Lesson video

Hello, my name is Mrs. Tipping and I'm really looking forward to learning with you today about ceramics through cake culture.

We are going to do lots of thinking, talking, and exploring together in this lesson.

So, shall we get started? Let's go.

By the end of today's lesson, you will be able to observe and draw cakes using charcoal to create tone, texture, and depth.

Before we start, I would like to introduce you to some keywords.

We'll be using these keywords during the lesson, so it might be a good idea to write these words down.

The keywords we'll be using today are, observation, texture, charcoal, tone, and blending.

I'm going to say those again.

Now, I'd like you to repeat them after me.

Observation, texture, charcoal, tone, blending.

Good job.

Now let's think in more detail about what these keywords mean by taking a look at their definitions.

Observation means looking closely at an object to notice its details, shape and texture before drawing.

Texture is how a surface appears or feels.

In art it's represented using different marks and shading.

Charcoal is a black powdery drawing material that allows for rich shading and contrast.

Tone is the lightness or darkness of an area in a drawing used to create depth.

And blending is the smoothing of charcoal marks to create soft transitions between light and dark areas.

Pause the video here to make a note of these keywords, and when you're ready to continue, press play.

These are the learning cycles we'll be working through together in today's lesson.

Exploring Charcoal, and Observational Drawing and Refining Techniques.

In this first learning cycle, we're going to explore charcoal.

Why do some drawings look realistic and full of life? Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? Why are some drawings realistic and look full of life? Well, observational drawing means looking closely at an object to notice its details, shape and texture before drawing.

The process of observational drawing helps to develop careful looking and accurate drawing skills, and it is a skill which can be developed through practise.

Before making an observational drawing, it can be helpful to spend some time looking at the object carefully.

So, if we're to look at this apple, we're going to look at its overall shape or form.

We're going to also look at where the light and shadows are and where the texture and surface quality is.

With this information, you can begin making an observational drawing, sketching the overall shape, incorporating tone and shadow, and capturing its texture through mark-making.

It's important to keep referring back to the object, whilst drawing, to continue observing its form and details, and to check your drawing matches it.

So can we see here, looking at this image of the apple and then looking at the drawing, does it look like it matches? Have we picked up on the details? Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

What is the main purpose of observational drawing? To copy an image exactly as it is, to develop careful looking and accurate drawing skills, or to draw quickly without paying attention to details.

Pause the video here and give yourself a moment to think and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said it's to develop careful looking and accurate drawing skills, you're absolutely right.

That is the main purpose of observational drawing.

Charcoal is a soft, expressive material that allows for rich shading, tone, and strong contrast.

Artists can use charcoal to create bold textures and deep shadows, which makes it useful for observational drawing.

Examples of artists using charcoal to create expressive textures and dynamic shadows in their drawings include Vija Celmins, Giorgio Morandi, and Käthe Kollwitz.

Charcoal can be used for many drawing techniques, including light strokes for soft shading, heavier strokes for dark, bold shading, blending for smooth shading, dots and scribbles for textures, and erasing and using a rubber to create highlights.

Can you see each of the examples of the techniques there? Might have to look closely.

Some of them are light strokes for the soft shading, so they're quite light and trickier to see.

Combining different mark-making techniques can also lead to a wide range of effects.

You can use these to describe the qualities you observe in objects that you draw.

Can you see these examples of effects here? Which one do you like? When do you think we might use those techniques? Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

What happens if you use heavier strokes with charcoal on paper? The line becomes lighter, the charcoal disappears, or the mark becomes darker and bolder? Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said that if you use heavier strokes with charcoal on paper, that the mark becomes darker and bolder, you're absolutely right.

Well done.

This brings us to our first learning task.

I'd like you to practise using a range of charcoal techniques, hatching, blending, and creating highlights with a rubber on some scrap paper.

You can experiment with light and heavy strokes, blending for smooth gradients, creating texture using dots and scribbles, and using rubbers for highlights.

So pause the video here and give yourself enough time to have a go at practising a range of charcoal techniques on that scrap paper and press play when you're ready to continue.

How did you find that? Which technique did you enjoy using the most? Which one was most tricky? Well, hopefully you were able to practise those different techniques of hatching, blending, and creating highlights with a rubber, and they might look a little bit like these images here, where you can see the different experiments of the blending and hatching and using those dots.

Well done for having a go at exploring those charcoal techniques.

This now brings us into the second part of our lesson.

We're going to take a look at some observational drawing and refining techniques.

Let's look closely at this object.

As well as looking delicious, cakes can describe all sorts of shapes, textures, tones, and shadows.

Taking a look at this image, can we spot any particular shapes, textures, or tones? Pause the video here and have a quick discussion with your partner and press play when you're ready to continue.

What could you notice? Could you see any circular shapes, any triangular shapes, any different tones, light or dark? Well, let's look closely at this cake, and with a partner, can you describe what the main shapes are, where the light source is, and what textures you can see? Pause the video here and give yourself enough time to have a go at describing these points with a partner and press play when you're ready to continue.

How did you find that? Were you able to describe those main shapes and textures? Well, Andeep and Laura were taking a look and Andeep says, "The cake is oval in shape and the different berries look like small spheres.

The sponge looks crumbly, but the icing looks shiny." Laura says, "The darkest part of the cake is between the layers of sponge.

There are highlights on the icing and berries which show the light source is coming from above." What did you think? Did you think the same? Did you identify most of those points that Andeep and Laura have spotted? When you start observational drawing, you need to remember to spend some time just simply looking at the object.

Every object can be broken down into simple shapes.

Looking at your cake, you can then lightly sketch the rough outline using light strokes.

Can you see in this example here, this lightly sketched rough outline of this cake here? Now, with the basic outline drawn, you can then find the darkest areas and start shading, and you can use a combination of techniques to draw that tone.

You can include blending, hatching, cross-hatching, and erasing areas for highlights.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

What should you do first when drawing a cake from observation? Draw a rough outline using light strokes, press hard with charcoal to make bold lines or add fine details before sketching the basic shape? Pause the video here and give yourself a moment to think and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said to draw a rough outline using light strokes, you are right.

That's what you should do first when drawing a cake from observation.

Now as your drawing progresses, remember to keep checking back with the object, observing it more closely.

Making an observational drawing is more than simply making a good picture.

It's a skill which improves our ability to see objects and the world around us.

Once the light and dark, or tonal values, are in place, you can develop and refine the drawing by capturing different textures.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Charcoal is too messy to control and mistakes can't be fixed.

Is this statement true or false? Pause the video here and give yourself a moment to think and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said that that is false, you're absolutely right, but why is that statement false? Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner about why this statement is false and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you discuss? If you said something similar to, "Charcoal is a flexible drawing material that can be controlled through applying different techniques.

Smudging can be used to soften mistakes or a rubber can be used to refine shapes and add highlights." Now, different cakes have different textures.

A fluffy sponge, glossy icing, or various toppings.

You can experiment with charcoal mark-making techniques to represent these different textures, so look closely at those images there.

Fluffy sponge texture.

How could we create that? And then that glossy, gooey icing, and then toppings like strawberries or blueberries.

How could we draw those? Artists use different techniques for different effects, so they might use erasing for glossy highlights.

They might use light strokes and dark strokes.

They might use smudging and blending the charcoal for shadows.

Or even dotting or stippling for the crumbs on the cake base.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

What is the best way to show texture in a charcoal drawing? Only use smooth shading, erase all rough lines, or use different types of marks like hatching and stippling? Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said to use different types of marks, like hatching and stippling, you're right.

That's the best way to show texture in a charcoal drawing.

This brings us to our final learning task.

I'd like you to create a detailed observational drawing of a cake using charcoal, and try to focus on achieving realistic tones and textures by using different charcoal techniques.

So pause the video here and give yourself enough time to have a go at creating a detailed observational drawing of a cake using charcoal, and press play when you're ready to continue.

How did you find that? Were you able to use those different techniques for tones and textures? Well, here's a cake that was closely observed, and then the different charcoal techniques have been applied to show those realistic textures and tones.

So well done if you were able to draw a cake using charcoal and those different techniques, and maybe you've got something that looks similar to this.

Before we finish this lesson, let's summarise what we've learned about observing and drawing cakes using charcoal.

By spending time observing an object carefully before drawing improves our ability to accurately represent it.

Charcoal can be used to create a range of tonal values.

Blending, hatching and adding highlights helps bring drawings to life.

Different mark-making techniques can also be used to describe an object's texture.

Thank you for joining me in this lesson today.

I hope to see you in the next one.

See you next time.