It’s the last week of art class and the weather is lovely. For their final project, the 5th and 6th graders did observational drawings of the weeds in our school garden.
Materials:
Clipboards
Copy paper
Colored pencils
Weeds
Each student picks one weed from the ground. They should try to keep the root intact. Weeds must be no longer than the paper.
Clip paper to board, then clip top of weed to the left side of the board (left-handed kids should clip weed on the right).
Draw a scale drawing of the weed.
Start with a long stem line. Mark leaf placement with short lines alone the stem line. Then draw the contour of the leaves. Look closely at the leaf veins and draw them. Add flowers and roots. Finally, draw irregularities such as bite marks.
What a fabulous way to end the art year. We practiced our drawing skills and weeded the garden path. Bonus!
Sixth graders drew succulent plants from observation. I emphasized drawing what they observed, not drawing from imagination or what they think the plant should look like. They should focus on shape.
Sixth graders made observational drawings of fresh cut succulents.
They used pencil and colored pencil on 6″x6″ squares of white paper.
After the students had a basic drawing, I asked them to look at the areas where the leaves overlapped. Each overlap creates the letter ‘Y’. I asked them to darken all the ‘Ys’, and then taper the pencil lines.
Darken the ‘Ys’ formed where the leaves overlap.
It was quiet in the art room as the sixth graders concentrated on their drawings. Most students enjoyed this activity, some loved it, and no one complained.
Earlier this fall we studied value and drawing and shading forms (thank you Pinterest!) and I am happy to say that these exercises have increased student confidence: several students who have stated they ‘can’t draw’ are now turning out drawings with pride.
This is one of those times I wish I had more than 40 minutes a week to teach each class. I would love to start every class with a quick observational draw.
Regarding our plant cuttings:
We have many varieties of fleshy-leaved succulents here in Southern California. Succulents are similar to cactus, but do not have needles. Succulent cuttings are great for observational drawing: the cuttings do not need water and do not wilt. In fact, if your students do not pull off the leaves they will look great in a week, without any water or soil!
Succulents are super-easy to grow from cuttings. After class, I poked all the cuttings into the ground. They root in about three weeks.
All the succulents were fresh cut the day of class from our school garden and my San Diego backyard.
The fourth grade recently completed their shoe art. We did a two part project.
Students drew their shoes and took crayon rubbings of the soles
Part 1: shoe drawing. We started with each kid taking off a shoe and putting it on the table. Kids traced the shoe contour onto white drawing paper. Then students moved into observational drawing mode and added the shoe stripes/logos/dots to the drawings. We colored the shoes – kids could use realistic or imaginative colors.
Part 2: sole texture rubbing. Shoe off and on the table! This time, we did a texture rubbing of the shoe sole. We used newsprint and peeled crayons. Kids were encouraged to to multiple rubbings of their shoe in different colors, and then trade shoes with friends. So much fun! It was like collecting autographs, but of your friends’ shoes….
Last step: cut out the shoe drawing from part 1 and glue it on the texture rubbing.
Wow!!! Super successful project. Just be sure do this one when its dry outside or you will have mud on the tables.
Inspiration for the shoe contour lesson comes from long, long ago, when I was a parent volunteer in Jenny Luce’s art room. The sole rubbing portion of the lesson comes from the book ‘Make Prints!’ by Kim Solga.
Draw ballet flats from the top
Students drew their shoes and took crayon rubbings of the soles
