Where can you find drawings in every day life? What jobs can you use drawings in? These were some of the questions the class were asked before they started their Botanical Tree Drawings. Botanical drawing combines art and sciences to closely depict plants so that they can be identified by scientists and every day people.
The class studied a variety of Botanical drawings and noticed that in addtion to the main plant artist, close ups of leaves, beeries, and roots would also be included. Each student picked a tree on the school gounds to create a botanical drawing of. Check out their artwork below. |
For the Drawing student's final projects, they were each able to select an artist to research and create a project that was influenced by the artist's style, concept, or medium. This allowed for students to learn about artists they may have never heard of, or learn more about an aritst that they like. The project also allowed each of the students to create a work of art that they felt was truly original and unique.
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"Create a list of 100 objects, then pick your top 50." That was the set of directions the Drawing class received the first day of a new lesson. The class had no idea what the next step would be, but got to work. Some students wrote down objects that all correlated to one another, and others wrote down whatever came to their minds first.
The class was then informed that they needed to create a work of art that included all of the objects that they selected. We discussed how the students could create a unified image out of the objects they selected. The students could work in any style they like and with any medium. This project allowed students to create an image totally unique to them. They each needed to problem solve on how to create a unified image out of all their objects. The freedom of not recreating just one object like they had worked in the past was both a relief and challenge. What would you include if you needed to draw an image out of 50 objects? |
Plein-air is a French term that can be translated to "paint out doors". To give the students a new experience, the drawing class put a bit of a spin on Plein-air, and instead of painting, they drew out doors. Each student scouted out the school grounds and found a tree that they found particularly interesting, and began to sketch it out. Once they had the base drawing, (a contour line drawing) they began to add value with charcoal. Charcoal is a traditional art medium that allows for a wide range of values, but if you ask this class, they would just say "it was messy". However, all the students enjoyed the time outside drawing in the sun.
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To get back back in the habit of looking and drawing from observation, each student selected objects that they felt were visually interesting, and worked together to set up still lives. The object often reflected interests, skills, and each student's personality, giving each of the still lives a personal connection to the students.
The students then used contour lines to depict the objects. Contour lines are smooth lines of varying thickness that should show the smallest inside details, and precise outer edges of the subject matter. It may sound easy, but requires a great deal of focus. Drawing with contour lines helps students make confident marks, and not guess or make up infomation. Check out the drawings below by clicking on them to see the detail, varying line thickness, and each student's creativity. |
How can a drawing be made? What does an artist think about as they create a drawing? How does the medium change the outcome of a drawing?
These are some of the questions that the Studio Drawing class disscussed for their first project. To better understand the answers to these questions each student had one minute to experiment with a variety of different drawing mediums. Students could not repeat what some one had done before them pushing students to experiment and think about different ways of making marks. Students selected the technique they liked the best to create a work of art made solely of one mark. |
Students were required to make a self portrait using non-traditional mediums. The class talked about traditional art mediums for portraits such as pencil, pastels, and paint. Next, we looked at a variety different artworks made from unusual mediums. To get started, each student brainstormed ways one could be identified. From there, they chose their medium to work with. Each student picked a different medium that they felt would help communicate something about themselves with the viewer. The conceptual understanding of artwork was enhanced through this project for all students. This project also allowed every student to make a completely unique and personal work of art.
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Riley Smith
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To loosen up students after creating their hyperrealistic drawings, we looked at the landscapes of Vincent van Gogh. Vincent van Gogh is one of the most famous artists in history; his work is primarily landscapes and self portraits with vivid colors and dramatic mark-making.
Each student selected a landscape that they were interested in creating. Students experimented with oil and chalk pastels, and selected the medium that they felt would best fit their image. All students enjoyed the ability to work with bright colors and expressive mark-makig. |
Leonardo da Vinci
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How can you show that time has passed in a work of art? This was the question the drawing class was presented with. They were also given the following criteria: you can only use contour lines and your drawing must include hands. Each student brainstormed how they could solve this art conundrum and came up with unique ideas.
The class studied the anatomy of human hands and described how they are made and how they can move. When drawing their own hands, they needed to consider how their knuckles allowed the fingers to bend and where they could see the tendons. This was challenging at first and there were some spaghetti fingers, but with practice students were able to accurately depict hands. |
Why do artists make portraits? What was the function of a portrait in the past and how have they changes over the years? What are the differences between a school portrait and a selfie? All these questions and more were discussed when students learned they would be make self portraits.
The class looked at the work of Chuck Close and used his processes of enlarging using the grid method. This is when a photo and drawing paper, with the same proportions but different sizes, are broken down into grids. The information from the photo is then recreated in the corresponding box on the bigger drawing paper. This allows the artist to work in small chunks and accurately translate proportions and details resulting in a close likeness of the original photo, just much larger. |
Class studied the artist Vincent van Gogh, focusing on how we used texture and mark making to create his deep and moving landscapes. Vincent van Gogh was a passionate artist who found peace and happiness in the nature world, he painted the spaces that surrounded him.
The students found images of landscapes that they enjoyed or one day would like to explore, to depict their landscape they used short lines in varying directions to fill the image with texture and movement. |