Friday, September 23, 2016

*VIP* Observation drawing part 2: contour

*Very Important Project* The second week of our observation drawing unit in 4th and 5th grade focused on contour line, which is the exact opposite of last week's gesture drawing exercises - gesture is fast, sketchy, and not detailed, while contour is slow, smooth, and shows details. Read about our gesture drawing in this earlier post. We drew objects from a box for the majority of our 45 minutes, and the kids really enjoyed the quiet focus. I emphasize that these are exercises, not complete artworks, although many are certainly worthy of hanging. We are trying to make an eye-brain-hand connection, so quiet focus is necessary. A few tips: keep going if you make a mistake, try overlapping and going off the page, try not to lift the pen.


At the end of class, we tried a blind contour portrait - still using the slow, smooth line, but not looking at the drawing at all, only at the subject, in this case a classmate model. This was lots of fun and I bet most of them went home and practiced on siblings!



The "on the head" method of blind contour is fun for a quick portrait, but using a paper plate "mask"  with a pencil hole in it is much more comfortable for a longer drawing session.

Contour drawing is a great way to begin a longer, more involved artwork. If you'd like to try this in your classroom, check out my Observation Drawing packet, available on Teachers pay Teachers. I have also just added a free download for the foil figure sculpture, which goes so well with this unit. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Observational-Drawing-Gesture-and-Contour-exercises-2656125
Next up, we will continue to observe nature as we create some very artistic pumpkins in the style of Yayoi Kusama. Thanks for stopping by!


1 comment:

  1. Dear Mrs. Knight

    I love the blind contour drawing - especially the technique drawing on top of the head. It sets the creativity free.
    Best regards from a Danish art teacher and blogger:
    https://tatjanaknudsen.blogspot.dk/2015/11/en-streg-en-farve-et-ansigt-lavet-af.html

    ReplyDelete

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