Study at your own pace. Online access to your tutor. For all ages and abilities. Improving your skills or furthering your art career? We have a course for you.
Study at your own pace. Online access to your tutor. For all ages and abilities. Improving your skills or furthering your art career? We have a course for you.
Welcome to our latest weekend art challenge where we set our students the task of creating artwork on the colours of black and white. No colour, no distractions, just the fundamentals of shape, tone, and contrast.
It’s a great exercise for any artist, whether you’re drawing, painting, or using ink. Stripping things back like this really makes you think about composition and technique. The results this week were excellent. From detailed ink drawings, portraits to striking washy paintings. Everyone approached the brief in their own way.
Thank you to everyone who took part. We love seeing what you create each week. A brand new challenge will be posted tomorrow, so keep an eye out for that coming soon!
Only used Paynes grey watercolour with brushes on watercolour paper A4 size. No pencil sketch. Ni NiHere’s a piece for the “Black and White” challenge, it’s Mia with her head resting on the arm of “her” sofa and is made using pencil. I’ve tried drawing her from a different angle! Catherine TZebra with black and white gouache. Ni NiPenguins: black and white pens and watercolours. Ni NiAmong my 150 (or so!) house plants, I have a number of Echinopsis cactus, and one of the biggest ones flowered this weekend, so I made a drawing of the spectacularly beautiful flower. I had to work fast, because unfortunately the lovely flower wilts after just 24 hours. It makes me very sad… I’m attaching a photo of the flower itself, since I don’t think my drawing comes anywhere near capturing the flower’s magnificence. And I always find it an amazing contrast between the humble, prickly, lumpy cactus and the gorgeous flower. AliciaI used Indian ink and a stick. Jacquie PI re-did the reference photo on the London Art College blog to see how it turns out compared to last year August. I did with black and white soft pastels on gouache under painting on watercolour paper, CP 300 gsm, Bockingford. Still I didn’t get the likeness but happy with some improvement in my skill. Honestly, using pastels is my weakness. I’ll keep practicing. Ni NiI did this from college provided reference photo. With graphite pencils in my sketchbook. Just taking opportunity to practice portrait. Ni NiHere is a zebra for the challenge. It’s made painting white paper in black and then painting the zebra with white paint. Catherine THere’s my black and white rat for this week’s challenge. It aligned with the theme for my recently submitted assignment, so I carried on exploring some of the drafts for that! Vicki MHere is a horse drawn on black painted paper. I’ve drawn it in pencil with a little white ink, and it is quite an interesting result – if the light catches it from a different angle you can hardly see the drawing! Catherine TWell, I did two pieces and I thought I’ll just choose between them when they’re done … but I like them both!! Mary AnnWeekend Challenge B&W – StillLife Ozlem ECupressus arizonica Pen & Ink Ozlem EIvanaThis is a quick sketch of my two-year-old granddaughter, drawn from a picture on my phone while she climbed my back, peeking over my shoulder. Just sayin’… Drawn with water-soluble ink liner. LinnHere’s a little pen & ink sketch I did of a windblown hawthorn – a common sight here in Cornwall – to add to this week’s challenge. JudiPhalaenopsis (Black&White Challenge) Ozlem EA study in graphite. Rosalindan Australian magpie Emma MI did 2 small pictures this week. The one on the left is a skunk, where I used children’s paints. The one on the right is a magpie. I used children’s paints, googly eye and a fine tipped black pen. Nina PMixed black and white pencils with dry white watercolour pencils on Stonehenge Aqua HP watercolour paper. Heather KSteve K
We hope that everyone enjoyed this challenge. Stay tuned for a new Weekend Art Challenge posted here tomorrow.
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