I am attending the Darren Kingley workshop for the next two week and will record my progress in the class. We spent the 1st day doing a block in of the model. The block in is done with 6B 2mm lead pencil on Strathmore 500 2ply bristol paper. Strathmore bristol comes in Plate (smooth) or Vallum (more tooth). The plate turned out to be a bit too smooth. Darren recommends using the 4 ply instead.
Day 2, spent the day getting more accurate with the contour then started block in. Used 2B and 6B to get the darks. However, this is just laying in some values to start getting the forms to turn. Additional passes will get the forms darker and toward the right values. Day 3, We continued to block in the figure. The technique is more like sculpting, pushing and turning the form as if chiselling the edge of the form. We then proceeded to refine the shapes by pushing the values.
Day 4. We spent today polishing the drawing. We used paper towl and wipe the drawing to add some tone to the whites and pick out some highlights using eraser pencils. We also used a brush to push some of the darks.
BACAA doesn't allow students taking photos of their own work inside the school and my photo didn't turn out because it got all washed out in the sun. Here is a link to the schools photos instead.
Day 5. Worked on the head, hands and legs today. Flushed out the head and corrected the hands and legs. Didn't have enough time to really polish the hands and the legs but that's the end of the first week of drawing. Next week will transfer the drawing to a canvas and do an oil painting. Day 6. We transferred the drawing from last week to a 18x24 canvas using tracing paper and transfer paper. We started the under painting using just ivory black, burnt umber, and flake white. The painting is limited to 3-4 values and kept pretty simple. Values are used to block in major shapes. Day 7. We did a 8x10 color study first to experient with the colors and record the warm and cool colors. The color study was started with a block in (10 min) then applying colors to the big shapes (1 hour). We spent the rest of the day doing color block in on the main painting. The goal is to use the color study to block in the major shapes and get the drawing structure back. Day 8. I focused on finishing the color block in of the whole body and put in the background so I can judge the values more accurately. Day 9, the torso is pretty dry so we applied a thin layer of linseed stand oil/gamsol mixture and wipped it off. Started to redefine the torso and trying to refine the smaller shapes and warm to cool color transition. Day 10, applied a thin layer of linseed stand oil and gamsol over the head, arms, and legs and worked on refining the shapes and values. This is the last day although I could use several more days to finish the legs and do couple more passes but this will have to do. In summary, I've learned a lot from Darren Kingsley. He is a great teacher and I highly recommend his class to anyone interested in seeing and capturing details. | 
