SET-UP: The painting you are drawing from is called "Still life with quinces in a basket", by a follower of Luis Meléndez.

Continue to draw, by following the same steps as in class.

If you'd like to create a new drawing from life:

Place a white onion (or garlic) on a dark wooden table or dark-colored material. Arrange it so that the light illuminates the object from above and slightly sideways (from a window or desk lamp). Face the setup so that you can see the side of the object where the shadow is dividing it in half. 

Draw it by following the same steps as in class:

1. Compose by means of the viewfinder (made with your fingers).
2. Sketch a simplified “placeholder” composition - to choose a scale and placement of the onion on paper: centered or off-center? If off-center, to the left or to the right? Higher or lower? Artists call this “mapping the composition”. Take a photo of your sketch.
3. Draw the outline of the onion more exactly (do not add shadows yet). Don’t color the onion in, keep it a white silhouette for now, and take a snapshot of your drawing.
4. Color the entire background around the onion black. Take a snapshot.
5. Rub the black background with a paper towel to make it gray. Take a snapshot.
6. Draw the cast shadow. Color it black. Take a snapshot.
7. Soften the edge around the cast shadow using your preferred blending tool: paper towel, stump, or finger.
8. Turn your attention to the body shadow. Squint and notice the edge of that shadow that splits the onion in half. 
9. Make the body shadow black (black helps you “sculpt” the form, express the light and establish contrast). Squinting reveals that the body shadow is surprisingly darker than you expect it to be. 
10. Body shadow is not one simple black tone: it has reflections. Create the exact tonality by taking some dark tone away with a stump or paper towel. Refer to the Grayscale, to see which tone of gray it should be. Start blending it, and the black becomes dark-gray. Observe those nuances inside the shadow on the setup and copy them as you see them when you squint.
11. Soften the transitions between the lit side and dark side on the onion. 
12. Notice the thin black line under the belly of the onion. This is the darkest area in the setup. That black line belongs to the cast shadow (to the table, not to the onion). Adding this line helps express the onion’s weight. 
13. In the end, almost the entire surface of your paper should be shaded except for the areas of highlights. Your paper should remain white only on that very small spot (squint to see that lightest area). ‍
14. The highlight on rounded surfaces always moves towards the viewer. As the final touch, add light-gray tone to the far edge of the lit half of the onion.
15. Add the lines of texture to the onion’s surface; notice how the lines on it seem to “hug” its shape and curve with the form.

Sign your drawing. Pin it on the wall, look at it from afar, and take a final snapshot. The photograph will help you better appreciate the chiaroscuro effect that you’ve achieved.

Here is how the Grayscale (tonal range) in your drawing will be distributed:

1. White - the highlight on the objects (edge of the plate, lemons, cup, rose, etc);
2. Off-white - the illuminated side of the objects;
3. Light-gray - the transition between light and shadow on the objects;
4. Medium-gray - the reflection inside the shadow on the objects and the table surface;
5. Dark-gray - the rest of the body shadow on the objects;
6. Black - the cast shadow on the table, and the background above the objects.  

VOCABULARY EXERCISE:  Pretend you are an art critic, and write 3-5 sentences about your drawing, using the terms: chiaroscuro, tenebroso, sfumato, silhouette, monochromatic, highlight, cast shadow, body shadow, tonal range. ‍

TIPS:

• It is normal for a beginner artist to understate the darkness of shadows. Squint, and you’ll see the tonal range more clearly.
• Charcoal drawings need to be sprayed with Workable fixative spray.
• There is no such thing as “too dark” - achieving intense shadows will give you a tenebroso effect.
• Use a paper towel, Q-tip, or blending stump to blend your drawings. Your fingers will blend, but may also lock the charcoal and graphite into your paper due to our natural oils, making it harder to erase.
• Send me your drawings when it’s completed and signed! Tag me on social media @primamateriainstitute so I can see your drawing.
• Enjoy the process of drawing!!! I can’t wait to see what you create.