Drawing and Shading Lesson

This project was a big success in my after school drawing class today. I started at Michael's where I found an assortment of bright red gourds and a marbled pencil crayon that matched their coloring perfectly, simplifying the process of coloring and shading for any age.

1. The gourds come in small sets. I scanned a handful and made color printouts for my youngest students. I wanted them to observe the shaded edges of each piece, but all students had the option of sketching from the real models. I demonstrated how to look carefully at the shape of each gourd, and had them draw several randomly across their paper. The stems were filled in with pencil, as the gray matched the real thing pretty well.
2. When the drawing was done, each student got a Koh-I-Noor Hardmuth Magic Wild Pencil (about $1.50) to lightly color in each gourd.
3. The students sketched firmly around the edges with their pencils, making a soft transition from dark to light, without hard edges. For added dimension, a small amount was erased to highlight the contours of each shape.

Medium shades, plus dark shadows and a little highlight can put any student on the road to more realistic drawing.

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Vintage Halloween Mural

I've always enjoyed vintage Halloween art for its whimsical quality. I thought it would be fun to incorporate elements from my favorite pieces to make this, my first Halloween mural.

My pdf file consists of 30 pages and measures 40" x 60" when complete. I'll deliver my Halloween Mural via email, for just $5. Click the “Add to Cart” button for same day delivery.

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Mark Rothko Abstract Art

Mark Rothko emerged during the 1940s to create a new and impassioned form of abstract painting. My goal was to have students make a simple abstract picture, and let the visual “weight” of each color determine their order.

1. I gave students pre-cut cardboard rectangles measuring 2.25" x 8", 3.5" x 8", and 4.5" x 8". They were labeled A, B and C respectively so A=smallest, B=medium, C=largest rectangle. On a 9" x 12" sheet of paper, they were to center and draw one of each rectangle, in any order. I recommended that they center and trace the two outside shapes first and then finish with the middle. (Click on the image to see an example.)
2. Ask the students to choose 3 oil pastels, preferably 3 that are very different from each other. All colors have a different visual weight to them – generally darker colors are heavy and brighter colors are light. Ask the students to fill the lightest weight color in the smallest rectangle, the medium in medium size and the heaviest in the largest rectangle. If the students on occasion have trouble deciding, encourage them to just make their best guess. The point is for them to start thinking of colors from a new angle, not to be worried about right or wrong answers.
3. Lastly, a fourth color is chosen and colored in all around the rectangles, overlapping on the edges to get a painterly look. Heavy coloring, as always, looks best. To learn more about Mark Rothko, go to Art Smarts 4 Kids, here .

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