Exploring the Fundamentals of Drawing: A Hands-On Art Lesson

Exploring the Fundamentals of Drawing: A Hands-On Art Lesson

Learning Objective

At the end of the lesson you will be able to demonstrate an understanding of blind contour drawing, timed contour drawing, and dramatic gesture drawing.

What do you already know about the fundamentals of drawing?

Understanding Blind Contour Drawing

Blind contour drawing involves drawing the outline of an object or subject without looking at the paper.

Timed Contour Drawing: 10 Minutes

Students will practice drawing the contours of a face within a 10-minute time frame, focusing on capturing the overall form and details.

Timed Contour Drawing: 5 Minutes

Next, students will repeat the contour drawing exercise with the same face, but this time within a 5-minute time frame, emphasizing capturing essential details.

Timed Contour Drawing: 2 Minutes

For the final timed contour drawing, students will have 2 minutes to capture the essence of the face with minimal details.

Introduction to Dramatic Gesture Drawing

Dramatic gesture drawing involves capturing the movement and energy of a subject through quick, expressive sketches.

Dramatic Gesture Drawing: Wooden Manikin

Students will practice dramatic gesture drawing by sketching a wooden manikin in various dramatic poses timed at 2 minutes each.

Reflection and Discussion

Students will reflect on their experiences with the exercises and engage in a class discussion about the challenges and insights gained from the lesson.

Write down 3 things you learned in this lesson.

Have students enter three things they learned in this lesson. With this they can indicate their own learning efficiency of this lesson.

Write down 2 things you want to know more about.

Here, students enter two things they would like to know more about. This not only increases involvement, but also gives them more ownership.

Ask 1 question about something you haven't quite understood yet.

The students indicate here (in question form) with which part of the material they still have difficulty. For the teacher, this not only provides insight into the extent to which the students understand/master the material, but also a good starting point for the next lesson.