Introduction to Sculpture

Students in grades 4, 5 and 6 were introduced to sculpture through both a slide show of sculptures and a one-day sculpture challenge. 

 First, we looked at many different sculptures and discussed the difference between 2-Dimensional art and 3-Dimensional sculpture.  Sculpture asks an artist to consider all sides and angles of their work.  

"Swing Set", representational sculpture by 4th grader

 Next,  we learned that sculptures can be representational or non-representational.  Students have since been using these art terms to describe other things we are looking at in class.  It is great!

Non-representational sculpture by 5th grader

Non-representational by 6th graders

At last we got to the art making itself, and students were given the challenge of creating a representational OR a non-representational sculpture using only brown paper (crumple or twist), string, cardboard from cereal boxes and tape.

                            The results were quite diverse.

Representational sculpture of "ice cream" by 4th grader

The finished Autobiographical Comic Strips

I thought I would post some images of some of the completed comic strips created by the 6-8th grade students.  Many of the students worked very hard on these, and they did a fabulous job telling their true story using pictures and words in tandem.  

Throughout this project, the students learned about thumbnail sketches, planning out a work of art, comic book conventions such as including panels and gutters, zooming in to the action, communicating through facial expressions, and varying your line weight. Students also learned how to use lines to create value.  Finally, I hope they learned that even if they can't draw perfectly or realistically, they can still use simple images to communicate a whole lot of (true) story and (hilarious) information to a viewer. 

Autobiographical Comic Strips

Students in the 5th- 8th grades have been working on autobiographical comic strips over the past month or so.  We began by looking at the work of artist Heather McAdams. 

Based on the project Heather McAdams created for Spiral Workshop at UIC, Coonley students answered questions and selected a true story based on themes such as an animal encounter they exprienced, something they were afraid of, a moment of triumph, etc.

Next students learned about the word thumbnail sketch and panel, and they began laying out their story into panels (frames) and narration.    Some students wrote before drawing, and others drew the pictures first. Students continued to refine their ideas based on feedback from their peers and teacher, as they worked hard to communicate their story in pictures and words. 

Next, the students moved on to laying out their final panels on illustration board, leaving neat "gutters" (spaces) in between each panel.  They worked to make their drawings more detailed than the thumbnail sketches, and added backgrounds and more facial expressions to tell their story.  We talked about zooming in and out, and getting down to what is essential about each moment.   

Next up, students will learn to ink up their panels, using permanent marker, and building off of the skills they acquired when they practiced contour line drawing.  They will also learn how to shade (create different values) using only lines, and will apply that skill to some panels in their comic.

Next, students completed this worksheet to practice using lines to create value.  The more lines you gather together and the closer the lines are to each other, the darker the value (shade) appears to be. 

Contour Line Drawing

In preparation for an autobiographical comic strip project, 5th-8th graders at Coonley spent two weeks learning about and practicing the technique of contour line drawing. 

First we discussed the difference between a contour line drawing and an outline.  
Contour line drawings include lines that are both inside and outside of the forms we see.
We also discussed what it means to draw from observation. 
Next I demonstrated how to create a successful blind contour line drawing from observation.  When you create a blind contour line drawing, you DO NOT look at your paper.  Instead, you use a continuous line that takes you from one object to the next. You move your hand very slowly and record every detail and edge that you see.  You need to look closely in order to create a drawing that actually looks like what you are observing.

Blind Contour Line Drawing

Each table of students set up their own still life objects, and they practiced blind contour line drawing.  It was so hard to not look down at what we are drawing, and students struggled to move slowly and observe carefully.  It was also hard to try not caring about what our drawing looked like, since blind contour is not about the finished product, but rather about the act of looking closely at what you are seeing.  We did several timed blind contours in a row which was good practice for everyone.

Next, I demonstrated creating a contour line drawing of the still life objects. Students could now look at their paper periodically while drawing, in order to make sure their objects were placed on the page in a way that made sense.  I reminded the students nearly every second to look up almost all the time in order to draw what they are seeing, and not what they think they see (which are symbols of objects in our mind).  The more slowly students drew, and the less the more they observed their objects, the more realistic their drawings came out. 

Contour Line Drawing By Jenny

Some of the students are still struggling to create a successful drawing from observation, but here are some examples of students who were able to slow down and record what they see.