Art Class

As I mentioned before, Nathan, Micah and I are taking an art class this year from a local Christian artist, Patty McMahon Rice. We are all enjoying learning from a pro. We started by learning about value and shading with graphite pencils. Our first assignment was to draw from life...to draw while looking at the actual object. We used sculptures that she had cast.
Next, we were told to pick out a black and white picture as a reference, and draw from it, again using graphite pencils, except this time we also transferred our design on a better paper. It's a better paper, but not so forgiving. If you use too much pressure, you will leave little ruts even after erasing. She wanted to make sure we used a lighter pencil to sketch out the design, and then gradually shade it in.
The second medium we will use is charcoal. Nathan finished his pencil drawings sooner than most, so he started on a picture in charcoal, and finished it before the class ended! I was STILL working on the first pencil drawing. (I did miss a day that they went, though, so I got a little behind.)
I have scanned in some of the pictures we've made so far. I will probably add to it as time goes on: Art Class Drawings

Baby, Graphite Pencil, by Carol









Zebra, Graphite Pencil, by Micah











Tiger, Charcoal, by Nathan