Gallery Talk: Drawing Materials and Techniques in Sketch, Shade, Smudge

Name: Gallery Talk: Drawing Materials and Techniques in Sketch, Shade, Smudge
Start: 2026-01-13T12:30:00-05:00
End: 2026-01-13T13:00:00-05:00
Location: Harvard Art Museums, 32 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138

Schedule

Tue Jan 13 2026 at 12:30 pm to 01:00 pm

UTC-05:00

Location

Harvard Art Museums, 32 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138 | Cambridge, MA

Join an exhibition curator for a discussion about some of the drawing materials and techniques seen in works in the special exhibition Sketch, Shade, Smudge: Drawing from Gray to Black
Sketch, Shade, Smudge: Drawing from Gray to Black celebrates the act of drawing using familiar tools—charcoal, chalk, crayon, and graphite. Each type of material has distinctive properties: charcoal can be intensely rich and velvety, or delicately gray and suggestive, while graphite is slippery, shiny, and easy to erase. Crayon is deeply black and waxy, whereas chalk can be crumbly and diffuse. The creative manipulations of these media—smudging, scraping, and erasing—make them versatile tools for adding intensity, depth, precision, and expression to an artist’s vision.
Please check in with museum staff at the Visitor Services desk in the Calderwood Courtyard to request to join the gallery talk. Space is limited, and talks are available on a first-come, first-served basis; no registration is required.