Triumph of the little people

Can I refer to all of them as 'my' children? I worked with my daughters second grade class again yesterday...they RULE!

I have been making these little sheets  for them to warm up with. It's still hard to get a room full of 2nd graders to pay attention and do the same thing. Actually, it is pretty funny how much they DON'T listen.

I tell them to copy the box above, line, tone, shading, gradation, contrast, crosshatching, dots,erasing etc. Copy that first and remember guys: you need to develop your hand mussels to draw these kinds of lines, just like leg mussels for soccer, or arm mussels for tetherball or arm wrestling. I am promoting specific muscular development as much as I am trying to develop their keen little eyes. 

 I'm not using gimmicks, and the results may be hard to measure, but through these basic warm ups and looking and drawing projects - they are learning to observe.

Each class we start with the warm up lines and different ways of making marks with the pencil. It's like learning the alphabet. What can a pencil do and how they can control that.

Then we do blind contours. They are understanding the concept so much more this week. It is an  emotional thing for me to see this transformation happening because, if they practice this, if they get comfortable with this way of looking and drawing, they will be able to draw ANYTHING for the rest of their lives.

Draw what you see, not what you think you see. Look with your eyes, not with your brain.

 

I believe a foundation in art begins with learning how to observe. 

I wanted to say to them that there is no right or wrong way to make art, just different ways. But, it is a discipline like math or english, and as much as it benefits a person to learn to spell, and put sentences together - knowing how to observe, and translate those observations into drawings will be an invaluable ability.  

Why? Why do we write? Why do we do math? They are navigational tools, communication systems. They allow us to innovate and explore, to quantify and record. 

Art is that and so much more.

 

I see it as a back and forth. You learn how to look at a thing like it was the first time you ever saw it, and with virgin eyes you explore it's nuances while recording it with your pencil.

Then you learn how to generalize, you gather general information and techniques that help describe the object faster. I think for me, its this back and forth, between the general and the specific, the trained and the innovated, the method and the made up that produces the drawings with the most integrity.

By blocking out an object in general shapes on a page they are starting to experience an awareness of the general form of a thing, they are stretched beyond the attraction point, the thing that catches their eye and need to think about the whole first. Think of this in terms of the rest of ones life. Looking at the big picture first, positioning the framework then go for the details. 

And then there's  that thing called perspective. An individual point of view...and in my opinion, there's nothing better for these guys to explore than the concept that there are other perspectives out there and most are not exactly alike and this is a good thing. If you accept that someone else's perspective is just more information about the object or subject of your mutual exploration - you're on your way to having allot better time on this planet I think. 

I need to listen to myself here right now. PAY ATTENTION Holly.

At the end of the class I had them all draw me, from their own smart, sweet, oh so talented perspectives of course.

I am so glad I was wearing stripes!

Drawing: Week 1&2

 So, I thought I'd try to do a page each week that I teach my daughters 2nd grade class (45 mins of drawing), about our topic or focus that week. Then they could stick in their sketchbooks to keep. These are the first two.

Drawing Class: Week One

I woke up yesterday morning, grabbed my Ultimate Visual Dictionary, opened it up and started drawing. I needed to see, to translate information, to be there in the middle of a drawing - to go through the motions and think about how to communicate, to teach that process to a class of 2nd graders.   I began to draw a bunny, but left it unfinished so I could show them how a drawing develops - and that 'wrong' lines are a great thing to include instead of erasing.

Yesterday a fellow parent and I began teaching art to our daughters  2nd grade class. We get 45 minutes a week.

I believe art (and music) are just as important as math or english, and just like math and english, the more you do it the better you get and the more you understand the meaning behind it. I do not believe in the 'natural talent' people ascribe to many artists. I believe everyone has what it takes to be great...if they have the desire and practice. The thing is...where as children study math and reading and writing every day, in school...only a lucky few get 45 minutes a week to study art. 

The word 'expression' or 'self expression' is often used in conjunction with the word art...more so than with math and english, but I believe that art is as much about communication and understanding the world around us as these other mainstream disciplines. It is not a one way process, it has everything to do with an audience and feedback too. 

I am going to share my re-discoveries and this process because I think it's important, and after one day with the children I have learned so much and have so many thoughts to share with you. I am going to share our projects too in hopes that other teachers can use some of the information to work artistically with their classes. 

For a more concise Week one lesson plan, click here

After putting succulent cuttings in the middle of each table we did an initial 'just draw it' sort of exorcize so I could see where they were coming from, how they drew and most importantly what they were seeing.  Then, after talking about the initial drawings we did blind contours which to me, are one of the very best ways of learning to draw the world around you there is. The purpose of a blind contour is to train your eye and hand to work together and bypass your brain, or your internal picture file...so that you can see and capture the nuances of the actual object you're drawing and not draw an amalgam of memories and mental images. You'll see how it is. It's totally interesting.

One of the first obvious things that I noticed happening was that many of the children looked at the general structure of the plant and extracted a rough pattern then reproduced it from above, totally ignoring their own perspective, and most tell tale details of the plant. What they made was a design inspired roughly by the structure - super cool, but we're going through and beyond that sort of representation, so it's a great example to have for comparison, and discussing what comes next. There is no wrong - just stepping stones on the path to understanding how to observe. It made me want to do a pattern design project with them.

Then there were the blind contours which were really difficult for the kids but they did GREAT in trying to get it and I'm thrilled for the future development with this exorcize. This was one of the more 'honest' ones where the student was really looking at the plant and not his paper.

Again, in this study the child has taken the succulents and drawn them from the side, and definitely not from their perspective. I love how much of their own version of reality they insert. This student also shaded in the leaves and have shown attention to composition as they used the whole paper in a very thoughtful way.

Again, a closer representation of the actual plant.

And this one, in that little point, has captured an actual nuance of that plant, the first glorious step in the hand, eye coordination through blind contours.

A gorgeous design...using repetition. She's a natural! Great stepping stone.

Another successful blind contour

Design-o-rama. Gorgeous mental image/amalgamation.

This guy is a born surrealist and did a great job differentiating between the first and second exorcizes. Again...woo hoo designer! 

Very honest contour above and drawing below and fantastic use of the whole page, and adding some tone below.

Mental image blind contour. I love this one. He was looking at the wall (as were many first contour exorcize) and drawing what he thought he might have seen in his memory, which was a beautiful symmetrical pattern to start with.

This is the same student. Fantastic detail and representation of the structures from a more general perspective, line, tone, shape, repetition of pattern...

Ok - there are allot of these and allot more examples of what I've already talked about. Check it out...

The one above here is a great example of the need for decent pencils. I like 4b because they're quite soft and can make dark lines. The pencil scale is like this HB is the middle with H numbers getting increasingly hard, therefore lighter to draw with, and B numbers getting softer and darker. B2 is lighter than B6 and so on.

Minimalist.

Nice contrasting tones and shapes...chiaroscuro will come later

Really exciting use of line in the above two

And here's the 5th grader of the group. NOT. Isn't this amazing and beautiful?

 The quirky symmetry, the use of line and tone...feels very un contrived. A beautiful and sincere study I think.

Starting to capture some nuances on the right. Great progression of studies.

Unique use of space and of drawing the plants as they actually were on the table in relation to each other. One of the only examples of drawing the objects in space, with some perspective.

Lovely detail and lines. I believe this really was drawn from above.

This glorious study is so unique and strong. SO intentional and sincere. I don't know what to say accept that I'm totally excited to see what he does next.


One last thing. The top drawing, below my bunny, was done by a little girl who needs a little extra help at school, and she has captured, like no one else, what i consider to be the distinguishing feature of one of the succulents...the edge of the leaf. It's subtle - but really really beautiful ...even though she scribbled over it after. In that tiny drawing she has done what I am hoping I can teach the rest to do, to draw what they see and not what they think. Just as a foundation anyhow. I am totally moved by the clarity of that translation and I am SO excited to see what they all do next.