Charcoal & Chalk Portrait Workshop

9th/10th May 2020 – Postponed due to Covid-19

Charcoal portrait of Olivia by Christopher Clements
Charcoal portrait of Olivia by Christopher Clements

Learn to draw Charcoal & Chalk portraits from life while learning about the tonal principles necessary for painting. 

Charcoal is a beautiful and expressive medium, ideal for portraiture, especially when combined with toned paper and chalk. The combination provides you with a very efficient means for drawing. This makes it is very well suited to short studies. Charcoal and Chalk can be manipulated to stunning effect and is perfect if your ultimate goal is to paint. This is because it serves as an ideal method to get to grips with the essential tonal principles involved. This workshop will push your observational drawing skills as well as your understanding of tonal families. This knowledge will allow you to create form in your drawing while helping you get much more out of painting workshops.

Charcoal & Chalk Portrait Workshop Overview

The workshop is taught by Christopher Clements and will introduce you to drawing techniques which will give your portrait drawing a solid foundation. You’ll start by looking at a tonal scale using the charcoal, toned paper and chalk to create a 9 step scale. This divides up into ‘tonal families’ of shadow, mid tone and light.

Following on from the tonal exercises you’ll learn about the gesture and structure of the head, looking at orientation and construction methods as well as compositional principles.

Finally you’ll put all this into practice as you work up a finished portrait from life. You’ll be introduced to an approach which helps you concentrate on one concept at a time. This provides you with a framework to greatly increase the efficiency of your work and enable you to pace the drawing according to the time you have available.

Charcoal and Chalk Drawing Principles

During the workshop you’ll look at how to get the most out of charcoal and chalk and how to let the tone of the paper do some of the work for you.

  • How to draw a well structured head
  • Perspective, orientation and proportion
  • Positioning of the features and anatomy
  • Composition and lighting
  • Creating tonal ‘families’ to give your drawing unity
  • How to use the toned paper to best effect
  • Creating focus and variety through selective rendering of detail
  • Efficient use of time

By the end of the workshop firstly you’ll be familiar with drawing concepts which are invaluable in constructing and working up Charcoal and Chalk portrait drawings. Secondly you’ll know how to use the different mediums effectively at different stages of the drawing. Thirdly, you will have developed your observational drawing abilities and learnt how to pace your work according to the time you have available.

The class is limited to 7 students meaning you can work towards your own personal goals whether you’re looking to learn fundamental principles or push your skills from a more advanced position.

Charcoal and Chalk Portrait Workshop Booking

Date: 9th/10th May 2020 – Postponed due to Covid-19

Price :£160 – Click ‘Book Now’ links above to reserve your place with £40 deposit on Eventbrite

Location: Northern Realist Studio, AWOL Studios, Manchester

Materials, Charcoal & Chalk

Course Length: 12 Hours over 2 Days

Hours: 09:45-16:30

More info: email info@northernrealist.com or use the contact form