Don Michael demonstrates at figure drawing class

As part of my exhibition in December of figure drawings, I took one of my classes on a series of field trips to the Charlotte Art League.  At the League my students were exposed to drawing with experienced artists.  Last week, Don Michael demonstrated a new technique for the class.  He had the students use a wound piece of paper to distance the pastel from their hands.  This caused them to make subtle, light marks.  The results were fantastic as you can see by the drawings above.  These are three students from the class, each 2nd quarter students at the Art Institute of Charlotte: Chris Ross, Chelsea Clay, and Talia Najera.

Demonstrations Exhibition

The image above is one a did a few years ago at a creativity seminar with Andy Braitman. This figure study was done on 300lb arches paper. First, I brushed on watercolor paint with a 2 inch brush. Finally, I drew into the wet paper with white and black charcoal pencils. I love the drips! I have taught figure drawing for the past nine years and I show this technique to my students during final weeks of class.

During July, an exhibition at the Art Institute of Charlotte called: Demonstrations includes this and other drawings my me and the other figure drawing instructors. The drawings range from quick one minute gesture drawings to longer more details poses. Stop by the Art Institute and see the show! The show includes drawings by these great artists: Mike Watson, Rea Legrone, Roger Hicks, & Don Michael.