Leading the class in the back row is Sharon Nergaard on the left followed by Karen Cutrell, Fran Fowler, and Laurie Laramie. Seated in the front row left to right are Mary Beth Fisher, Georgia Brosnihan, and Rindy Avis.
Nancy Friedman
On Oct. 26, Sharon Nergaard guided her Intermediate Colored Pencil Class from the darkness to the light. The class participants, armed with only their colored pencil sets of 36 to 150 colors, black paper, and a black eraser, were challenged to finish a still life painting of an apple and pear.
Why was this a challenge, you ask?
• First, a color pencil artist usually layers their paintings on white or lightly toned paper with dark to light colors much like the acrylic and oil painter. However, when starting with black paper to begin, the artist must now think in terms of layering light to dark like a watercolorist.
• Second, the color pencil artist generally knows how their pencil colors appear on white paper, but not how they will look on black paper. Therefore, the artist needs to figure out what colors work best on black paper through some trial and error.
• Finally, the artist will need to trace their project onto the black paper, but without being able to use the light tablet or white eraser. For the latter, enter the black eraser. Yes, there really is a black eraser.
And so, it was on those shorter, darker days of October that Sharon led her class from the darkness to the light.