“But I can’t draw people.”How many times have friends said that to you – usually when sitting in the school Art Room and expected to do as teacher says. And how many of you have picked up a pencil since leaving school? Not everyone is going to be a Freda Kahlo or a Leonardo da Vinci but everyone can make pencil marks on paper and if they relax, the result can be pleasing.
So for the recent meeting of Contemporary Elders at the Focal Point Gallery we turned up to a workshop on “Illustration” led by Craig Hallum, (Google craighallumsart for links).
Craig’s portraits are small scale, in black and white. He explained how we should start first with a pencil, working from a photo if we preferred rather than from life. He said that he sometimes uses a light box. First we needed to draw the outline in pencil, then start building up shadows, and adding cross-hatching. We should observe highlights and dark shadows, and “break outside the border”. Talking done, we picked up our pencils . ..
I decided to draw Craig from a photo, and carefully drew the first outline. What an effective way to silence the chatter of a group.As each one of us concentrated on our drawings, the only sound was the quiet responses from Craig as he guided our work. With the outline established, it was time to pick up a fine black drawing pen to start the permanent outlines. I found it really difficult to use the black painting pen – I was afraid of adding too much black. Craig showed me how to leave some space white and how to add the black with a very light touch. After studying his examples, I cross-hatched the background, leaving a tiny space next to the face. At the end of the workshop I left feeling very pleased with my portrait. And now I shall buy myself a set of drawing pens and have another go at portraiture.

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