Red chalk drawing on buff paper by Renoir

Trois Crayon(Three Crayon)

A technique developed by baroque artists wherein black, white, and reddish crayons are used on a buff colored paper to create a drawing that shows the temperature of light as well as its value.

The addition of the black conte allows you to make the shadows even more dimensional. Youare no longer just dealing with value.You can show changes in temperature. Reduction of light turns warm reddish tones into cooler duller gray tones. Seeing temperature shifts is the starting point for dealing with color.

This technique works for all flesh colors. You simply adjust the amounts of each color.To figure out what you need to adjust, you just look.

White conte can be used to show the light on a subject in the same way that You can erase the light away on a ground toned with charcoal. The trick is to get the amount of white right. This drawing is a masterpiece of holding back just enoughOn the white. Notice that in most places, you can see the color of the paper shining through. The color of the paper blends optically with the white to keep the white from becoming a hard shape that refuses to conform to the fabric. Look at your arm under a strong light. Does the highlight have a hard edge or does it seem to soften and fade into the rest of the skin?

Flecks of white conte can be very effective in rendering spots of highlight on skin.Notice how small these spots are.

In this sketch by Watteau, you can see that the red and black sometimes Intermingle. The black dulls down the red in spots to show that the shadow is still warm but getting cooler. Take a look at your own arm in shadow. Can you see spots of shadow that still glow with warmth?

The volume of the body comes from the way the red, black and white contegive shape to the tone of the paper. Note that the conte is applied lightly, Delicately. You can still see the tone of the paper coming through even in the Darker shadows.

You have to be very careful about the way you put down conte. If you usetoo much, as here, if you obliterate the color of the paper, the effect is patchy and flattening. Practice laying the conte down delicately,allowing the tone of the paper to show through.

This artist held back beautifully on the red and white, but notice the black Gets a little heavy in spots and starts to read like line on the sternum and thigh.

To get this right, it is important to keep the white conte away from the black. If youStart with the reddish conte and keep it very light, letting the paper bethe middle tone, then put your white in. Make sure any place you want to lighten with white is completely cleanand put white in lightly. Then, add the blacks. Keep blacks light too. Let the paper