Line & Observation

 

Blind Contour Drawings - Draw without looking at your paper. Helps to develop your observational skills. Also helps to break down old bad habits of symbolism and faking.  Link: Examples of Blind Contour Drawings

 

Upside-Down Drawings - Draw a famous line drawing upside-down. This technique helps you to utilize different areas of your brain in the drawing process. For some people, this helps them to break down complicated or difficult images. Link to Zippy Image

 

Gesture Drawing From a Video - Students will view a video on the projector. Mr. Merrill will pause the film at various moments of action, allowing the students 10-20 seconds to create a gesture drawing. Students should emphasize action, movement, and loose line quality. This assignment is designed to train students to observe, to draw more quickly, and to capture moving subjects before they lose sight of them. This project may be repeated several times throughout a semester as needed.  Link: Examples of Gesture Drawings

 

Grid Drawing Lesson - Students learn about using a grid to break down an image. Students are given a jumbled image with a corresponding grid, and they have to re-create the image one box at a time.  Link: Step-by-step Guide to Grid Drawing

 

Point-Line Exercises - Students practice line control techniques through a series of line patterns that force students to control their lines quality and shape. Students recieve practice with flowing & curved line, as well as drawing straight lines without the assistance of a ruler.  

 

Point-Line Calligraphy - Students create a poster-sized calligraphic representation of their name, leaving the inside of the letters blank. They then fill the inside of the letters with various point-line patterns, and the background with a different point-line pattern. Students continue to recieve line-control practice, and also end up with a creative piece of artwork suitable for portfolio presentation or display.

 

Outdoor Drawing (weather permitting) - Students gather in the school quad to draw using gesture lines. They will be responsible for drawing moving figures, both human and animal. Their gesture drawings will be developed into finished drawings/sketches/wire sculptures upon return to the classroom. If class is mature enough to handle wire sculpture project, that assignment will take several days to complete. Otherwise, this is a single-day assignment.  Link: Outdoor (plein air) Drawing Examples