading across these the pencils ‘jumps’ across the dip, leaving a white mark.
Note the strong directional marks emphasising height in the cliff and the way these contrasted with the horizontal pools of light on the sea.
These marks are full of energy : were they made quickly or slowly?
Time : 10-15 minutes
weekly sketching challenge
Consider the style of the drawing in this week’s ‘Drawing of the Week.’ Take the softest pencil you have, choose a small area of your garden or view from a window and in 15-120 minutes make a quick sketch recording the darkest and lighter areas. Ignore detail; look for blocks of shape. Experiment with the pencil making directional lines or scribbles to imply texture. You will find this easier if you can choose a bight day!
Quote of the week
“Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the Ark. Professionals built the Titanic.”
(Sorry folks, my only reference for this one is Pinterest. It just seemed very appropriate. If you have an idea of the original source we’d be pleased to know.)
ArTIST of the week
From Henry Moore’s Sheep Sketchbook
Henry Moore
Although know for his sculptures Henry Moore’s works started with observational drawings.
This drawing and many others can be found in
Henry Moore’s Sheep Sketchbook
To make the drawings in this sketchbook he used biro and feltpen. His studio overlooked fields of grazing sheep. ‘The sheep came very close to the window, attracting his attention, and he began to draw them. Initially he saw them as four-legged balls of wool, but his vision changed as he explored what they were really like - the way they moved, the shape of their bodies under the fleece.’
Last updated: 11.12.23
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