Online Class: Graduated Tonal Shading for Drawing Atmospheric Landscapes

Inspired by Georgia O’Keeffe’s iconic use of blended tonal gradation, this class will build the essential skills needed for tonal drawing and shading while also exploring the compositional principles of gradation through a variety of techniques. Participants will begin the lesson by building a value scale using drawing tools and techniques along with teaching artist Sudeshna Sengupta. Then, students will explore the expressive possibilities of atmospheric landscape drawings that capture spatial depth and vastness.

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

Space is limited, reservations required.

This program will take place via the video conferencing app – ZOOM. Details for accessing the Zoom meeting will be with your receipt upon registering and again sent via email the day prior. Please register in advance in order to access the program. Note that all program times are in Mountain Time.

Online classes are not recorded. Online classes are offered only as a live and interactive experience.

Supplies needed for this class: 

• Strathmore 400 series Mixed-media drawing pad or Strathmore 400 series Hot-Press or pad/block or Bristol pad or Mixed-media drawing pad or any other brand of drawing pad in any size between 9” x 12” and 12” x 17”. Thicker paper (140 lb or higher) is better.
• A set of 2B, 4B, & 6B graphite pencils
• White plastic eraser
• Charcoal Pencils: Medium (2B) and Soft/Dark (4B or 6B)
• Vine charcoal or Willow charcoal sticks, 1 to 3
• Compressed charcoal stick or black conte stick
• Blending stumps (AKA Tortillons, often comes with drawing pencil sets) and or Q-tips and tissues or cotton rags (clean pieces of old t-shirts work well).
• Masking tape to keep the paper flat especially if a larger pad is used.
• Optional: Watercolor round brushes, a container of water, water soluble graphite pencils, color pencils or conte to add a hint of color.
• These items should be available locally or online from Amazon as individual items in the U.S and in Europe or can be purchased online as individual items or as a set from Sengupta’s class-list (U.S. domestic shipping only).

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 received her Master of Fine Arts degree in 1985 from Visva-Bharati, an international university founded in India, by the humanist poet Tagore, the first non-European Nobel Laureate (1913). After teaching art and design at the college level in New Delhi, Seattle, and California, she taught at NMSU-Alamogordo, where she established its first intaglio printmaking studio in 1995. Since moving to Santa Fe a few years ago, she has been teaching credit courses in online studio art at the Santa Fe Community College. Her etching prints are in the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi; Association Musée d’Art Contemporain, France; Kala Institute, Berkeley; Artists Trust, Seattle, Chandigarh Govt. Art Museum, India, Gerald Champion Memorial Hospital, NM, and more. Her etchings and lithographs from the permanent collection of the NGMA have been featured in a major exhibition on Women Printmakers of India in 2024 at NGMA, New Delhi. She also conducts workshops and short courses and presents lectures and community-based art events for various age groups with civic, cultural, and community organizations in the US and in India, often with a focus on multicultural and intercultural experiences that emphasize human, cultural, and environmental connectedness through creativity. To see her art please visit Instagram or Sengupta’s website.

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.