Drawing from the Heart and over Color Splashes (Workshop P)

Instructors: Paul Wang and Tia Boon Sim
Location: Palau de la Música Catalana

We often see students and fellow sketchers scratching their head and wondering how they became lost in the sketching jungle. After asking a probing question, “What is the story you are trying to tell?”, these sketching warriors quickly reveal that they have no road maps, no plot and no strong cohesive story to tell.

A strong, cohesive story needs a clear focal point (eg. An interesting door way or window), something that grabs your attention. Then from the heart of the sketch we can creatively develop our story.

Objectives

• To explore ways of creating a strong focal point in our sketches.
• To experiment with alternative drawing tools and mediums during the sketching process.
• To create a bold & fluid exchange between sketching, mark-making and painting.

FOCAL POINT & PATHWAYS OF SKETCHING

Participants to try this 3 simple exercise before sketching on newspaper. These are roadmaps to help stay on course.

1. SPIRAL – Concentric drawing approach, creating connection to the focal point.
2. STAR BURST – Radiating lines/shapes from focal point, Magic triangle, asymmetry.
3. CROSSWORD PUZZLE – Intersections, Horizontals & Verticals, cruciform, fulcrum, tension.

Participants to focus on observing the environment and identifying a strong focal point (Crux of the story).

Participants can use any of the 3 suggested pathways of sketching to develop their sketch, always referencing to the focal point. Some may even combine 2 methods to create new permutations.

EXPERIMENTATION WITH SKETCHING AND PAINTING MATERIALS

• Participants will try to develop the sketch from the focal point using alternative tools and water-soluble mediums. Splashing, mixing colours on paper, scratching/scraping, wax-resist are some ways to create interesting marks.
• Participants will be encouraged to sketch and experiment with twigs, bamboo pens, different inks and any other water-soluble mediums, sandpaper, crayons during the sketching process.
• Participants will also be encouraged to work back and forth between sketching and painting in a very bold and fluid manner.

Learning goals

• Participants will learn to see things from complexity to simplicity, see objects as shapes, playing with colour splashes freely.
• Participants will learn simple line and shape sketching, explore colour splashes to paper, and experiment with texture manipulation through the use of salt, coffee, candles and crayons.
• The workshop will also help participants appreciate the unexpected outcomes in art and learn to have fun with the process of exploring various expressions through sketching and colouring techniques.

Supply list

Watercolour, water-soluble pencils/coloured pencils, drawing ink, bamboo pen, pens, salt, crayons, loose sheets of paper.

Other sample sketches