Masters In the Making Art Workshops^®

 

Workshop Info

---

 

 

 

NEWS

Masters in the Making Art Workshops is pleased to announce a new program consisting of five workshops for senior communities.

 

Recently, I re-discovered Aquarelle (fine artist grade water-soluble color pencils) as a means to offer my students the best of two worlds: Drawing with a pencil and watercolor painting. Aquarelles are a versatile medium, and a great way to introduce seniors to watercolor. For example:

 

1.       Dipping a sharp-tipped Aquarelle pencil in water, allows you to draw fine details that would otherwise be difficult to achieve even with a #000 round watercolor brush, and

2.       Lifting color pigment off a pencil with a brush, allows you to create layers of rich and vibrant tonal values.

 

 

ART TERMS

Chiaroscuro: Translated literally from the Italian, Chiaroscuro means chiaro = light, and scuro = dark. There is an ambiguity in the use of the term where some translate it as shadow. This is incorrect because the word shadow is “ombra” in Italian. However, the term “chiaroscuro” implies shadow.

 

Chiaroscuro is commonly used today in art and cinematography to signify the dramatic play of a single source of bright light and dark shadows that create visual impact.

 

In art, it is specifically exemplified by placing the highest keyed whites on the value scale adjacent to the lowest keyed darks, which are on the opposite side. This creates a dramatic contrast in light and shadow that further create the 3-D illusion of depth and dimension on a 2-D surface.

 

 

                                     

                                                                        Rembrandt: Philosopher in meditation 1632                                                                               

 

ARTISTS

Master artists known for their use of chiaroscuro

Renaissance:

Massacio (1401-1428), Da Vinci (1452-1519), Raffaello (1483-1520) are considered the founding fathers of this technique

 

Baroque:

Caravaggio (1592-1610) and Rembrandt (1606-1669)

 

 

RECOMMENDED BOOKS

Caravaggio Studies by Walter Friedlaender (Schocken Books) has 184 illustrations

 

 

TIPS ON USING WATER-SOLUBLE COLOR PENCILS

·         Color pencil pigment erases easily using an extra soft eraser when paper is dry.

·         You cannot use an eraser when wet. You can lift color by adding a small amount of water to the area you want to correct by blotting with a clean dry brush or cloth.

·         Once your paper dries, it becomes somewhat difficult to make corrections or blend.

·         Also, when your paper is dry, you can build additional layers of color with wet brush, or wet or dry pencil point and not lose your base color, in watercolor this is known as glazing.

·         Wet brush on wet paper produces feathery edges, and is not a good method for precise details as it bleeds into different areas.

·         Wet brush on dry paper gives you more control, as you can gradually add more water to blend and soften edges.

·         Pigment always dries into a lighter shade than when wet.

·         For preliminary sketching, use Graphite Pencils 2 or 3H. Avoid B pencils, as they tend to muddy up and bleed.

·         Do not press too hard with your pencil point on paper so as not to damage the tooth of the paper.

·         Using more water on your brush will lighten the pigment and erase most, if not all, of your pencil lines.

·         To test paper dryness, touch your work using only the back of your hand, if it feels cool then it is still wet.

 

TIPS ON PAPER

·         Experiment with different kinds of watercolor paper and keep notes on performance. (140 lb. is what we use in class)

·         When purchasing paper, be sure it is acid-free so that it won’t yellow and crumble over time like newspaper. Also, any acidic deposits (oil from fingers) will cause splotches on your drawing. In the same vein, when purchasing paper, make sure there are no dents on your paper/pad, it can be an eyesore when pigment deposits into a dent

·         Always roll  single sheets when transporting or storing

·         Store pads flat, so edges of paper don’t crimp