SET-UP:

Finish your still life from class if you haven't yet, noticing lights and shadows. Squint often, both at your photo reference and your drawing to see how light or dark areas should be.

What to do on your home assignment:

The painting you're drawing from is a fragment of Francisco de Zurbarán's "Still Life with Glass, Fruit, and Jug" from the 17th century.

Draw the second photo reference by following the same steps as in class. You can also set up your own still life and draw from life.

1. Sketch a simplified “placeholder” composition - to choose a scale and placement of your subject matter on paper: notice if it's 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.
2. Draw the outline of the subject matter more exactly (do not add shadows yet). Don’t shade it yet, keep it a white silhouette for now, and take a snapshot of your drawing.
3. Color the entire background around the subject matter black. Take a snapshot.
4. Draw the cast shadow. Color it black. Take a snapshot.
5. Soften the edge around the cast shadow using your preferred blending tool: paper towel, stump, or finger.
6. Turn your attention to the body shadow. Squint and notice the edge of that shadow that splits the subject matter in half. 
7. 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. 
8. 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 if using willow charcoal, the black becomes dark-gray. Observe those nuances inside the shadow on the setup and copy them as you see them when you squint.
9. Soften the transitions between the lit side and dark side on the subject matter. 
10. 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 those very small spots (squint to see that lightest area). ‍
11. The highlight on rounded surfaces always moves towards the viewer. Notice that the highlights are not at the edges of the subject matter, but closer to the middle.
12. Add the lines of texture to the subject matter's surface; notice how the details on it seem to “hug” its shape and curve with the form.
13. When creating texture, notice how the details are lighter towards the light source and darker away from it.

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.

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.