General & Miscellaneous Drawing Techniques

Charcoal Drawing

Name: Charcoal Drawing
Author: Ken Goldman
ISBN: 9781936309269

by Ken Goldman

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Overview

A long-time favorite for sketching, charcoal is also a very expressive medium. This book teaches both the basic techniques of drawing and how to develop an "artist's eye" -- to see the essential elements and ignore the superfluous details. And because the projects advance from simple to complex, there is something for artists at every skill level.

Synopsis

Charcoal is the quintessential favorite for sketching. It's an infinitely expressive medium with its own language, one that comprises textures, lines, strokes, and tones. Charcoal Drawing provides comprehensive instructions for basic techniques as well as complex renderings. You will learn how to use charcoal, paper, erasers, and fixative to create a variety of subjectsùfrom landscapes and still lifes to faces, figures, and more. And whether you are an experienced artist or just a beginner, the step-by-step drawing exercises will be of great value to you. You'll be amazed at what you can create with this deceptively simple medium.

About the Author, Ken Goldman

Ken Goldman teaches portrait, figure, and landscape painting at the Athenaeum School of Fine Art in La Jolla, California. He studied figure drawing and painting at the New York Studio School, National Academy of Design, and Art Students League in New York; portraiture and figure drawing with Vern Wilson of the Los Angeles Art Center; and watercolor painting with Liane Collot D'Herbois in Europe. Ken's art has been exhibited extensively and appeared in numerous magazines.

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Editorials

Children's Literature - Kristin Harris

This is a comprehensive adult level drawing course that focuses on the use of charcoal as the primary media. Charcoal was probably one of the first tools human beings used to draw, literally being pieces of charred wood. This is how charcoal continues to be made today. The author is ambitious in this volume by presenting instructions for working with charcoal, but also learning how to draw in general and develop an artist's vision. Sample images of the variety of textures, strokes and tones made with charcoal and a value study, all familiarize the reading with some of the characteristics of marks made with this material. The drawing exercises are arranged by level of complexity, beginning with flowers. In three or four steps that include illustrations documenting the process, a drawing is completed. Instructions for drawing animals, landscapes, still life setups and human figures are all included. The most advanced student exercise is a six-hour portrait session. The only drawback to this well written and documented book is its relatively small format. Reviewer: Kristin Harris