CONTENT OF ART: DRAWING

Incorporating the ideas of drawing into art education.

November 30

2012
Deb Gonzalez and Yemina Huerta

CONTENT OF ART DRAWING

Deborah Gonzalez and Yemina Huerta ART 3322 Introduction to Art Education November 2012

Content of Art Drawing It all starts with a mark. The foundation of visual arts is the sketch. Learning to draw was the first noncustodial assignment of apprentices during the Renaissance. To learn from the master was to do studies with drawing sketching of the teachers paintings or sculptures drawing studies from life. Leonardo daVinci was a prolific artist of drawing, a skill in which he learned as an apprentice of the famous painter, Andrea del Verrocchio. A true renaissance man, Leonardo was knowledgeable in drawing, painting, sculpting, metallurgy, chemistry, carpentry, and carpentry. He was a military engineer and inventor to boot. Given that over 4,000 drawings of Leonardo remain as fine art and also as records of his other work, we can see the importance of drawing carries over to many fields of expertise. Drawing is so fundamental to the visual arts that it is found at all ages of art history. Even the oldest known visual artifacts are, in fact, thirty-thousand year-old cave drawings [in Chauvet Cave] discovered in southern part of France. While much of the art of ancient Greece is long gone, drawings are a staple visual element incised on the sides of the pottery that survives. However, drawing really took off during the Italian Renaissance due in part to an economic advantage which resulted from the invention of the Guttenbergs Movable Type in the mid 15th
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CONTENT OF ART DRAWING

Deborah Gonzalez and Yemina Huerta ART 3322 Introduction to Art Education November 2012

century. The new way to print created a huge demand for paper. While paper had been invented over a thousand years earlier in China, it took some time to work its way to the attention of Europeans (unlike the speed of invention today). High demand by the printing press operators lowered costs for the Italian paper mills who could then make paper in large quantity at low cost. Whereas, in earlier times, most drawing and sketching might have occurred on slate to be erased and drawn over many times; now artists could simply take charcoal to paper to do studies, sketch ideas, and create works of drawn art. The way of the master artist training the apprentice through instruction in drawing continues today. We can see a correlation between the masters of yesteryear and the masters of today which might refer to the level of degree working artists must achieve to teach their students. In todays education systems, so much is said about the value of visual arts instruction in developing higher level, objective reasoning skills, creative thought, and invention with materials. The specific tools and techniques can we all say, craftsmanship? - tends to be minimized in discussions revolving around art education today. Despite the focus on learning to interpret visual elements and discuss them in the context of Big Ideas using a common vocabulary, and also the focus on the creative invention of new ideas or processes- the basic art skill of drawing is still important to teach and learn for students of many fields. Why should students be taught to draw? The answer is pretty fundamental. Fundamental to higher levels of communication. And fundamental to making art. On the communication end of the spectrum, lets go back to those cave drawings mentioned earlier which prove that visual communication came before any written form. Over all eras, to share ideas and new concepts, it has been and still is an image that is used to clarify and enrich details. After all, weve all heard
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CONTENT OF ART DRAWING

Deborah Gonzalez and Yemina Huerta ART 3322 Introduction to Art Education November 2012

the truism, a picture says a thousand words. Although what exactly those words are - is often a matter for interpretation. I challenge you to think of a professional or relational situation where communication doesnt matter. If communication matters, then so does drawing. In the world of art making, drawing remains a most basic and initial point of training. Drawing is an inexpensive way to develop an artist and can be used by all levels of artists to study, practice, plan, and even to create masterpieces. Teach a student to draw and you teach him or her more than just art making and communication. Learning to draw also teaches observation skills, improves perception, and charges up the right brain neurons. It gives students a mode for self expression and [achievement in the skill] is good for self esteem. Additionally the practice of drawing kinesthetically develops small and gross motor skills. The next thing to consider is how, as teachers, do we help develop drawing skills in the students we are charged to instruct? In 1947, Viktor Lowenfeld published his Stages of Creative and Mental Growth which traces the natural steps in drawing development from ages 2-16. His study rapidly influenced the art education of children. A useful chart of his six stages can be found here: http://www.learningdesign.com/Portfolio/DrawDev/kiddrawing.html There are other important studies that discuss the hows of teaching including The Studio Habits of Mind [proposed by Hetland,Winner,Veenema,and Sheridan] and Howard Gardners Multiple Intelligences. But for our purpose here, it is most useful to list some of the learning objectives that relate to drawing:

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Lines Shape Pattern Texture Shading Value Contour Highlights Grayscale

Color Proportion Perspective Foreshadowing Calligraphy Sketching Observation Still life Figure Drawing

Landscape Drawing Architectural Drawing Mechanical Drawing Gridding technique Projecting technique Viewfinder technique Drawing stick technique Positive -Negative space and more

Another concern for art teachers is tools and materials used in instruction. This can be subcategorized three ways: 1) tools 2) consumable implements 3) supports and palettes. Again we will list suggestions here: Tools: Viewfinders Grids Easels Sharpeners Drawing sticks Metalpoints Brushes Computer stylus Rulers Compasses Projector

Supports and Palettes: Newsprint Cardstock Copy paper Drawing paper Bristol board Tracing paper Colored paper Wood Walls Glass Clay Stone

CONTENT OF ART DRAWING

Deborah Gonzalez and Yemina Huerta ART 3322 Introduction to Art Education November 2012

Animal skin / parchment Human Skin

Scratchboard Sketchbooks

Vellum, etc

Consumable Implements: Pencils Colored pencils Pens Charcoal Chalk Pastels Oil Pastels Ink Marker Wax Crayon Erasers Oil crayon Stumps

Perhaps as you consider these lists, you can think of more items. This would be expected due to the broad description of drawing as pretty much a generality of mark-making strategies. But for the typical classroom, the standards are here. Drawing is a broad, basic and beautiful thing to teach students for many reasons. It is important to consider the stages of physical, intellectual, and creative development when instructing students in the art of drawing. It is important to consider the stages of drawing development in art history as well. The important thing is to make drawing a fundamental aspect of work in your classroom, whether your emphasis is fine visual arts or any other subject that requires communication to learn (What? Thats all classrooms! Heck yeah.) Deb Gonzalez and Yemina Huerta November 2012

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CONTENT OF ART DRAWING

Deborah Gonzalez and Yemina Huerta ART 3322 Introduction to Art Education November 2012

References

http://www.renaissanceconnection.org/artistslife.html http://totallyhistory.com/leonardo-da-vinci/ http://www.learningdesign.com/Portfolio/DrawDev/kiddrawing.html http://historyofdrawing.com/History_of_Drawing/Prologue.html http://janehorton.wordpress.com/2010/01/22/a-history-of-drawing-in-three-paragraphs/ http://www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3753864 http://www.learningdesign.com/Portfolio/DrawDev/kiddrawing.html http://www.dibujosparapintar.com/english/drawing_course_history.html http://www.learn-to-draw.com/drawing-basics/05-drawing-elements.htm Lois Hetland, Ellen Winner, Shirley Veenema, and Kimberly M. Sheridan. Studio Thinking The
Real Benefits of Visual Arts Education. New York,NY: Teachers College Press, 2007.

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CONTENT OF ART DRAWING

Deborah Gonzalez and Yemina Huerta ART 3322 Introduction to Art Education November 2012

Five Drawing Activities K-2: Shapes as elements Students will learn four of the basic geometrical shapes which are triangle, rectangle, square, and circle. They will use all of these shapes to create a house the house must have two windows, one door, a pointy roof, a front yard with a tree and some flowers, they can add a fence if wanted. All drawings are not required to look the same, students must use creativity. Students will be given markers, colored pencils, drawing pencils, erasers, and newsprint paper to make their work. 3-5: Line, the element Students will learn about line and how to draw different kinds of lines, like scribbles, zigzags, waves, etc. Students then will do Zen tangles, they will be given a triangular card stock paper and will divided in to three parts, they will draw one kind of line in each box of the triangle each box must be completely filled with lines, this means lines are going to be repeated. Students will use markers, however must pick one color for each box. When finished they will placed their works outside the classroom. 6-8: Gridding Students will learn how to use a grid when drawing. The whole class will agree in choosing a famous drawing which will be drawn by the whole class. Teacher will grid the image, will cut it, and will give a piece to the students. Every student must draw their part and should add texture, value, and shade to their drawing. They will be given materials such as drawing pencils, sharpeners, erasers, kneaded erasers, blending stump, copy paper, and a piece of cardboard to
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CONTENT OF ART DRAWING

Deborah Gonzalez and Yemina Huerta ART 3322 Introduction to Art Education November 2012

their final drawings. At the end they will put together their work and will place it in the wall, they will tell their experiences before and after the piece is done. 9-12: Foreshortening Students will get introduced to foreshortening. They will go outside the classroom pick a partner and draw them in five different sketches with a foreshortening view. They must picked their favorite pose and draw it in a piece of white cardboard (they can always take picture of the pose they chose so they can work on it through the weekend). Students must add value, shade, and texture to their drawings. They will use charcoal and pen to work. They will present their pieces to the whole class and as a whole group will discuss it. 9-12: Ratios of portraits Students will learn on how to draw the human body in good proportion meaning no arms longer than legs or eyes placed in the eyebrows and eyebrows placed on the forehead. Students will be given samples of a human body and its dimensions; they will practice on drawing this five times. After done, students will draw directly from a mannequin and will do three to four sketches, when they think they are ready they will choose a partner and will draw him or her they will draw directly from them but they can take a picture so they can have reference to what they are drawing and also to not forget the pose they are doing. Aside from graphic pencils, students material options will be charcoal, drawing ink, or pen, they will draw on a Strathmore paper. After done they will discuss their work with the whole class and with they teacher.

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CONTENT OF ART DRAWING

Deborah Gonzalez and Yemina Huerta ART 3322 Introduction to Art Education November 2012

DRAWING GRIDDING Unit Overview (8th Grade) Title- Teamwork Contextual Factors o School Factors: School is located in a rural environment with about 400 students. o Classroom factors: The classroom in this particular setting is an eighth grade classroom, has about 15 desks, and decorated with educational posters. There is not a designated art room in the middle school; instead art lessons are given via art on a cart. The students have an art lesson once a week for 30 minutes. The students stay alone with the instructor; he or she is able to manage the lesson. o Student Characteristics: The students in this class are around 13-14 years old, equal mix of male and female and come from Caucasian backgrounds. There is one student who has a reading disability. Instructional Implications- At this age students are discovering themselves and the environments that surrounds them, many students develop themselves well with others, but some tend to isolate themselves from other people. What students are going to learn is how to work in a team, so; isolated students will evolve with people of their same age, and already developed students will learn more about leadership. Both kinds of students will understand how life works in reality, they will learn that everyones opinion are important, that everyone must be respected, and they will also learn to tolerate the people around them. Goals and Standards 1. Students will learn about artworks that were made by more than one artist. TEKS117.38(c)(8.3)(B) 2. Students will have a perspective of real life while they learn to work in a team. TEKS117.38(c)(8.1)(A)(B) 3. Students will cooperate with their art skills, especially in drawing, to make a replica of a famous painting (bigger the size of the original piece). TEKS117.38(c)(8.2)(B)(C) 4. Students will discuss their individual artwork with teacher; they will also criticize the big piece with the whole class. TEKS117.38(c)(8.4)(A) Content Day 1: Students will get an introduction to artworks made by more than one artist. They will also learn about gridding and how to use when making a work of art. Students will agree when choosing a famous art piece to work on it, this must be 2D. Day 2-4: Teacher will print a copy of the chosen 2D artwork, she will draw a grid over it, will cut it, and will give a part to each students. Students will make sketches of their piece in their
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CONTENT OF ART DRAWING

Deborah Gonzalez and Yemina Huerta ART 3322 Introduction to Art Education November 2012

sketch books; they will do 10 sketches to get comfort with the style they want to use (they must add texture, value, shade, lines, etc. to their drawings). Then they will begin to work in the newsprint paper. Students will work with drawing pencils, erasers, kneaded erasers, blending stump (tortillon), paper, and rulers if necessary. Vocabulary/Word Bank Teamwork- the ability to work efficiently as a team. Drawing- a graphic representation by lines of an object or idea, as with a pencil; a delineation of form without reference to color. Grid- A framework of crisscrossed or parallel bars; a grating or mesh. 2D artwork- A measure of spatial extent, especially width, height, or length. Newsprint paper- Inexpensive paper made from wood pulp and used chiefly for printing newspapers. Kneaded eraser- an object, such as a piece of rubber or felt, used for erasing something written, typed, etc. Blend stump- a cylindrical drawing tool, tapered at the ends and usually made of rolled paper, used by artists to smudge or blend marks. Cooperate- To work or act together toward a common end or purpose. Perspective- A mental view or outlook. Replica- A copy or reproduction of a work of art. Tolerate- To recognize and respect the rights, beliefs, or practices of others. Isolate- To set apart or cut off from others. To develop- To improve the quality of refine. Materials/Resources/Technology Artists/artworks: Travellers Halted at a Country Inn, by Adriaen Jansz. van Ostade Haarlem and Isack van Ostade Haarlem, Mountain Landscape with River and Wagon by Herman Nauwincx and Willem Schellinks, The Feast of Achelous by Jan Brueghel the younger and Hendrick van Balen, The Little Gleaner by William Powell Frith and Thomas Creswick, etc. Teacher resources: Internet, Museums, Books of Art, Dicitonary. Student materials and tools: Computer, Projector, Speakers.

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CONTENT OF ART DRAWING

Deborah Gonzalez and Yemina Huerta ART 3322 Introduction to Art Education November 2012

Summative Assessment Plan Outstanding Goal 1 Students knowledge of artists. Goal 2 Students behavior with peers and comprehension of teamwork. Goal 3 Students collaboration in the art piece. Goal 4 Students participation in critique time. Satisfactory Needs Improvement

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