Los Angeles Painting Classes – Learn How To Paint With Charcoal

July 28, 2011
by Clara Berta

Do you want to enroll in in Los Angeles painting classes? Do you want to learn how to paint in charcoal? Do you want to learn to do portraits? Do you want to paint your family portrait in charcoal once you\’re used to the techniques? It appears that you\’re decided to learn painting in charcoal. This is great! Now, you need to find Los Angeles painting classes that will fit your schedule within your local community. But before you start your research, this article will provide you the fundamental information on charcoal painting.

Charcoal can be described as drawing medium created from vine and willow that\’s been charred to be used as a crayon. Once the charred material is made into a powder, it has very poor paint pigment qualities. The crayon quality of charcoal is light in weight and renders deep, soft, rich gray-black shade. It functions well for shading by smudging. It is versatile, capable of creating fine lines as well as rich elements of tone. The medium alone works well for drawing and sketching.. Working with charcoal as a painting medium together with acrylics adds another distinctive dimension to the work of the artist. Many painters utilize charcoals in their paintings on canvas to sketch out the figures of the painting, and other times to provide a series of marks over the brushstrokes to add visual interest to the finished work. The following are step by step on how to paint with charcoal.

Sketch your composition out lightly on the watercolor paper. Work with the acrylic paint as a wash by combining water with the paint. Squirt the watercolor paper with a light spray of water. You want to keep paint thin so that the charcoal could be drawn over the painting. Utilize the charcoal to draw over and into the paint, gradually building up definition and contrast. Continue to work back and forth between paint and charcoal. The objective of dealing with the 2 mediums together would be to develop both line and color at the same time. Squirt the watercolor with a light mist spray and let it dry; this will produce a granular texture. Come back with the charcoal to keep rendering details. Put highlights and render with the side of the charcoal to make dark shadows. Take the side of the charcoal and press down on the paper making broad soft dark areas for shadows. Working back and forth between the darkest and brightest areas will certainly build contrast as well as interest.

In order to paint and draw a better portrait or another image, it would be good for you to train holding a charcoal pencil by sketching lines on a blank sheet of paper. Experiment by shading with the pencil, and also observing the differences between the softer and harder charcoal whenever sketching. Perform these exercises as often as you possibly can for you to perfect the lines you want.

Now, you know more info on painting in charcoal. It\’s up to you to determine which Los Angeles painting classes to enroll in. In order to make life simpler, select an art program that is available in your local community.

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