SO WORTH THE MESS & CLEAN-UP

3/4 CHARCOAL PORTRAIT

INTERMEDIATE 2-D ART

charcoal & eraser

The students always surprise themselves with how well their pieces turn out 

when they use this reductive process.

And it's so simple and requires very little tools.

Basically they coat an entire sheet of good drawing paper with a charcoal stick,

then using a Kleenex,

they gently blend it all together so the entire piece of paper is a solid black.

Next up is erasing out their image.

The more they erase in one area the lighter the values become

so it's a great way to lead into light and shadow.

The pieces are usually quite striking when done.

Let's see.

This first fabulous work was done by senior Christian Balbido.

Loved the relaxed and emotive pose of the photograph he brought in to work from.

Terrific diagonals lead your eye thru the piece but not off it.

In this next beauty by senior Tiffany Chen,

she has chosen to come back over top her contour edges with a charcoal pencil to tighten them up

which gives this piece a sharper in focus look.

What all of them have in common is that they had to pick a photo with a 3/4 view,

a very difficult pose to draw the head in.

Senior Sarah Oh has chosen a timely topic to work in which is suicide.

The kids learned in the Beginning 2-D class that there are 3 main parts to a work of art;

the subject, the form and the content or message,

the content/message being the most important of the 3.

And even though her message was upsetting,

the skill with which she executed this was outstanding.

William Tan,

now an Architecture Major at Cal Poly Pomona,

(both my son & daughter's Alma Mater),

has chosen a complex subject to draw because of the age of the face.

The middle aged face is tricky because lines are just starting to develop

as well as gowls and bigger bags under the eyes.

So William was forced to put in a lot more attention to detail to be able to pull off this face.

(Sorry about the color William,

 I couldn't get it to go from Sepia to grays & black on my computer).

And lastly we have senior Mary Kim who picked the hardest photo of all,

this elderly couple.

But man oh an did she nail them!

I think the head and facial hair are especially wonderful

as well as her range of values and craftsmanship.

A remarkable work Mary.

ERASE TO DRAW

3/4 VIEW CHARCOAL PROFILE

INTERMEDIATE 2-D ART

charcoal on Bristol & erasers

I wish all of you could see these in person.  

From a distance they look almost like photographs.

These students did an amazing job with this assignment.

The technique is to use a soft,

 thick stick of charcoal and turn it on it's side, 

and completely cover the entire piece of bristol board.

Then they have a choice,

to take a very soft tissue and gently circular rub the charcoal to blend it,

or to leave the charcoal just as is,

 very textural.

Then to use various erasers and draw/erase the image in.

This freaks them out at first,

but they end up enjoying the process for the most part.

We start with the work of senior Ayesha Durrani.

She picked an extremely challenging subject as well as background to work from,

but man oh man,

did she rocked this piece.

So proud of you girlie!

We all loved senior Jazzerie Lo's super cool model/subject,

and how he was laying on his back,

and the way he was gazing up.

Really makes us wonder what he's thinking about.

It was so different then everyone else's which of course I love.

Next we are seeing the class favorite.

this one done by senior Eileen Lee.

We loved her subject and how she brought him to life.

Older people with their life wrinkles make for the most interesting subjects.

And lastly we are looking at senior Malaya Sithichai's work.

Another captivating subject beautifully executed.

Great job all of you,

So proud to share these.

GET OUT YOUR ERASERS

3/4 VIEW CHARCOAL PORTRAITS

INTERMEDIATE 2-D ART

charcoal on bristol paper & lots of erasers

My first time to try this technique was in 1982 when I took Dr. Betty Edwards 

Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain class.

She had us coat the entire piece of paper with charcoal,

then blend it by rubbing it lightly with a piece of kleenex/paper towel.

Then get out your favorite eraser and start drawing/erasing in your design.

To be honest,

I was scared a bit of this technique till I tried it.

Then it was one of my favorites

Let's take a look at how the kids did.

Senior Bernice Lin loved the technique so much 

that at the end of the year she chose it to do her self-portrait in.

(We'll see it in August)

To see this work above in person was to think it's a photograph instead of a drawing.

It was magnificent!

Senior Risha Bhakta enjoyed it as well.

And like me,

 the kids were a bit intimidated by the technique until they got started.

I love how all 3 girls picked such expressive resources to work from.

Risha could have sold this beauty several times at Open House 

but she wanted to keep it for herself.

Smart girl.

This last one is the work of senior Katherine Ku.

Her's was especially challenging because she chose to work to such a small scale.

She needed a tiny eraser.  LOL

Brilliant piece kiddo!

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE SUBJECTS

3/4 VIEW CHARCOAL PORTRAITS

INTERMEDIATE 2-D ART

charcoal on paper

First the kids had to find great 3/4 views to work from,

 which they did.

Then they had to smear charcoal over the entire piece of paper,

 before erasing in their subject.

I feel like they really enjoyed this experience 

Really love the photo that senior Nathan Chong choose to work from.

He worked from the photograghs in Harry Lapow's Coney Island Beach People.

Our older generations have so much life in their faces and are wonderful subjects.

And Nathan's skill level makes this a really spectacular piece!

I'm getting so much pain and angst off of junior Elias Rodriguez's charcoal portrait.

I love when the kids take the time to find really great subjects to work from.

And then there is this amazing piece by junior Jonathon Hsu. 

Wherever do these kids find these pictures??    LOL

I'm so thrilled to show off these wonderful works by my boys in 2nd period.

3/4 View Portraits - Student Work

3/4 VIEW CHARCOAL PORTRAITS

INTERMEDIATE 2-D ART

For these 2nd year kids it was their first time to work in this subtractive technique, and they were a bit apprehensive.  To start, you cover your entire paper with charcoal dust, then you erase your subject in.  Afterwards you can go back in with a charcoal pencil to add fine edges and details.  If you've never tried it, it's actually pretty fun!  

In the past two weeks we have seen quite a few pieces by very talented senior Anne Allen.  That's because she is taking two of my courses, and she is one of the top stars in both classes.  

Anne has chosen a great subject to draw that has a bit of shock and awe as well as expressive meanings.  And her value ranges within the medium are outstanding. 

We have also been seeing quite a few pieces by senior Cathy Luo (above).  Both Cathy and Anne will be going off to art colleges, and both are tremendously gifted young artists as you can see. 

Beautiful work girls!  

3/4 View Charcoal Portraits - Student Work

So proud of my Intermediate 2-D kids, they knocked this assignment out of the park!

In this assignment the kids were to cover their entire paper with charcoal first then erase in their drawing.  Afterwards they could come into it with charcoal pencils to define edges and put in fine details.  They were really afraid at first to use this technique.  It was new to them and challenging.  But once they started the erasing process they were fine.

Above, I believe this is senior Halah Elsahhar's most outstanding work to date.  She was able to capture likeness to original with several values of grey and black and really make her work "POP".

In this next work senior Belinda Wu does the figure in the charcoal technique but keeps the background negative space white so that late she can come in with ink washes for her backdrop.  

I've given you some close-ups so you can see for yourself.  Brilliant work Belinda!  Wait till Mr. Z sees this one.  LOL

Junior Michaela Platt picks a subject with very dramatic eyes which really draws you into the work.  I also had to show you a close-up of her cigarette and flame, that took some real skill! 

And in this last one junior Megan Yeu has also shown us her talent as she depicts the water being  poured over his face and splashed over his upper body.  A close-up for you below.

Fantastic work you all!!!

3/4 View Charcoal Portrait - Student Work

These gorgeous pieces belong to my 2nd year 2-d class.  The kids worked in a technique that was new to them.  They used their charcoal stick and turned it on it's side and rubbed the whole paper to completely coat it with charcoal dust.  Then if they wanted to they could use a tissue and in a circular motion blend the charcoal into one perfect dark value.  Everyone used their erasers to draw in their image.  Yes, they drew with their erasers, a novel concept and outside their comfort zone.  :)  And then for the small details and various values they were allowed to use their charcoal pencils.

The top piece belongs to very talented senior Jessica Liu.

Senior Crislyn Ogawa did the sensitive portrait above and senior Sarah Zhang drew her strongest piece to date with the little girl below.

Senior Michelle Lee did the very atmospheric phantom above and we finish off with senior Janice Min who did the expressive child below.  Once again, I'm still struggling with my new camera and the lighting is off in Janice's piece and and in Sarah's we see the date and time.  Sorry!