Drawing: Light & Shade (Graphite)

This 8-week class will focus on making the appearance of realistic form in drawings through depicting areas of light and shade. In developing this skill, through practice, you can add a satisfying, convincing quality to your artwork.

In this class, we will work from direct observation of still life using a range of medium to soft graphite pencils. We will also discuss optional skill building exercises to do outside of class. Throughout the class we will repeat procedures, building or reinforcing patience, to help students begin to make this wonderful skill set their own.

This class may be useful for students who are exploring making art for fun or recreation, or for those with potential professional aspirations.

Prerequisite: In order to get the most out of the class students should have experience taking a beginning drawing class and some familiarity with the practices of proportional measuring and construction line drawing.

Note: The following supplies or their equivalent are recommended for this class. If you have questions or concerns about purchasing supplies, please let us know prior to the class start.

Supply List:
- Graphite art pencils:
8B - available here
6B - available here
4B - available here
2B - available here
HB - available here
- 18”x24” drawing pad - available here (If you already have an 18”x24” sketch pad, that will work)
- Kneaded eraser - available here
- Pink eraser - available here
- Snap blade cutter - available here (if you already have a sharp box cutter or utility knife that will work)
- Workable matte fixative - available here

Optional supplies:
- Drawing board with clips - available here (This is useful for drawing at home. Drawing boards and clips will be available for use in class.)
- Sketchbook - available here (This sketchbook is a recommended good value but other sizes or styles can work. We will discuss selecting and using a sketchbook on the first day of class.)
- Mechanical pencil style eraser - available here (This is an optional fine line erasing tool)