A Little Light

I'll admit my blog entries have been a little light this month, but I figured I'd squeeze one last entry in before the month came to an end. I painted this piece as a teacher sample for my AP drawing and painting class. Although when I was teaching I had very little free time I felt it was imperative that I create a sample for the following reasons: I like to set the bar high and a sample helps them see visually my expectations, it's important to have my students know that I am competent and capable of doing what I am asking of them, and this allows me to see problems they may encounter. This was an assignment meant to build their observational

painting skills. Although this is a very structured assignment, I did allow the students to choose from a variety of toys, candy, and dice. I strongly believe that any artist can benefit from learning proper techniques and accuracy before breaking the rules. Composition, lighting, accuracy, and technical painting skills were key for this lesson. I encouraged students to choose their set up wisely as I was looking for foreshortening, cast shadows, light source, and interesting compositions where objects bled off the edges of the canvas and over lapped each other.

After completing my own observational study I was able to see the real challenge was in the execution of the candy, more specifically the type on the wrapper. Though color theory wasn't a central component to this lesson, my innate color sense kicked in and I inadvertently ended up with an analogous color palette. In the end my favorite part was making the dice look translucent.

Underpainting