Scenes from the BLACK Workshop :)

 First the participants got an introduction to artists who draw in Black and White

Then they got an introduction to the Lethal Ammunition itself!

Charcoal!

Those are the hands of a Martial Arts expert (no kidding). 

He can crack your skull open with a single blow if he chooses to. 

He produced some really sensitive and beautiful drawings.

Here below are scenes from the Gruesome Faces exercise -

Look at the confidence of those lines!

These above are creations of the very brainy people who are holding them.

They are former students of the Indian Institute of Science (!) and they have never drawn before.

That's The General surveying the spoils from a Gruesome Faces exercise.

My students really conquered the medium I tell you!

Just look at them work!

Those two pink ladies are software engineers who produced some a m a z i n g drawings.

The Babe in Blue is Prabha who designed the awesome poster for the workshop.

First timers at drawing mind you.

I just wish I could've shown you the rest of the drawings but they were carefully sprayed, 

wrapped up and taken to their homes.

Here is a frightening scene below - I was made to give a ' demo' with cameras aimed at me!

But I got an applause (which was really sweet) and a black nose (which is inevitable).

Here are some of the participants with their blackened hands,

 rather bemused expressions 

and big smiles...

If  you ask me what the best part is for me as a teacher in the workshops that I've taken,

I have this to say - at the beginning of a session all the participants look so uncertain, they approach the medium so tentatively... but somewhere during the workshop I find them rollicking about in charcoal, black from head to toe, laughing, eyes shining as they surprise themselves with their creations.

And then, at the end of it all, when they leave, proudly carrying their booty rolled carefully under their arms, they beam at me and say ' Thank you! We had so much fun!' and my heart bursts with joy that I have made them draw once more. That for me is the best part of taking a workshop.

:-)

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Thanks to Ganesh (last pic, right dude) for sharing his pictures so generously with me.

Thanks also to the ever amazing Pencil Jam team for some of the pics used here and for flawless help in organizing the workshop. You guys are the best ever!