Drawing Shells Big in Charcoal
By Sheila Ceccarelli
Drawing shells on a large scale was the theme of a workshop for teenagers that introduced basic steps to creating form and tonal shading in drawings. This session was inspired by Paula Brigg’s workshop for children aged 6 to 10, See Three Shapes and the simplicity of her step by step approach.
Many thanks to the University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge, for their kind loan of shells.
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Paula Briggs
October 17, 2013 @ 2:24 pm
Wonderful drawings Sheila – really powerful! I love the scratchiness of the charcoal on some of them. They look like they want to escape the page!
Sheila Ceccarelli
October 17, 2013 @ 3:21 pm
Thanks Paula – yes the teenagers did really well and responded well to a step by step approach but also took complete ownership of their drawing process towards the end of the session.
The key idea of contour drawing and then shadow, then shading worked well. It is also worth mentioning that when students lost the drawing they could bring it back quite simply by emboldening the contour and blackening the shadow.
Thanks for the idea!
Sue Gough
October 18, 2013 @ 12:34 pm
Fabulous responses Sheila!
Sheila Ceccarelli
October 24, 2013 @ 10:11 am
Thanks Sue! – They loved working big!
Margaret Christison
November 3, 2013 @ 6:13 pm
Absolutely inspiring! The wide range of mark-making makes for rich texture and the seemingly swift initial lines with follow-on layering result in strong drawings- tension/contrast/movement/rhythm- I love them! Thank you.
Sheila Ceccarelli
November 3, 2013 @ 6:39 pm
Thank you for your feedback and encouragement Margaret – I’ll pass it on to the students.
Best wishes,
Sheila
rachel c
April 30, 2021 @ 7:08 pm
These drawings are beautiful and the three step approach taken from Pauls Briggs India ink workshop seems to work really well and allow experimentation and expression within a brief. I have been looking for an exercise in tonal value using charcoal that would give some freedom and not be too restrictive for my community art group of 6-10 yr olds, so this is a really exciting find. I would be grateful to hear whether anyone has reason to think it wouldn’t work with this age group, or tweaks that could be needed? Our session runs for an hour from arrival to departure. The group is new (we’ve just met twice before now) and small at the moment. Anyone advice or encouragement much appreciated!