10/31/14 Basic Drawing

Today's Class-  Today we continued our study of value drawing, but with a new medium. I introduced the idea of ink wash, using black drawing ink diluted with water to create a variety of value tones.  I showed a few slides- examples from history, some student drawings from previous semesters, and even a demonstration piece I made a few years ago.  After that I set up some simple exercises involving white drapery and objects, just dealing with value as a function of light and shadow.  I reserved time at the end of class to critique the charcoal drawings done last week, returned graded today.

How to make this up- Set up the still life.  Hang a piece of white or very light cloth so that it forms a loose and flowing backdrop, while the lower end covers a table or some other level surface.  Place a simple white or very light colored object on the lower end, and shine a direct light source on it so that a variety of light and shadow is created.  Draw the set up on a piece of your 18"  x 24" paper, making the object life size.  You may sketch the contours with light pencil first, then use your ink.  Put water in a cup or can and add a few drops of ink at a time.  Test the resulting mix with a brush on some scrap paper or a corner of your page to see the resulting value.  Value can be lightened by adding more water to the cup, or darkened by adding more ink.  Use the ink wash everywhere in the composition that is not meant to be white.  Use the whole page.  Build the values in layers. gradually adding more ink to your wash so that subsequent applications of the wash make those areas darker.  The example piece that I made to demonstrate this can be found here on this site.  Then make a change to your set up (different object, different view point, changing the light source, etc) and do a second drawing.  Additional student ink wash drawings and some descriptions of the process can be found here.

These are portfolio exercises that must be made up by the last day of the semester to receive full credit, but if you weren't there today I strongly recommend doing them before next week for the practice and experience.  Next week in class you'll be doing a graded ink wash drawing.  

Homework- Set up a still life as in the above description (see the top photo in this post as well) and draw it on a page in your sketchbook, using pencil to draw the contours and the ink wash to draw the values.  Change the object or your viewing angle and draw it again.  Do a total of two sketchbook drawings. 

Anyone who still hasn't turned in their final charcoal drawing or had the first half portfolio graded should bring these in as soon as possible.  The longer the delay, the less these items will be worth.

For next class 11/7/14- We will continue working with ink wash, doing the next graded drawing.  Bring your 18" x 24" pad (or equivalent piece of watercolor paper if you prefer), drawing ink, watercolor brushes, pencil and eraser, and two water containers.