Conte with Chris Moock

Earth Colour Portrait Drawing

he last week of the term was drawing using Conte, led by Chris Moock. In part this is driven by his interest in drawing and the bridge between drawing and painting. However, it also coincides with the Exhibtion of drawings by Watteau at the Royal Academy.

I like working on a coloured ground, just as I do when painting. It allows for both dark and light to be drawn directly into the ground. The red allows yet another dimension of hot and cold. As working on an Ochre grounds adds to the potential. In many respects it reminds me of the warm and cool paintings that I did a couple of years ago, some of which you can see in the Still Life tab of this website.

I love the medium itself, the conte sticks have a velvety texture about them, they spread of the end and side of the stick onto the paper in an extremely controllable and fluid way. Since this project I have used black conte stick in life drawing instead of charcoal. Its not easy to rub out, but leaving a trace of where you have been has its own character and enforces a certain discipline.

conte-1

conte-2

conte-3