Layers of Intimacy: The Drawing Technique of Joe Radoccia

A two-session virtual workshop with Joe Radoccia
Saturday’s, March 13 & 20, 2021
Fee: $30 for members and $40 for not-yet-members

Session #1:

Learn the method of mixed pencil drawing and acrylic-glazing that the artist uses to create his brunaille portraits on paper.  From surface preparation to a finished portrait, participants will walk through the process step by step with the artist, Joe Radoccia.

Along the way, you will learn the technique of manipulating pencil with acrylic medium and using dry brush and transparent layers to add impact and depth of focus to a portrait.  We will discuss ways of engaging the viewer and bringing life to a rendered portrait.

Session #2:

Participants will be encouraged to then experiment with the techniques and meet back for a second session to share the results. In that session, we will use your work as a springboard to further discuss the method, tips, and trick to enhance your drawing, and other directions to push the technique.

Joe Radoccia is best known as an artist who creates thematic bodies of work exploring various facets of intimacy.  His current series uses a combination of close observation from life, photo reference, and recorded interviews to create oversized yet intimate monochromatic portraits on paper.  The portraits have been included in exhibitions regionally and nationally, and in 2020 earned him an NYSCA/NYFA Artists Fellowship in Drawing.

A selection of recent exhibitions include: Contemporary Portraiture, at the Burchfield Penney Art Center, Monochromatic at LHU Center for the Arts, in Lubbock, Texas, and Radius 50 at the Woodstock Museum, in Woodstock NY, juried by Cathleen Chaffee, of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery.  His full series of LGBTQ Elders portraits was the focus of a solo exhibit ABOUT-FACE: 50 years after Stonewall, in 2019 at ArtRage Gallery in Syracuse NY.  Website: radoccia.com

Supply List:

A variety of graphite pencils: a few soft and at least one hard
Ebony pencil (super soft), 8B, 6B, 2B, 2H
Kneaded eraser

Acrylic Matte medium
Gesso

Flat white latex paint
Water-based brown pigment: I use Walnut Ink or acrylic paint in a brown hue, Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna
Multiple width brushes (I use inexpensive bristle brushes), large wash brush 1”, several size flats, and a Fan blender brush
4 or 5 empty cans or paper cups for mixing paint
A couple of sheets of Heavy Weight Paper, 140 lb. or 300 lb. HOT press watercolor paper, Arches or Fabriano
Paper towels

Questions? Contact Kathy Gaye Shiroki at shirokkg@buffalostate.edu.