Jadelyn Cardenales, Colored Pencil Still Life Drawing,
Foundations of Art, Perth Amboy High School
My students started out
by arranging their candy on a small blank index card. I required them to
overlap the pieces at least three times and to create an arrangement that went
off the edge of the card on at least three sides. Each piece of candy had to
either touch or overlap another piece of candy. They then took a photograph of
their work with their cell phones, so they could remember the set up for the
next class.
The next step was to
enlarge the design on to 9"x 12" drawing paper. If a piece of candy
touched the corner of the index card, students knew to enlarge it and draw it
in the corner of their larger paper. If a lollipop stick went off the edge in
the middle of the right side of the card, they located the same spot on the
larger paper before drawing it. In this way, they were able to scale their
drawing up without needing to measure.
They then shaded their drawings
using 6B, 2B and HB pencils to establish highlights, mid-tones and shadows. I
showed them how to emphasize form by using curved lines to shade round objects,
angled lines on flat geometric surfaces and horizontal lines on the table
surface. They then followed the same motions to blend the shadows on each
object using a paper towel wrapped around their finger or a blending stomp.
To add color to a shaded
drawing, we used Prismacolor colored pencils and continued to emphasize form
with each stroke. I taught the class to color over all parts of the shaded candy,
including the shadows. The shaded parts magically appeared darker due to the inherent
translucency of the colored pencils. Some students also found the need to
emphasize form by shading with 6B pencil over colored pencil, to recover details
that were lost.
Next, we soaked a Q-tip
in denatured alcohol and use it to gently blend the colors and smooth out forms.
When they were done, students discovered that the alcohol could also remove or
lighten select areas and a white pencil could be used to re-establish the
highlights, creating a nice finishing touch. This technique does not work with
other brands of colored pencil because they contain too much wax. It also
doesn't work with isopropyl rubbing alcohol. You can get denatured alcohol at a
hardware store.
My students tested this
technique on a separate paper, prior to using the alcohol on their still life
drawings. Try overlaying two colors and then blending. Experiment with thicker
and thinner color layers to create different effects.
Warning: denatured
alcohol is flammable. Do not smoke in your studio or use candles while you are
using it. It is also poisonous to drink, just like rubbing alcohol. Protect
young children and pets in your household by not leaving any open containers
unattended. Only pour a small amount at a time and use Q-tips to spread it. It
is not poisonous to touch but it will dry your skin, so you may want to apply
some lotion to your hands after you are done. If using larger amounts of
denatured alcohol, the vapors can be irritating to breathe, however my students
only poured a very small puddle in a small plastic jar lid, so this was not an
issue for us at all.
The video below demonstrates how to shade in the drawing, by following the three dimensional forms and using highlights, mid-tones and shadows.
The video below shows how to use Prismacolor colored pencils and denatured alcohol to add color to the shaded drawing.
Student Art Gallery
Foundations of Art,
Perth Amboy High School
 |
| Jadelyn Cardenales |
Quiana Mendez
Randi Torres
Photoshop & watercolor please.
ReplyDeletehttp://thehelpfulartteacher.blogspot.com/2013/08/an-inventory-of-watercolor-painting.html?m=1
Delete