1-1: Getting Started-- Your Pencil & Mark-Making

We will start by learning about the types of pencils you’ll use to draw and how to properly hold (and sharpen) your pencils.

First, you should know that your drawing pencil set has different types of pencils. They are individually marked with a letter/number code: HB, B, 2B, 4B, 6B, 8B. This is a value scale called the HB graphite grading scale.

H = hard = it makes a light mark
B = black = it makes a dark mark

Note: there is no specific industry standard for the HB (or any other hardness) grade scale, so pencils will vary by brand/manufacturer.

If you’re using an Ebony Pencil, it’s considered dark.
If you’re using a #2 (yellow) pencil, it’s considered to be equivalent to the HB pencil.

Check your pencil set– find your lightest and darkest pencil and note the letter/number code.

Link to more info: visualization of the HB graphite grading scale

Activities (~ 15 min.)

Watch: two tutorials about sharpening your pencils and drawing a line.
Practice: follow along with the tutorials using your darkest pencil and a sheet of scrap paper or a sketchbook page.

How to Sharpen a Pencil Like a Boss, Fine Art-Tips (~6 min): https://youtu.be/Rz9x49vG9Rk

How to Hold and Control Your Pencil, Proko (~8 min): https://youtu.be/pMC0Cx3Uk84

Mark-Making

What does mark-making mean?

From the Mark-Making Guide (Tate Museum): “Mark making describes the different lines, dots, marks, patterns, and textures we create in an artwork. It can be loose and gestural or controlled and neat. It can apply to any material used on any surface: paint on canvas, ink or pencil on paper, a scratched mark on plaster, a digital paint tool on a screen, a tattooed mark on skin…even a sound can be a form of mark making. Artists use gesture to express their feeling and emotions in response to something seen or something felt – or gestural qualities can be used to create a purely abstract composition.“

—Sketchbook Assignments: Mark-Making

1-1a: Warm-Up Exercise (10 min.)

READ: MARKS AND MARK-MAKING (by Mick Maslen & Jack Southern; excerpt from Drawing Projects)

ACTIVITY:

Start with a new sheet of scrap paper or sketchbook page– write the date on a corner of the page.
Put on your favorite music/podcast, and take a screenshot or write down what you’re listening to somewhere on the page.
Set a timer– you’ll draw continuously for 10 minutes.
Fill the page with as many distinct marks as you can; if you need to take a break, stop your timer or note the time.
Let whatever you’re listening to guide your movements- slow, quick, light/heavy pressure, thin/thick strokes, continuous/broken marks…there’s no right or wrong way to do this.
If it helps to close your eyes or look away from the paper- do it.
Photograph your completed drawing (follow the guidelines on page 0-5) and post it to: https://austincc.padlet.org/courtneycone/1575evt0udi7lykr
Title your post: 1-1a: Warm-Up Exercise

READ: Tate Museum's: Mark Making Coursework Guide: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/student-resource/exam-help/mark-making

1-1b: Mark-Making & Replicating Exercise (60 min.)

READ: Tate Museum's: Mark Making Coursework Guide: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/student-resource/exam-help/mark-making

ACTIVITY:

Take 2 sheets of blank paper/sketchbook pages, and use your pencil to draw 1 box on each page (box size ~ 7x5 inches).
Choose 2 artists from the Tate Museum’s Mark Making Guide. Look at their work and study their marks.
- - - Take a screenshot or save the images (you will submit them with your drawings).
Answer the following questions (in a few words-sentence) for both artworks you chose:
- - - How do you think the artist made these marks? (i.e., pencil, ink and brush, fingers, etc.)
    - What do they look like– do they feel hand-drawn, messy/rough, tidy, precise/mechanical, etc.? Can you identify any shapes (i.e., drips, blobs, single continuous line, many lines, rectangular, etc.)?
    - What feeling, mood or emotion would you ascribe to these marks? Why?
After you study the the first artist’s work/marks, you will replicate/imitate their style of mark-making in one of your boxes. Fill the box. Focus on their style of marks (not their subject matter).
- Spend ~15 minutes on each drawing.
- Use your answers from (#4) to help guide your movements.
- Experiment- try using the side or tip of your pencil, light/heavy pressure, thin/thick strokes, continuous/broken marks, etc.
When you are finished:
- Photograph your drawings.
- Post your 2 artists & artwork images, answers to #4, and your 2 drawings.
- Title your post: 1-1b: Mark-Making & Replicating
- Post it to: https://austincc.padlet.org/courtneycone/1575evt0udi7lykr

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