workshop is full

Time: 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM (brown bag lunch)

In this class, the humble pencil and its relatives become powerful tools in creating many effects from subtle to stunning. We will use pencils, erasers, graphite sticks/blocks, powdered graphite and their water-soluble cousins to explore the possibilities of this medium for creating refined works of art to quickly made drawings in our sketchbooks.

Starting with basic drawing principles like line quality and shading, we will experiment with each tool to discover the marks it can produce. We will then move on to drawing letters and designing word groups, both formal and casual. The monochromatic drawn letterform forces us to slow down and relate more organically to the forms we are creating. You will find drawing letterforms with care and thoughtfulness to be so helpful in improving your design and lettering skills and in allowing for more refined and subtle attention to detail. 

Further time will let us explore how to integrate our letters with their backgrounds into designs that will grab our viewer’s eye. Finally I’ll show you some of the tricks I’ve learned to save time and ensure success when working with this versatile medium.

Photo courtesy of Amity Parks.