Contour Drawing

This lesson does not have a powerpoint that goes along with it, as the focus is on improving drawing skills through two simple exercises. (As an art docent, don't feel like you must have spectacular drawing skills yourself to be able to teach the lesson. The focus is on improving observation skills.)

Supplies:

pencil, 2 pieces of paper, and have the students have a folder or notebook ready to use to hold over their drawing

One of the tricks for drawing what you see well is turning off what your brain would have you draw, and increase the connection between what your eye actually sees and your hand holding the pencil. The first exercise for practicing this is called Blind Contour Drawing.

-Have the students take off one shoe and put it on their desk at an interesting angle. (YOU MIGHT WANT TO CHOOSE A COOLER DAY FOR THIS SO THE ROOM DOESN'T GET TOO STINKY!)

-Have the students hold their folder with their non-drawing hand so that it covers their paper. You want for them to NOT see what they are working on, as counter-intuitive as this may seem. Then instruct them to pretend that their is an invisible string connecting their finger, guiding their pencil, and their eyeball. Have them very slowly pick a spot to start drawing, and trace the edge of the shoe and then the details, all without picking up the pencil from the paper or break eye contact with their shoe. They should NOT be looking at their picture. This exercise forces the artist to focus on what they are seeing EXACTLY without being distracted by trying to make their drawing match. After about four minutes, finish; they may uncover their papers. The pictures should look strange, more like scribble or super-abstract art than anything realistic. This is an exercise in looking and observation. Do this a couple of times.

-Now that they have practiced observing in such a strict way, they can put their folders away and get a new piece of paper. Having the students remember the idea of the invisible string connecting their drawing hand with their eyes, instruct them to draw their shoe; this time they may look at their paper. Have them go slowly, drawing the edges and details of their shoe exactly as their eyes see it. The students should take about 30 minutes to complete this drawing and if they are really focusing, there should be very little talking as it requires great concentration. It is amazing how drawings will improve when the students focus on that invisible connection between their hand and their eyes.

Drawing Faces

(a fourth grade example)

(another fourth grade example)

(a second grade example)

(another second grade example)

This is a fun way to learn about facial proportion (and make a great teacher present at the same time, if you like). We begin by talking about the proportions of the human face. I draw an oval on the board, and then ask the kids where they think the eyes ought to go. Usually, they want to put them right at the top of the oval, where a forehead is. Call a child up (preferably a boy with little or very short hair!) and point out how actually the eyes are in the middle of ones' head.

image via how to draw and paint

On a piece of scratch paper have the kids draw an oval, then divide it in half horizontally and vertically. On the board you do the same, and then add in the eyes. Divide the space between the eyes and the chin in half horizontally, and add a nose (see drawing above). With your child model, point out then how the tops of the ears line up with the eyes, and then how the bottoms of the ears usually line up to the bottom of the nose - sketching them in like the drawing above.

Then, divide the space between the nose and chin in half horizontally, and add in the the mouth. Use your child model to show how the ends of the mouth line up with the middle of the eyes.

Once your practice drawing is made, give the kids a large piece of drawing paper and have them pencil in a large oval, and a light horizontal and vertical line to help them know where to put the facial features.

Now invite the teacher to the front of the class and have her be your model. Point out details like her hair color, if she is wearing earrings, her hair length, etc. Then have the kids go for it - first drawing with pencil and then adding color with pastel.

Self-Portrait Tile Wall (Marker Only) Variation: Using the information just taught about facial proportion, have the kids draw self-portraits using the markers. *It's really nice to have them color in the background... looks great on the tile wall!

Teacher Appreciation Variation: while the kids are drawing, sneak around the class and ask the kids what they think is most beautiful about their teacher, and write it down. Then at the end of the lesson, take all of the pictures and instead of putting them in the kids' portfolios, make a book of them to give to the teacher, writing the quote from the child under their drawing. The collection of drawings makes a great class present in honor of the teacher's birthday, or teacher appreciation week.)

(first grade examples)

Gelatin Leaf Printmaking

negative print

positive print

(Here is the link to the original project)

Gelatin printing with leaves is a simple, pretty much no-fail introduction to the world of printmaking. I made a simple slideshow to accompany this project - you can access here - and here are the nuts and bolts of this project:

materials needed:

gelatin, water, cookie sheet

water-soluable block printing ink

paper (any kind works)

brayer, styrofoam plate or tray, plastic utensil for getting the paint (which is super thick) out of the paint container

leaves (or anything thin you want to make impressions of)

You'll prepare gelatin in a cookie sheet for your printing surface, which needs to be done at least 12 hours before your class. It's quick! To make 1 tray of gelatin, boil 4 cups of water, and stir in 12 packets of knox gelatin (at Safeway this is right by the jell-o, on the bottom shelf). Mix it together so that it dissolves (it's ok if you have some clumps - you can fish them out with a spoon when you pour mixture into your tray). Pour into a tray and let it harden overnight (doesn't need to be in a refrigerator). Once you've made this, it should last for about a day.

The project:

Using the brayer, roll a very thin layer of ink (use water-soluable block printing ink) on your gelatin tray.  (It's hard to see above because my cookie sheet is black, but there is a little bit of ink rolled on)

Then place the leaves/petals/whatever on the tray.

Place a piece of paper over your leaves, and gently rub all over the paper.

Pull your paper gently off. Voila! This is a negative print (meaning, the ink is on the background, which is your negative space). (See the picture with the black background at the very top of this post, on the left)

Now, you can make a positive print. Gently pull off your leaves/petals/whatever, and place a new piece of paper on the exact spot where your old piece of paperone was. (You'll see that there is no ink on the parts where it printed on your first). Gently rub, pull off - and you'll see the ink on the subject of your print - which is the positive space of your image.

Variations on this project are endless and addicting! Have fun and send Lynne pictures.