Students will receive direct feedback and critique from the instructor for however many critiques they purchase (up to three) during the creation of their own drawing. The skills developed in this workshop will enable students to make their own charcoal drawings from life or photographic reference. These skills will also serve as an essential stage in making studies for paintings. 

Noah Buchanan began his artistic studies in 1994 at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia, where he studied classical drawing and painting, as well as extensive studies in human anatomy. In 2002, he received a Masters of Fine Arts from the New York Academy of Art where he intensified his training in figure painting and anatomy with Martha Mayer Erlebacher and Steven Assael.

Noah Buchanan is represented by Dacia Gallery in New York, as well as Winfield Gallery in Carmel, CA. He has participated in exhibitions across the United States from New York to Los Angeles. Buchanan has exhibited internationally in London, Edinburgh, and Tokyo. His paintings and drawings are featured in private and public collections throughout the United States and Europe. Buchanan teaches painting and drawing at several colleges and universities in the San Francisco Bay Area.

His work is based in the mythic, symbolic and heroic traditions of the figure. He is primarily interested in depicting the human figure as a vessel which confronts and grapples with the Divine.

-Drawing Board

-Padding Behind Charcoal Drawing: Several Sheets of Regular Drawing Paper or Newsprint.

-1 Sheet of Zerkall German Ingres Paper. Any neutral color/tone. If Zerkall cannot be found, Strathmore 500 Series, Charcoal Sheets are recommended. The color Pottery Green (60 - 123) is favored by the instructor.

-Vine Charcoal: Nitram B and 2B recommended

-Vine Charcoal Holder

-Charcoal Pencils: Wolff's Carbon 2B and 4B Recommended.

-White Chalk Pencil: Carb Othello #100

-Kneaded Eraser.

-Factis Eraser Pencil (looks like a mechanical pencil, except as an eraser).

-Old, used bristle brushes for painting, various sizes (For Blending).

-Old, used sable or synthetic sable brushes for blending and subtracting charcoal.

-Hardware store bristle "chip" brush, inexpensive: 3" or 4"

-Measuring Stick: Can be small gauge knitting needle, wooden shishkabob skewer, or clipped off wire coat hanger. Needs to be skinny and straight.

-Sharpening Tools: Regular single sided razor blades (new); Sanding Block (recommended: Dry Wall Sanding sponge 120 grit)

-Easel: If Students do not have an easel for home use, the wall is recommended to use instead (in this case, students will forego the use of a drawing board and will pin/tape their drawing paper/padding to the wall).