The impressionists where obsessed with light and color, but Seurat took this obsession to a whole new level.

In drawing, as a general rule, the line is usually used to describe the form by outlining the perimeter and relief of its volumes, defining and quantifying its physical entity.

The light and the illusion of reality are instead better evoked with an extended tonal range, and soft marks with elusive edges that blend and transition into each other, no hard, sharp, regular lines are allowed in this realm.

Of course, the artists being artists, always try to defy the rules or just mess with them, and find new and original method of representing the world.

Seurat married these two approaches obtaining a quasi-oneiric hybrid : he used jumbles of regular thin lines to create a world where evanescent forms bathe in a suffused, universal light, shunning the detail, focusing instead on the glow, contrast and sense of volume created by the light on form.

In this 2 sessions crash course we will practice drawing using this approach by copying a few of his charcoal studies, studying his unique technique and challenge ourselves to explore new creative possibility in our artworks.

Materials:

• Charcoal in sticks or compressed charcoal pencils in hard, medium and soft gradations (B, 2B, 4B, 6B),
• white chalk,
• white and tan or gray toned paper,
• erasers and sharpening tools, including a small,
• sharp cutter and sand paper