Good Drawing is like Good Jazz

Artists can really evoke a mood when they use a wide range of marks and values. Good drawing is like good jazz. Smooth or jarring transitions, unexpected marks or rifts, combined with a deft sense of touch can transport the viewer or listener to another realm like nothing else. George Seurat was a Wizard with the Conte Crayon. He seamlessly sutures foreground with background with such sensitive transitions that the viewer feels like they have fallen down the Rabbit Hole and have found themselves in his dark world of dreams. His marks are a paradoxical mix of Extreme Control + All Over The Place and they create an unbelievably beautiful, dark, moody, atmospheric vibe.

Weight, Value, and Volume were the key words of Wednesday's class and the only way that I can completely explain concepts is to show visual examples from artists that embody the concept and transport us to that place of no words.

Color Mixing Workshop

 

I am looking forward to teaching the Color Mixing Workshop on Thursday, April 22. We will investigate two color wheels, a warm and a cool. Red + Blue doesn't always equal violet. This workshop will demonstrate how to go beyond the fundamentals of color mixing and understand the nuances of color temperature, value, and intensity. We will use gouache and watercolor, but the principles learned can be applied to other media. All materials included. All levels.

WIRE SCULPTURE WORKSHOP, MAYSEY CRADDOCK
Working with wire is really just a way of drawing in three-dimensional space. While drawing on paper or canvas offers a view into another world, sculpture lives with you in space and in the moment.

We will use wire to find linear expression and a suggestion of volume. The results range from being surprisingly simple (think Calder!) or excitingly complex.

Using steel and copper wire, students will explore simple forms through techniques of bending, joining, wrapping and weaving. Through these techniques, we will explore the versatility of this medium by incorporating movement and/or the inclusion of found objects.
Tuesday and Thursday
April 27th and 29th

Making Art

Tuesday, April 6th is the first day of class for a new session that I am teaching, called Making Art. The session will explore different ways of approaching the complex task of interpreting our three dimensional world onto a flat two dimensional surface.

I am going to start the session off with an investigation of line. According to Matisse, " Drawing is like making an expressive gesture with the advantage of permanence."

The students are going to draw a relatively simple still life with a variety of materials: Brush and Ink, Watercolor Crayons, Pencils, Pens, Conte Crayon, Graphite Chunks. Exploring materials and the lines that one can make with them will be the crux of the class.

I believe that drawing is a very intimate means of expression and I hope to encourage my students to find a way to that private joy.