Assignment 12: Drawing in Color on a Black Toned Ground

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Overview

Drawing in Color on a Black Toned Ground

Discover the powerful visual impact of working in color on black, AKA a black “toned ground.” Expand your understanding of “chiaroscuro” and your ability to control light and shadow on a figure or face. In today’s assignment, reverse the traditional process of drawing darks on white paper by drawing lights on black paper. Your black paper will serve not only as line, but also as shadow. Using the medium of pastel, apply the techniques introduced and explored in today’s class in 6 small drawings: three faces and three figures, all six in extreme light and shadow.

Learning Outcomes

To use chiaroscuro effectively
To gain experience with color relationships
To expand your repertoire of mediums
To learn to think visually “in reverse” on dark grounds
To create the impact of big drawings in small formats

Instructions

What you will need:

Drawing clipboard
Sheet of black paper torn to 6 equal pieces
Padding Pastels (soft, not oil or wax-based
HB pencil
Images (see Resources)

How:

Divide a large sheet of black paper into 6 pieces.
Break each pastel stick into halves.
Use primarily the side of pastel.
Apply color to middle and light tones, but not to shadows.
Leave black paper utterly untouched for darks and shadows.
Leave black line of untouched paper for every line or contour.
Leave small black edge of black paper around outside.
For faces follow vertical measurements in the face diagrams.
For figures, follow vertical measurements in the body diagrams.
Layer multiple colors on top of one another.
Do not blend with finger or use a chamois.
For blended effect, lightly layer or “feather” with side of pastel stick.
Allow black paper to be seen through pastel layer here and there.
Work in the following color schemes:
- full spectrum
- white and black
- analogous colors, cool or warm
- complementary
- sanguine, white, and black
- Crazy color
Fix with light layers of fixative or hairspray as you work.
Protect drawings with glassine.

Submission

Create a new post with an image gallery containing the drawings you created for this assignment.

To create your post, visit OpenLab Help> Writing a Post
- Title your post with “Screen name” + “Assignment 12”. Example: “Miguel – Assignment 12”
- IMPORTANT: Be sure to check the category “Assignment Posts” when creating your post. Visit: OpenLab Help > Adding Categories and Tags.
- IMPORTANT: Be sure to use the tag “Assignment 12” when creating your post. Visit: OpenLab Help > Adding Categories and Tags.
To add an image gallery, visit OpenLab Help > Adding an image gallery
- Add well-lighted, thoughtfully composed images of your drawings to an image gallery.
Add a written reflection.
- Document your thoughts about this project. Think about what you learned, what you could have done better, and how you will apply what you learned to your next drawing.