Trois Crayons is not a famous French artist of the past, it is instead a fundamental drawing technique used by all the Old Masters (and some Young Masters too) that figurative artists today, should know and practice.

In this session of Drawing with… we will copy two works executed with this very important but not very well-known technique, practicing how to master tonal rendering, chromatic shifts, and color temperature. Understanding this technique will permit you to create beautifully complex and subtle light effects and increase the sense of volume and life in your drawings and paintings.

Materials:

• Drawing paper: a couple of sheets of lightly toned drawing paper, tan or gray. You can also stain a sheet of hot press watercolor paper with coffee or brown ink or watercolor.
• Charcoal sticks in medium and soft gradation.
• Red earth, black and white chalk (General’s), or Conte-Cretacolor crayons. You can also use colored pencils in the same colors
• Erasers and pencil sharpeners