“Hercules”. Charcoal on paper. 25″x31″. Signed F. Young and dated 1930.
Did you know that Florence Thomas attended the School of Design in Philadelphia in the 1930s? Her education was cut short by illness, but while she was able to take the fundamental courses that make up the base for anyone pursuing art at a university. She describes them:
“In Color Theory, they had us to make the color charts. We spent weeks and months mixing color and making color charts. Then they let us draw and paint. The first thing we painted was some goldfish. We had to bring goldfish to school and paint them in watercolor. We brought flowers in and painted in watercolor. The charcoal drawings we had to draw for months and months, just do nothing but black and white drawings. It’s easy to do in black and white, but when you go to transfer the black and white to color, it’s a whole lot harder to do.”
-Thomas, Florence. The Art of Florence Thomas. Jefferson, NC. McFarland & Company, Inc. 2004.