The workshop 'Graphite is the Matter' will be in Budapest, 3 months after the 9th Urban Sketchers Symposium.
Back at the symposium, which took place in Porto / Portugal, I led three sessions of this workshop and I was happy to heard some very good feedback about it.
I continue to be excited about how interesting and promising this approach to urban sketching is. The idea of focusing more on the mass of forms rather than its contours and to build the drawings through values has been fascinated me since 2012, when I led the workshop 'Straight to Colors' in the Santo Domingo symposium. Since then, I've been developing this approach and eventually choose pencil as the most appropriate technique to teach in workshops.
This workshop is about a different way to see which leads to a new sketching approach, using pencil as the main tool in order to create a tonal atmospheric drawing.
In this workshop, 3 types of tools will be necessary:
- Graded pencil: an affordable and simple art tool. Easy to work with;
- Erasers: there are a few useful kinds, like kneaded eraser and mechanical eraser. We will use them to build in and reveal lights;
- Blending stump: it’s a shortcut. It put the matter together and makes the drawing visually stronger.
This workshop balances:
A technique - graded pencil;
An approach - seeking angles / shapes and working with masses;
The technique: we are using our tools to create shapes, one on top of the other.
Graphite is the matter. We will use this matter to build forms.
The approach: instead of contours of forms, we will focus on their mass, translate them into shapes. These shapes have angles on their boundaries. If these angles are correctly seen (there are some tricks to do that), perspective will be there. Shapes will be big, loose and open at the beginning, more compact and darker at the end.
What do you get in this workshop?
- You’ll learn how to use graded pencils, a kneaded eraser and a blending stump to build up a tonal drawing;
- You’ll learn some tricks to see angles and to put them correctly on the paper - this is about perspective, without being too technical;
- You’ll see how rich the results of pencil sketches might be. I hope that happens on your own sketchbook. If doesn’t, hopefully you will be inspired to try it again.
Learning goals
- How to plan the composition, working in a loose manner and using light masses of pencil;
- How to build perspective using a more flexible and intuitive approach;
- How to organize your work in layers, from bigger areas to smaller ones;
- How to use a stump to blend masses and a kneaded eraser to 'sculpt' the sketch;
- How to add details and contrast little by little, preserving the control of the entire process.
Workshop location
The meeting point to the workshop will be at:
FUGA – Budapesti Építészeti Központ (Budapest Center of Architecture)
1052 Budapest, Petofi Sándor utca 5
Budapest – Hungary.
Dates:
October 28, 2018
Duration
The workshop is 3,5 hours long, running from 9:30 a.m. to 13:00;
Maximum number of participants:
The maximum number of participants is 15.
Minimum number of participants:
The minimum number is 5.
Supply list
- Pencil 3B to 6B: Koh-I-Noor, Derwent, Cretacolor, Staedler or similar;
- Eraser: “Tombow Mono Light Eraser” / “Staedler Mars Plastic” or similar (white / soft / latex-free);
- Kneaded rubber eraser: Cretacolor / Prismacolor / Staedler / Faber-Castell;
- Mechanical / Precision erasers (pen-style body): Tombow Mono Zero Round 2,3mm and/or 3,8mm;
- Blending Stump: medium size (usually nº 5);
- Paper: your sketchbook (ideally A4 / smooth surface)
Registration fee
5.500 HUF
3.000 HUF (students / pensioner)
Looking forward to sketching with you in Budapest!
