LESSON 1: CHARCOAL
Grade 7/8/9
Unit 1: Drawing
2015
CURRICULAR OBJECTIVES
Art 10:
Subject matter and expressive intention can be depicted with a variety if
notational marks
The expressive content of drawings is affected by the drawing medium
selected.
Colour and value concepts are important components of an artists
compositional skill.
CURRICULAR OBJECTIVES
Art 20:
Developing expertise in one particular drawing medium may further develop
personal competence.
Sketching and composing skills can be developed by drawing from
representational sources.
Understanding styles or artistic movements related to visual studies is part of
developing critical abilities.
CURRICULAR OBJECTIVES
Art 30:
A repertoire of drawing techniques is needed to express visual ideas
Explorations of technical or creative nature may lead individuals into highly
personalized work sessions.
LESSON TIMELINE
Part 1: The brain. (10 minutes)
Part 2: Charcoal lesson: 20 minutes
Part 3:Value Scale: 40 Minutes
Part 4: Reductive charcoal drawing ( 7
classes)
Part 5: Why? (20 minutes)
VOCABULARY
Negative Space: shapes or spaces that are or represent the areas
unoccupied by objects.
Nonobjective: having no recognizable object or subject.
Proportion: the scale relationships of one part to the whole and of one
part to another. In images of figures, the appropriate balance between the size
of body and limbs.
Subtractive/ Reductive: Artistic method accomplished by
removing or taking away from the original creative material
PART 1: YOUR BRAIN
And how it works for art
Betty Edwards has used the terms LMode and R-Mode to designate two
ways of knowing and seeing - the
verbal, analytic mode and the visual,
perceptual mode - no matter where
they are located in the individual brain.
You are probably aware of these
different characteristics. L-mode is a
step-by-step style of thinking, using
words, numbers and other symbols. Lmode strings things out in sequences,
like words in a sentence. R-mode on
the other hand, uses visual information
and processes, not step-by-step, but all
at once, like recognizing the face of a
friend.
Most activities require both modes,
each contributing its special
functions, but a few activities require
mainly one mode, without
interference from the other. Drawing
is one of these activities.
Learning to draw, then,
turns out not to be
"learning to draw."
Paradoxically, "learning
to draw" means
learning to make a
mental shift from Lmode to R-mode. That
is what a person
trained in drawing
does, and that is what
you can learn.
Once learned, drawing can be used to
record what you see either in reality or
in your mind's eye, in a manner not
totally unlike the way we can record
our thoughts and ideas in words. Many
20th century abstract painters who
appear to draw and paint in a
completely random fashion, had to
learn to draw realistically before they
were able to make the shift into
abstract painting. Picasso, Willem de
Kooning, Matisse, Mondrian and
Jackson Pollock are a few examples of
great abstract painters who first learnt
to draw realistically.
PABLO PICASSO
The Old Fisher man (1895)
Po r t r a i t d e l ' h o m m e à l ' é p é e e t
à la f leur (1969)
JACKSON POLLOCK
Jackson Pollock (American, 1912–1956)
Landscape with Steer
No. 5, 1948
(sold for $165.4 million)
HENRI MATISSE
Still Life with Books and Candle
Part 2: Drawing With Charcoal:
Tips And Drawing Techniques
INTRO
Charcoal is the classical medium in
the art of drawing. Amateur artists
seem to prefer pencil or pen drawing
which is quicker and easier to learn
than drawing with charcoal. However
charcoal is probably the most simple
and cheap and durable black and
white medium with the most
fascinating potential in expression
and variation.
WHAT IS CHARCOAL AND WHAT ARE
THE SPECIFIC PROPERTIES AND
ADVANTAGES AS DRAWING MEDIUM ?
Charcoal is organic carbon and
therefore something different than
graphite material. Charcoal is
produced from heated wood under
the exclusion of oxygen. What
remains in the process is more or less
pure carbon.
You can get charcoal as pressed stalk
charcoal pieces or so called artists
charcoal. The charcoal pieces can be
obtained in different sizes, lengths and
diameters and in different hardness.
The charcoal pieces tend to break easily
therefore it is convenient to break the
charcoal into smaller pieces already
before starting the drawing and to use
shorter pieces.
The carbon powder is also offered in
compressed form in other drawing tools
like pressed pieces or in form of carbon
pencils which can be handled similar to
graphite pencils.
THE OUTSTANDING PROPERTIES OF
CHARCOAL ARE:
1. you can create shades of black in endless
variations and gradations
2. the charcoal powder will change its appearance
depending on the paper you use. On papers with
some "tooth" i.e. open and irregular surface one can
create wonderful, subtle structures and values in
light and dark
3. it is possible to draw very quickly with charcoal
too, so it is a very good medium for quick sketches
4. charcoal allows to work in small and very big
formats
5. charcoal is very durable, there is almost no aging
or fading effect on the black of charcoal works.
CHARCOAL AND KNEADED ERASERS
THE BASIC DRAWING TOOLS
Natural charcoal sticks are my
favorite charcoal medium in
combination with soft kneaded
erasers and a soft cotton towl (or a
chamois) to wipe out wrong lines if
necessary.
Charcoal pencils tend to break when
you want to sharpen them. In order
to sharpen a charcoal pencil you
need to use an exacto knife.
POWDERED CHARCOAL
Powdered charcoal is used to:
•create tonal values
•usually over larger surfaces
•easily erases and can be
•darkened by adding layers.
COMPRESSED CHARCOAL
•Powdered with gum binder
•round or square sticks
•charcoal pencils.
VINE CHARCOAL
* Vine charcoal is willow or linden/Tilia twigs burnt into:
soft
medium
hard consistencies
PURE CHARCOAL
•Very soft
•Very dark tones
•Very messy!
ACCESSORIES
Kneaded eraser
Blending stump
Sandpaper block
Sandpaper block
Tortillons
Kneaded Erasers
EARLY RENAISSANCE
15th Century (1400-1500 A.D.)
Raphael, 1507
HIGH RENAISSANCE
16th Century
(1500-1600 A.D.)
Michelangelo, 1528
BAROQUE
17th to 18th Centuries
(1600 – 1700’s A.D.)
Peter Paul Rubens,
1610
MODERNS
Romanticists and Impressionists
Goya, 1795
ROMANTIC
18TH AND 19TH CENTURIES
Delacroix, 1821
IMPRESSIONIST
19TH CENTURY
Gaugin, circa 1890
REDUCTIVE CHARCOAL TIME
LAPSE
PART 3:BEFORE WE GET STARTED
CREATE YOUR OWN VALUE SCALE
PART 4: ASSIGNMENT:
REDUCTIVE CHARCOAL DRAWING
Detail/ Accuracy
Method/ Tools
Craftsmanship
5-Excellent
4- Above Average
3- Average
2-Satisfactory
1- Poor
The final drawing is
exceptionally accurate to
the reference and shows
attention to detail. The
artist was able to expertly
portray the size and
proportion of the reference
through observation. They
achieved the correct values.
They drew what they seenot what they think they
see.
The final drawing is very
accurate to the reference
and shows attention to
detail. The artist was able
to proficiently portray size
and proportion through
observation. The values
are mostly correct. They
drew what they see- not
what they think they see.
The final drawing is fairly
accurate to the reference
and shows some
attention to detail. Some
areas show a better
accuracy to observation
and attention to detail
than other areas. Some of
the size and proportion is
off. Some of the values
used are off.
The final drawing is
lacking in detail and/or
accuracy to observation.
The drawing is lacking in
size and proportion as
well as value.
The final piece has little to
no detail and/or there is
no accuracy to
observation. Proportions
and size is off. The
drawing has very minimal
changes in values.
The student followed the
methods that they were
told to use for this project
(general to specific as well
as reductive method) The
student used a wide variety
of charcoal tools available
for them.
The student mostly
followed the methods that
they were told to use for
this project. The student
used most of the charcoal
tools available for them.
The student loosely
followed the methods
that they were told to use
for this project. The
student used half of the
charcoal tools available
for them.
The student used one of
the methods that they
were told to use for this
project. The student used
a couple of the charcoal
tools available for them.
The student did not use
the right method for this
drawing nor did they use
the right tools.
There are no unintentional
smudges, fingerprints, rips,
etc. Student included their
name on their work.
There are barely any
unintentional smudges,
fingerprints, rips, etc.
Student included their
name on their work.
There are minor
unintentional smudges,
fingerprints, rips, etc.
Student included their
name on their work.
There are noticeable
unintentional smudges,
fingerprints, rips, etc.
The viewer can see a lot
of pencil. Student did not
include their name on
their work
The piece is incomplete
or unresolved. The viewer
can clearly see pencil
marks. There are
unintentional smudges,
fingerprints, and rips that
take away from the piece.
No name on the work.
Mark
/10
/2.5
/2.5
GETTING STARTED
Clear drawing surface
Layout paper
horizontal for landscape viewpoint
or vertical for portrait viewpoint
Have drawing supplies ready
Charcoal, kneaded eraser, tortillons (blend stick)
Paper towels may be used for blending large areas
PART5
Upside down drawing
Learning to draw what you see! A visual exercise for building observation skills.
Some of you are probably wondering….Why did I make you do that?
WHY UPSIDE DOWN DRAWING?
-
Create a shift from left to right
brain activity by drawing a picture
upside down.
- Learn to see lines in relationship
to each other, rather than as
preconceived shapes.
- Develop observational skills
- Have fun with drawing
-
Familiar things do not look the same
upside down.
- Our left brain expects to see things
oriented in the costmary way – with the
right side up
- In upright orientation, we recognize
familiar things, name them, and
categorize them by matching what we
see with out story memories and
concepts.
- When an image is upside down, the
visual cues don’t match. We see the
shapes and the areas of light and
shadow. We see lines instead of real
objects.
-
You start to think like an artist.
The purpose of this kind of practice
is to force your left (thinking) side of
the brain to give up identifying what
you draw.
So, even if you have a little voice that
tells you the name of features or
things, - ignore it! Instead, focus on a
specific line and concentrate on its
direction and where it lies in relation
to the lines around it.