Online Class: Autumn Harvest Still Life Drawing on Toned Paper

In this class, create an observational still-life drawing of gourds and other fall harvest produce using color conté and charcoal pencils on toned paper.

Drawing inspiration from Georgia O’Keeffe’s sketches on earth-toned paper, teaching artist Sudeshna Sengupta will guide participants through the process of gesture sketching before moving on to creating a more detailed color drawing. Through hands-on instructions and live demonstrations, she will also show how to capture textures, volume, highlights, and shadows in a still life composition that features fall-themed objects like mini pumpkins, gourds, and corn cobs.

Participants are welcome to set up their own still-life using fall harvest items/found objects from nature. Or, they can follow along with the set-up used during the in-class demonstration.

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This class is suitable for youth ages 12 and up. Children are welcome to participate alongside their adults.

This program will take place via the video conferencing app – ZOOM. Details for accessing the Zoom meeting will be with your receipt upon registration and again sent via email the day prior. Please register in advance to access the program.

Note that all program times are in Mountain Time. Space is limited, reservations required.

Supplies needed for this class: 

• Canson Mi Tientes Earth Colors or Black or Gray Tones Pastel Paper pad in 9” x 12” to 12” X 16” size or similar paper pad. Thicker paper (140 lb or higher) is better.

• Newsprint pad or sketch pad for warm-up sketches.

• A 2B or darker graphite pencil and an eraser

• Charcoal (black) Pencils in Medium (2B) and Soft/Dark (4B or 6B)

• A white and or gray charcoal pencil.

• Set of white, black, and terracotta Conté or Conté Pencils

• 3 to 5 Blending stumps (AKA Tortillons, often come with drawing pencil sets) and or Q-tips.

• Optional: Masking tape or clips to keep the paper flat, especially if the pad is larger, color pencils or pastels, soft tissues or cotton rags for blending larger areas (cut-up pieces of old cotton t-shirt work well), thick felt-tip marker or brush-pen in black or dark gray for additional definition.

About the Instructor:

Sudeshna Sengupta’s career as a teaching artist spans multiple decades, continents, and cultures that inform her pedagogy for decolonizing studio art. She earned her Master of Fine Arts degree in 1985 from Visva-Bharati University, founded by the first non-European Nobel Laureate (1913) and humanist poet Rabindranath Tagore.

After teaching art and design at the college level in New Delhi, Seattle, and California, she taught at New Mexico State University-Alamogordo, where she established its first intaglio printmaking studio in 1995. Besides the O’Keeffe Museum, Sengupta teaches credit courses with the School of Art & Design of the Santa Fe Community College.

Her etchings and lithographs from the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi have been featured in a landmark exhibition on Women Printmakers of India at the NGMA-New Delhi in India. Her work is in the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi; Association Musée d’Art Contemporain, France; Kala Institute, Berkeley, and more.

Sengupta also conducts workshops, short courses, lectures, and community-based art events focusing on multicultural and intercultural experiences that emphasize human, cultural, and environmental connectedness through creativity.

To learn more, please visit notes-and-doodles.com and visit her Instagram @santafe_online_art_studio

This class is being offered on a sliding scale.

$10 minimal fee.

$20 covers the cost of the class.

$30 covers the cost of the class, plus a contribution to support educational programs.