Back to Basics - The Humble Pencil
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Often, in the excitement that comes with experimenting with unusual materials and discovering unexpected combinations, the simplest materials can be overlooked and underestimated. The pencil, that most portable of tools, perhaps the first thing a lot of us picked up to draw with as children, is also the drawing tool that many of us forget about, other than for planning and underdrawing. It can also be the drawing tool that some find daunting and unforgiving compared to charcoal: that relatively small point of contact with the paper. How to draw on a big scale? How to vary and enliven the markmaking? And lastly how to work on one substantial drawing for an extended period of time?
In this two day workshop, drawing from a still life set up in the studio, students will rediscover the power of the pencil. The first day will be spent making many short drawings in line and in tone, experimenting with things as fundamental as ways of holding the pencil, and discovering a personal and effective way of making marks. The second day will be spent working on one A1 substantial drawing. Artists we will be looking at in the slide lecture at the start of the workshop will be among others, Jenny Saville, Pierre Bonnard, John Brown, Frank Auerbach, and Harold Gilman. |