Drawing by Nick B.

Middle School :: Intro to Drawing

 

This semester-long class focuses on developing 3D drawing skills. We do some copying, we do some step-by-step instruction, but we also draw from life. Once the students gain confidence in learning some of the “tricks of the trade” they begin to apply what they’ve learned through a variety of projects.

SCHEDULE

Week 1

  • Lesson: Learning to draw a sphere; shadows create form

  • Inspiration: Mark Kistler’s book, You Can Draw in 30 Days

    • M. Kistler's VIDEO Day 1: Drawing Spheres (feel free to skip the first 4 minutes)

    • Optional Resource: Shading Techniques from Virtual Instructor.

    • HOMEWORK:

      • Repeat two squares of warm-up exercises, evenly-spaced (long hatching)

      • Practice drawing two spheres with shading

      • Draw an animal from the handout

      • Choose a “How to Draw” book (from home or the library) and bring to class

Week 2

  • Lesson: Blind Contour Drawings, Contour lines

  • Inspiration: Online Drawing Lessons' Blind Contour Drawing Tutorial

  • Inspiration: Virtual Instructor's Blind Contour Line Drawing

  • Inspiration: JoAnne Vogel's Drawing An Apple with Contour Lines

  • HOMEWORK:

    • Repeat two squares of warm-up exercises (short hatching)

    • Draw an apple with contour lines: JoAnne Vogel video (below)

    • Do a blind contour drawing of something from your kitchen

    • Choose a drawing to copy from your "How to Draw" book

Week 3

Week 4

  • Lesson: Overlapping spheres (Space)

  • Inspiration: Mark Kistler's You Can Draw in 30 Days

  • Artist Inspiration: Georgia O'Keefe, Lily Martin Spencer, Vincent Van Gogh

  • Learn More: The Virtual Instructor, space as an element of art

  • HOMEWORK:

    • Draw two squares of warm-up exercises (cross-hatching)

    • Choose a drawing to copy from your "How to Draw" book

    • Watch and draw with Mark Kistler: "The Imagination Porthole”

Week 5

  • Lesson: Elements of Art, Size & Shape

    • We went outside and looked at the size of trees, road, etc. and gauged size by measuring with our thumbs/fingers.

    • Objects closer to us are bigger & darker than objects further away

    • Create a composition using these trees (PDF download). Be sure they overlap.

    • Inspiration:The Sketchbook Challenge Tutorial: Creating Depth and Space

    • Artist Inspiration: Dare to Sketch, pages 142-143; Wolf Kahn (Yellow Overflow)

    • HOMEWORK:

      • Draw two squares of warm-up exercises (scribbling)

      • On a separate sheet of paper, rework your tree composition into a drawing or painting of your own.

Week 6

Week 7

  • Lesson: Drawing cylinders

  • Inspiration: Mark Kistler's You Can Draw in 30 Days; Observation Drills - PDF (from Virtual Instructor)

  • Artist Inspiration: Andy Warhol

  • Learn More: Mark Kistler's "Stacking Cylinders"

  • HOMEWORK:

    • Draw two squares of warm-up exercises (your choice)

    • Practice drawing cylinders -- overlapping

    • Choose a drawing to copy from your "How to Draw" book

Week 8

Week 9

  • Lesson: Drawing still life cylinders

  • Inspiration: Art of Ed's

  • Artist Inspiration: Andy Warhol

Week 10

  • Lesson: Drawing cubes

    • Whole arm line drawing warm-ups

    • Step-by-step drawing cylinders (Mark Kistler-style)

    • Draw rectangular prism at park (trash can)

    • Inspiration: Mark Kistler's You Can Draw in 30 Days

    • Artist Inspiration: Mark Kistler

Week 11

  • Lesson: More rectangular prisms

    • Warm-ups (box of hatching)

    • review cubes from last week (draw one)

    • Pass out reference photos of skyscrapers (viewing from ground)

      • What shapes do you see?

      • How are these different from last week?

      • Inspiration: My son's artwork

      • HOMEWORK: Finish city skyline/skyscraper drawing and return it next Thursday.

Week 12

  • Lesson: Contour Lines are Amazing!

    • What's a contour line, what's its purpose? (to create form)

    • Warm-up: Drawing straight lines across the page -- with you whole arm

    • Inspiration: Lesson 23 from the book, Art is Fundamental

    • HOMEWORK: Finish arm/hand contour drawing

Week 13

  • Lesson: Optical Illusions

    • Show example, break down illusion

    • Inspiration: Op Art Spheres (lesson plan included)

    • Artist Inspiration: MC Escher

    • HOMEWORK: Finish floating spheres

Semester 2: Nature Journaling

Week 3

  • Lesson: Leaves

    • Leaf rubbing with tracing paper and charcoal sticks

      • What do you notice?

      • TRACE a leaf, draw veins, color match with pencils

      • Inspiration: John Muir Laws

      • HOMEWORK: Complete 1 entry in nature journal

        • Find the answer to one of your questions by looking in:

          • A Peterson Field Guide to Trees

          • Arbor Day Foundation

          • PlantSnap App ($3.99)

Week 4

  • Lesson: Positive & Negative Space

    • Show a compound leaf with multiple leaflets.

      • If time, demonstrate how to draw leaflets by using negative space.

      • Complete lesson from Art of Ed: Positive-Negative Designs

      • HOMEWORK: Complete 1 entry in nature journal

Week 5

  • Lesson: Red-Shouldered Hawk

    • Observe outside.

      • What do you notice about the birds?

      • What about the birds at your house?

      • Blind contour drawing of red-shouldered hawk.

      • Step-by-step drawing lesson w/Liz

      • Inspiration: John Muir Laws 'How to Draw a Hawk'

      • HOMEWORK

        • Complete 1 entry in nature journal (see, IRMO, ?)

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