pencil black and white sunset drawing
Sherry Camhy explains how artists can use black paper to create mesmerizing artworks with a unique glow.
Artists are like magicians: Both use their knowledge of optical phenomena to create unexpected effects. Frequently, both rely on an understanding of how the eye perceives subtle differences in light and shadow.
Bearing this in mind, one way you can achieve striking artistic results is to work on black paper, which also lets you explore some intriguing ideas about value, color and composition. On a black surface, white creates contrast, black creates depth, and opaque colors glow. Here, we'll explore some of the visual effects possible with this approach.
Sourcing Black Surfaces
Black surfaces are readily available, from individual sheets of craft, printmaking and pastel papers to scratchboards, gessoed boards and multimedia sketchpads. Many black surfaces are acid-free and fade-resistant. If you don't like what you see in the store, black surfaces of any size are easy to make. Apply one or more coats of black gesso, acrylic, gouache, chalkboard paint or house paint on heavy watercolor paper, board or wood. For a smooth surface excellent for detailed drawings, finely sand each layer after you apply it. For a rougher surface more appropriate for pastel, mix sand or marble dust into the primer.
White on Black
When white is surrounded by black, the optical contrast between the two values is intensified. The black looks blacker, and the white looks whiter. Chiaroscuro artists such as Caravaggio used strong value contrasts to convey dynamic drama in their compositions. Tonalists such as Thomas Wilmer Dewing created poetic images with somber, subtle tones.
In my drawingPortrait of Ellie(above), the contrast between white and black is an essential aspect of the visual and psychological impact of the image. I wanted this extreme contrast to portray the tension between the internal stress and the external calm of Ellie's appearance. For this drawing, I added compressed charcoal to the surface of the black pastel paper to make blending easier. It also enriches the texture of the darkness that engulfs the portrait. I applied white pastel in both a heavily opaque and a thinly transparent manner to model the forms of her features.
Black on Black
Putting black media on a black surface creates the illusion of light within a very limited range of values. This effect lures the viewer to approach the image closer in order to see it better. Looking into the dark values, a viewer's pupils dilate and expand. The effect is the same as entering a dark movie theater. At first, it's difficult to see anything, but after a while the darkness evolves into more visible forms, seeming to become lighter.
At first, the subtle tones ofPortrait of Xanthippe(above) are more difficult to discern than the brightly contrasting ones ofPortrait of Ellie. The drawing of Xanthippe begs to be studied slowly in order for the depth of its details to become visible. The interplay of the characteristic differences between charcoal and graphite is key to this effect.
Optical Effects
When differing forms of black are applied on a black surface, they do not disappear but rather result in differing optical effects. Charcoal by its very nature is darker than graphite. Black media such as charcoal, compressed charcoal, black pastel and NuPastel are matte. Like black velvet, they absorb light. In this portrait, I used compressed charcoal— even blacker than the paper—for the shadow shapes. It was so dark that the black paper appears lighter in comparison, effectively becoming a middle value.
Some viewers ofPortrait of Xanthippeat first assume that I created the highlights with white pastel pencil, but that's an optical illusion—no white was used. I modeled the light forms of Xanthippe's features with a 9B graphite pencil. On the black surface, the graphite looks silvery white. The use of graphite tricks the eye into seeing "white" highlights.
Graphite reflects light, unlike charcoal. On a white surface, the darker the graphite the darker the mark it makes. On black, the reverse happens. The more intense and rich the graphite, the more reflective it becomes. In bright light, graphite can really sparkle and shine. The effect is even more pronounced if the graphite is surrounded by matte black media. In Portrait of Xanthippe, the result of using both charcoal and graphite is that the different blacks are in perpetual, shimmering interaction with one another.
Color on Black
Opaque and transparent colors function in reverse ways on black and white surfaces. A transparent watercolor red on a white surface gleams when the white of the paper shows through it. However it is deadened when black shows through it. An opaque red looks darker when surrounded by white but lighter, brighter and more intense on black—it glows.
When dark-colored pastels are not as dark as desired, blending them transparently into the black of the paper can darken their value. Consider my drawingSunset (above). This image was created with pastel and pastel pigment on black paper. I used opaque white gesso as an underpainting in areas I wanted to appear luminous. This increased the atmospheric look of the lightest sections of the sky.
I encourage you to experiment with your materials to discover what can be done working on black surfaces with both absorbent and reflective black media, as well as with color. Working on black might be challenging at first, but the results are well worth the effort.
About the Artist
Sherry Camhyis a faculty member of the Art Students League of New York, the School of Visual Arts and New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. She is the author ofArt of the Pencil: A Revolutionary Look at Drawing, Painting and the Pencil.
This article first appeared in Artists Magazine, July/August 2018 issue.
pencil black and white sunset drawing
Source: https://www.artistsnetwork.com/art-mediums/drawing/drama-in-the-dark-drawing-on-black-paper/
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