It inspired me to give it a try as I can see this as something my grade 6 or 7 students would enjoy. At times I wish I was still an elementary classroom teacher as I would use this to inspire creative writing (do the art first and then look at it to see what story comes to them).
First create a line doodle and then start looking for images to fill in. My first photo is the original doodle and the second is the completed piece. Click it to take you to the larger Flickr image. I used B2 sized paper (500mm x 707mm) and marker. There’s also a simple video below showing the stages of development.
My grade 9 Art Foundation students recently finished their unit on observational drawing. It’s a ten week project where they receive instruction for one 80 minute lesson a week. You can view the unit breakdown week by week here on the wiki if you wish.
The application area for their assessment consists of measurements, proportions, value/tone gradation and composition. The class is varied by both gender and ability. Overall, the majority of students showed improvement both in accuracy and in speed. The slideshow below (or via Flickr here) includes both warm-up work as well as their final pieces. All work is either A4 or A3 in size. Feel free to leave them some comments.
My first round of grade 6 students (11 years old) have just completed their self-portraits unit. Feel free to view the simple five week unit here. To introduce the unit, blind portrait drawings were done, which I blogged about before here. Students then used mirrors to draw their portraits without instruction (70 minutes). These pre-assessment drawings are included in the video, followed by their final piece. Some students made remarkable improvements.
I tried a different approach that was inspired from Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. Photos were taken and cross hairs applied. Students then drew these cross hairs onto their A3 sheets and a middle tone was then added over their paper. 2B~6B pencils were used to add further value and tone, and erasers for highlighted areas. If you teach portrait drawing, I have other ideas and resources on my wiki as well. I may consider a portrait party for a future group. Enjoy!
I stumbled across the Painting & Drawing Channel, a TV show that offers tutorial videos related to well…painting and drawing. The site itself offers videos from that week but they also post their videos on YouTube. Their channel is here. I have included one video below to give you a taste.
Here’s a simple intro tutorial on basic drawing using ‘crates’ (or measuring), that I made with my Grade 9 Art Foundation students. We’re focusing on observational drawing (drawing from sight).
Not everyone is a fan of tutorials. However, it is simply created as a back-up reference for students to use at home as it is embedded on our class website. This is also beneficial for parents to get an insight into what we do in class. It helps both further understand the rubric once assessment rolls around.
It saves me a lot of time in class when students do not remember the steps (or need a refresher). They simply know to go and find it on the net (as we 7 desktops in the classroom), allowing me more time to focus on their strengths or struggles. Some students also prefer to learn independently this way during their own time.
Hopefully in the future, the students can fully take over the creation of these videos (but time is always an issue). To be honest, I always get a little nervous when I post these videos online. What if the quality is poor? What if the information is not accurate? Yes, you are putting yourself out there, but it is worth it. It is indirect studying. I have received more feedback from anyonymous viewers on YouTube than anywhere else. I may also then take these videos with me if I ever transfer schools. Actually, 80% of my resources are now somewhere in “the cloud.” Why take binders or boxes full of paper? Why not share it with a wider audience?
Give it a try, and yeah, try some observational drawing too.
Craig Roland posted this in the Elementary Art Group on Diigo (his ArtTechED blog is here). OdoSketch is an online drawing pad that enables you to draw pictures online. Have a look at some of the featured sketches or check the sketch slideshows. It’s free.
I often create basic video tutorials for my classes. They are mainly used as a secondary “refresher” resource for students and linked via our class portal web page. What I like about making them is it saves a lot of time in the long run for both myself and my students. Parents also get an insight into what we do in the class and it helps them understand some of the elements on the rubric. If you relocate to another school, the resources also easily follow. The videos do not have to be elaborate (though efforts should be made to make them well in order to reach and appreciate a wider audience), but I myself am occasionally guilty of rushing, resulting in, well…sometimes basic stuff.
This series of photos demonstrate one process to produce a painting. I used acrylic gouache. First, layers of black tones are applied and then a layer of diluted colour is added on top. This is known as grisaille.
In this video, I used blending stumps (tortillons) and graphite to create a landscape drawing. Scumbling and smudging with these produce some nice results.
I think my next step is to get into Adobe AfterEffects, start actually using my copy of Final Cut Express and have some students produce some of these videos instead and then also get them up on iTunes.
My previous post reminded me of an activity I did with Olivia Gude a few years ago in a workshop. We were given a photocopied sheet of ink blotched onto paper similar to that of the first picture (note: coloured paper works better).
Using coloured pencils, we were asked to find images within the smudges and blotches by rotating the paper. Next, we did a gallery walk where we gave ‘psychological’ titles to the works of the other participants. The activity was geared towards inspiration and simply letting go of traditional drawing methods. It may also be extended by attempting to incorporate the images into a painting.
Click on the images to see an enlarged view. Feel free to use them in any way you see fit.
I loved the following video of Chris Piascik drawing found via the Drawn! blog.
My grade 9 Art Foundation students recently finished their unit on observational drawing. It’s a ten week project where they receive instruction for one 80 minute lesson a week. You can view the unit breakdown week by week 
