Draw on That—Day Six Return to Value Mountain

Following our last class where we explored using different tones to create atmospheric perspective in a mountain range and the use of different pencils, today I challenged my students with something similar but with a bit more detail.

It was kind of like a “colour by number” but more of a… “value by number”. There were seven values to be used, one through seven represented light to dark. Step by step I asked them to use a different numbered value to create each aspect of this scene—

We started with number one and two values to create sky and water then used darker values to create the different mountains, shadows and our tree. I am really impressed by the level of effort so many students put into these drawings and their willingness to try different types of pencil strokes to create these values. I love a brave artist! Check out some of the great work below.

For a fun final project, I wanted show some of the fun we can have with our softer pencils, values and a trick with erasers. The funny thing is, this proved harder than I thought! Although I loved my fun sample that I created the day before, I found it hard to duplicate my process during class! This is my sample—

To create these fun bugs, I used heavy, dark, soft pencil to create simple bug shapes. Using an eraser and a fast back and forth motion, I create “smudge bugs”. The heavy pencil can seem almost slippery and is pulled and pushed by the eraser. The final effect is something like bugs behind a spider web or drawn on an old crumpled paper.

I’m not completely clear on why I had a hard time duplicating my bugs the next day, but obviously the technique takes some practice and experimentation and I encourage my students to have fun trying it out for themselves. They must have liked it as some have asked to try again another day. Here are some samples of today’s student work—

Draw on This—Day Six Imagination Day

A few weeks ago, when we had a wee bit of extra time at the end of one of our classes, I got the opportunity to show the kids how to use a simple pear shape to draw some fun cartoon bunnies and penguins.

Today I thought that we could have some fun using this same shape and some other fun shapes along with our imaginations, to create some fun new characters!

Using our pear shapes again, I asked our students to guess what creatures we could make with this simple drawing:

These students made some great guesses! Line by line, together we drew this cat and polar bear:

Once I walked them through these first two animals, I let them loose to see what they could come up with using their own imaginations! Here are the results—

After our pear shaped creatures, I gave them a second challenge. What can you draw with a the shapes created by the letters O, B, Q and R?

For a final bit of fun, we used random dots on a page. I asked each student put 30 to 40 dots on a paper and then connect those dots to create one solid form. Using whatever style they liked, students were asked to find monsters in their drawing and to bring it to life. Below is my initial sample and the student artwork—

 

 

This and That—Day Seven: Paper Bags

As promised, tonight we try the paper bag project!! Tonight we experiment with a range of pencils from hard to soft and how to create values. Before starting, we reviewed a variety of shading techniques using different types of lines. We then set up our paper bag models and dove in!

With only 45 minutes to create our drawings, we had to work fast and plan carefully. I recommended to my students to be careful to be picky about the level of detail that they chose to include in their drawings. With a time restriction, we sometimes need to sacrifice a certain level of detail to be able to finish a drawing in the time allotted.

We blocked in our rough shapes with our 2H pencils and then got shading with our darker, softer pencils. See the results!—

 

One of our students who was able to start this project a bit sooner than the others, went for more detail and a different style. Here, contour lines are used to define the shadows and wrinkles in her paper bag model. The detail is amazing. No values seen here but the final product is stunning!

Draw on That—Day Five: Shading Values on a Cone

Building on our lesson on values and shading techniques from when we drew our mountain ranges last class, today we will try to shade a unique shape… a cone. This was my sample for the class of the cone-head creature that the students will try to draw:

The students today used hatching and cross-hatching and some squirkling techniques to draw their crazy cone-head creatures. We also had the chance to take advantage of the different array of pencils to create dark and light values. These results show lots of unique styles and effects.—
 

Draw On This—Day Five: More Animal Shapes

Returning to our success with drawing animals, today we are working on more animal drawings. We will build upon what we have learned about line, shape and perspective and see if we can draw something today that has a bit more detail. Today we will draw a parrot!

Before starting, we looked at a photo of a parrot and tried to find as many shapes as we could. This was great fun as the students took turns in showing what shapes they could find… triangles of a beak, a circle for an eye, an ellipse for a feather.

With our shapes in mind, together we used those simple shapes to “block in” our parrots. Using curved and angled lines, circles and ovals, we added detail to our parrots. See the lovely results!—