High School Guest Artist

In April I had the opportunity to work with high school students and art teachers at Silver Lakes Regional High School in Kingston, Massachusetts. I was brought on a grant as a guest artist to work with students on colored pencil drawing. Students in this high school have a great art department with lots of opportunities to work in many different mediums but didn't have much exposure to colored pencil drawing.

On day #1 I gave a presentation and colored pencil drawing demonstration over the course of the day to all of the art students. 

Days #2 & #3 I was able to work with each art class creating a small drawing. The assignment was to bring in a photo of a favorite place or subject and create a small drawing that would later be presented as a Polaroid picture and all grouped together. 

I enjoyed this opportunity of working with students and seeing their creativity expressed in their drawings. 

 

Demo at Francesca Anderson Gallery

On Sunday March 18, I gave a hands-on demo and drawing class at Francesca Anderson Fine Art Gallery in Lexington, MA in conjunction with our 19 on Paper exhibit at the Gallery. Eight participants from the area signed up and came to learn more about colored pencil.

I began by talking about materials: I began with the different brands of colored pencils and their qualities when used individually or together. Next I talked about different methods of erasing, pencil sharpeners, colorless blenders and other means of blending and burnishing. We moved on to talk about various surfaces; paper sanded and boards. As students began to understand the medium and how it can be applied on different surfaces, we then talked about combining different mediums and using other materials such as solvent with colored pencil.

For the second hour I invited the students to try different pencils on some different samples of surfaces I had brought with me. I had brought small items they could draw such as my pears, shells and small ceramic bottles. One lady showed us her colored pencil sketchbook and the more abstract drawings that she likes to create.

It was a fun and rewarding day for me as an instructor, I enjoy introducing the medium to new people and encouraging them to try it. Francesca Anderson has a fantastic gallery with many talented artists and beautiful works of art. I encourage anyone in the area to visit the gallery, enjoy the art and definitely be inspired.

Colored Pencil Talk in Jamestown, RI

Tomorrow evening I will be speaking about the fine art of colored pencil drawing and demonstrating colored pencil techniques in Jamestown, RI. The presentation is free and open to the public, everyone is invited. All information is on the flyer.