Stuart Semple:
Two of my favourite materials to use are paint and charcoal, which I absolutely love. Unlike a pencil, which only does one thing, you can make really thick lines, you can make really tiny, thin lines and it's got an infinite amount of possibility in terms of tone, because you can get massive, big pieces like this, which means you can very quickly do very big, graphic, solid marks and you can fade it all the way out into almost nothing.
I basically discovered putting it over the top of paint actually changed the tone of the paint, so I didn't have to mix every tone of that purple. Say I want a dark version of that purple, I can just rub charcoal over it to make it a bit darker, rather than having to mix it as a paint colour. Which saves me loads of time.
To be honest, I can't remember how I stumbled across it. I think one day I probably had to finish a painting quickly for something and was like, 'Hang on, I wonder if I go over it with charcoal, whether that will… do the job'. And when I'm using the charcoal, I'm really thinking about light and dark, I'm thinking about tone. I'm not thinking about colour. And these lips are a lovely example of that variety.
I think you should experiment with everything. I think my early pictures, they were made of all sorts of stuff. I was gluing lentils on there and melting candles down to see what it did. I think in the end, you find stuff that excites you and then you keep going with it. And you get to know your materials more. I mean, the more you use something, the more familiar it is.
I think the lentil piece is… not something I want anyone to ever see!
Video summary
Stuart Semple’s favourite materials are paint and charcoal.
He demonstrates using these materials, and shows how more possibilities in line and tone can be achieved using charcoal as opposed to a pencil.
He demonstrates how to apply charcoal to paint to create tone and describes how he used all sorts of materials inventively in his early work.
From a series of BBC Teach clips exploring the artwork of six UK-based leading artists.
Teacher Notes
Could be used to exemplify techniques that can be used when drawing with paint and charcoal.
It also demonstrates the creation of large scale works in charcoal from a variety of sources, images and artefacts, and the use of charcoal on paint to achieve tone.
Students could be encouraged to experiment with different materials and new techniques, combining media in order to achieve a greater range of effects.
These clips will be relevant for teaching Art and Design at GCSE/KS4 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and National 4/5 or Higher in Scotland.
The topics discussed will support OCR, Edexcel, AQA, WJEC GCSE in England and Wales, CCEA GCSE in Northern Ireland and SQA National 4/5 and Higher in Scotland.
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