Gestural Drawing

Gestural Drawing 

Gesture drawing is a great way to help loosen up your students and gets them to better understand how form and shape can be created through drawing.  Gesture drawing can be very therapeutic and relaxing for some students, while others will reject this technique and grow frustrated by the result of their drawings.  Gesture drawing is not meant to be a realistic rendering of the object or figure you are drawing.  Gesture drawing is meant to capture a movement in time or the overall "gesture" of the object you are drawing.  No details or value are incorporated into gestural drawing, which is what gives it its flowing quality.  This is a great warm up for your students and is a nice introduction to drawing.  

One way to experiment with your students is to have them try out gestural drawing by using a stick with a marker attached to it. The materials would include:

-Black markers or in color (preferably big ones not fine point)

-Newsprint 18x24 

-Tape

-A yard stick or just a long stick/pole 

For this drawing technique you will have the students tape their paper to the floor and they will proceed to draw using their drawing sticks.  When students are doing gestural drawing I think it's best to draw the figure when doing gestural drawing but students could also do a still life of some kind.  It might even be fun to have some of the students take turns being models.  Have students do a few drawings using the drawing stick.  This method is actually harder than one might think.  From my own experience my first attempt at using the drawing stick technique was pretty "bad", but the second one I did was a little better.  This is a nice exercise for the students because it teaches them about how to control the medium their using.  Once they do a few of the stick drawings have them move on to doing typical gesture drawings.  Again, you can have the students take turns posing for their classmates and start off with only 30 second drawings with multiple on a page.  Than, start to move onto doing 1 minute, 2 minute, etc.  Each time they do a new drawing they will begin to better understand how gesture works and hopefully care less about the fact that it doesn't look realistic.  

You can even have students experiment with using chalk pastel; here are some examples below showing some gestural drawings that were done in a 30 minute period.  But, make sure that if your doing a longer gestural drawing with the students that the they don't try to add distinct details to their drawings because they are meant to still be gestural.  

Classroom Expectations

In my Secondary Methods class we talked about classroom expectations and what kind of rules we would implement in our classrooms.  We divided into groups and brainstormed what kind of rules we would have as a teacher.  This task was actually a lot harder than I thought it would be.  What are my expectations for my students?  What goals do I want my students to strive to achieve while in my class?  My group and I came up with five key concepts for a classroom. 

~Respect - respect your fellow classmates, teacher, and materials.  Be courteous towards your peers and treat them how you want to be treated

~Be Prepared - always bring necessary materials to class

~Clean Up - clean up your area and work space and also help in cleaning up the art room

~Challenge Yourself - don't be afraid to challenge yourself and get outside your comfort zone.  

~Be Patient - Do not become frustrated if a certain project doesn't turn out the way you plan, embrace your mistakes.  

Safety Rules

Their are a lot of toxic materials that are used in an art classroom and on the first day of classes it's important to go over safety procedures so that students know how to use their art materials the right way.  You will always have that one student who will want to goof around and play with the X-acto knife or try to put their hands in hazardous chemicals.  It's important to address the potential dangers that can take place if these materials are used in the wrong way.  It's better to scare them a little bit instead of downplaying the potential hazards of using some of these materials.  

Safety Rules would be a little something like this: 

- When using X-acto knives and utility knives always make sure to cut AWAY from yourself to avoid accidentally cutting yourself.  Also make sure to cut using a cutting board.  Always use sharp tools with caution.

- When using fixative spray or some kind of spray paint always do it outside.  Unless, the art classroom has a vent unit area where students can use spray fix.  

- Wear protective goggles when working on sculptural projects that include plaster, wood, metal or if your using machinery of any kind.  

- Wear gloves when using oil based inks and paints because oil paints/inks can be absorbed into the skin.  

- When using solvents to clean brushes or palette knives that are oil based NEVER wash them out in the sink because these oil based mediums get stuck in the sink clog and that's not good.  Also when using solvents with heavy fumes make sure to use them sparingly or to pour a little solvent in a small container and let them soak for a little while making sure to take them out and clean them off with a rag of some kind.  

- Always place rags and clothes with solvents in the designated trashcan meant specifically for them, do not put them in the regular trashcan.  

- Tie back  long hair, remove any loose jewelry when using machinery or throwing on the wheel. 

- NEVER try to operate power tools or machinery if you are not a 100% sure how to use it.  Always ask the instructor how to use it first.  

Teaching Contour Line Drawing

Contour Line Drawing



Contour line drawing is a good starting lesson to begin an art course with.  It's an excellent way to get your students to rely more on what they see and less on what they think they see.  It's meant to turn off the part of their brain that causes them to draw objects based on what they've seen and not on what they are seeing in front of them.  It's good to introduce students to blind contour drawing and help them to loosen up.

Concepts Students Will Learn About:
Outline
Contour Line (Blind & Modified)
How to Create Form using only Line
How to Improve Observational Drawing skills

Blind Contour Drawing

Blind contour drawing is one of the most basic drawing techniques and helps to build up students observational drawing skills.  Blind contour is a basic drawing skill, which is why it's a good starting lesson to start a new class with.  Essentially, the instructor will do a demo to show how to blind contour by showing students that you will be looking at an object and drawing it completely from observation without looking at your paper or picking up your pencil or pen.  With this particular drawing shown above I drew my hand and did several attempts with different gestures, but students can use any object of their choosing or can even do a still life. The first time students draw blind contour they will feel very self confident about their drawings and deem them as "bad drawings", but this is a good way to get them out of their comfort zone and gets them to experiment with a new drawing technique that they have never used before.

Modified Blind Contour Drawing 

After the students experiment with Blind contour it's good to get them to also get them into trying Modified blind contour drawing and having them look at the object their drawing 90% of the time but occasionally glancing at their piece of paper to redirect their marks.  Once students have practiced blind and modified blind contouring they can move onto complete contour drawing.

 

First Day of Classes?!!? What kind of advice would I give myself?

It's my first day of classes....

What are my responsibilities/duties on this important day?  

How am I going to interact with my students and how are they going to interact with me?

How am I going to connect with my students and make them connect with their fellow classmates? 

My Responsibilities 

- Learning students' names by having them introduce themselves to the class.  You can also have students play icebreaker games to help in learning names. You can write their names on the seating chart though if they sit in a different place next class that can be utterly confusing.  Just something to consider.

- Talk about syllabus and give an introduction on what the students will be doing in this class such as some of the art assignments they will do and what kind of mediums they will use. What kind of artists you will be researching and talking about.  What kind of art styles and movements you will be exploring in the class.  Incorporate as much art history as you can throughout the duration of your class without utterly boring them to death. This is also a good time to go over what kind of materials or books they may need for the class if they need any.

- Have students fill out some kind of questionnaire about themselves asking questions about what grade their in, why they chose to take this class, what are their hobbies and interests, what kind of goals or expectations do they have for this class, what are they hoping to get out of this course, what do they want to improve on art wise, what kind of concerns do they have about the class, etc.  I wouldn't ask all these questions, but perhaps narrow it down to a select few.  

- Consider what my students needs are going to be.  Have their best interests at heart, but also know what may potentially get them in trouble.

- Be on their level.  Try to connect with them in a way they can relate and understand.  These kids are going to come from a generation where they rely so much on technology, especially their cell phones.  Find a way to address the issue of cell phones on the first day.  Don't be overly strict about it, but make it known that if they are caught using their cell phones too frequently their will be some kind of repercussions.

- Just make the class fun and enjoyable!  Excite them, make them happy that they signed up for your class even if they were dreading it!  Try to engage them as much as you can on the first day and try do some kind of fun activity rather it's an icebreaker or a quick art activity.

- Lastly, and this is important...take care of yourself.  I know you'll be stressed out and anxious on the first day, but just take a chill pill.  You'll be fine!  Just breathe and meditate and relax.  Don't forget to eat!!!  When your nervous you don't want to eat, but you need to!!  You can't be a hungry zombie on your first day, you need to be awake and alert and present!

It'll go well, you'll see!  Good luck :]