Pick a picture, any picture….now draw it.
Often, when teaching, you spend all of your time actually teaching and showing, never doing. I mean, sure, we have to show pupils an almost finished product…but how many times do we just take ’em from the Internet or books?
When I teach drawing I emphasise an awareness of: space, form, shape, line (these are from the curriculum) I also would mention: tone, texture, debt.
When I was teaching in resource, I decided to draw a few images and then ask the pupils to do the same. I was working on hand-eye coordination and motor skills. And yes, being aware of space on the page can be translated into real life.
Anyway, I start with the eyes, then mouth and chin, I add the ears and hair. Once the neck is added, I have a shape that I can really build up. It is really that simple; start with the eyes, nose and mouth.
Here are my picutres below.
For more info on the curriculum:
Strand unit: Making drawings
The child should be enabled to
- experiment with the marks, lines, shapes, textures, patterns and tones that can be made with different drawing instruments on a range of surfaces, demonstrating increasing sensitivity and controllooking closely at specially chosen objects and interpreting qualities of line, shape, texture, light and shade
concentrating as appropriate on outline drawing, silhouette, shape, tone, texture, pattern and rhythm and structure
- discover how line could convey movement and rhythmmovement in nature (cloud shapes)
calligraphic styles (the Book of Kells)
cartoon figures in action
- make drawings based on themes reflecting broadening interests, experiences and feelings
pastimes, outings, special events
- draw imaginative themes using inventive pattern and detailstories, poems, songs
dream cars, motorcycles or houses
characters in cartoon strips
designing and sketching plans for a threedimensional project
- draw from observationstill life arrangements
aspects of the environment when viewed from different angles, using a viewfinder (or a classroom window) to help position objects and define space
the human figure (e.g. a classmate in a particular setting)
details of the human figure (e.g. a portrait of a classmate).