Serving Art Educators
and Students Since 1994
Drawing Plants Six Different Ways
Submitted by: Stephen Watson, at The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa
for ART 110: Drawing I
Objectives:
Draw a contour drawing from observation.
Discover new ways of drawing and the meaning they convey beyond plants.
Learn gesture drawing as a way to be expressive and show bodily movement.
Description:
Create six contour drawings using the following techniques:
1) Draw a contour drawing the traditional way with your pencil in your hand and no inhibitions.
2) Draw a contour drawing using the opposite hand you use to write or draw.
3) Place your paper high up on a wall or low ceiling and reach, jump, or stretch, to draw.
4) Use a short stick to draw using a pencil attached (Masking Tape
5) Us a long stick to draw using a pencil attached to a six-foot dowel rod.
6) Use stationary Drawing Pencils
Implementation:
Duration: One three-hour class session.
Materials:*
Simple plant pieces, one per student
100 sheets of Copy Paper
20 pencils, one per student with extra paper if needed.
12 Dowel Rods
2 - 3 rolls of Masking Tape
1 roll of Duct Tape
4 Drawing Boards
At least 100 Push Pins
* Based on a class size of 16 students.
General Instructions:
All forms of drawings should be contour drawings of the plant. (Optional: for more advanced students, they use these contour drawings as a base for a more detailed drawing with shading)
Draw as many exterior and interior lines as you can see, including the outlines of the highlights and shadows. Do not add any value - don't shade.
Carefully observe the plant as you draw your contour lines.
Do not stylize or generalize the features of the plant. Observe and draw each leaf in its unique size, shape, and position. Draw every stem, vein, and imperfection in exacting detail.
Draw the plant its actual size or larger.
No tiny drawings. The plant should take up at least ¾ of the paper.
Do not erase your marks if you make a mistake. You will learn from your mistakes.
Draw the plant "as is" and as close a representation to the plant as you are able.
Don't alter the plant's physical attributes.
Swap plants with a new classmate every time you change your drawing style.
Mark the back of every drawing with your initials and the title of the particular drawing scenario.
 |
Specific Instructions:
Click on the images on this page for full size. |
, and
2) Non-Dominant Hand
Duration: 15 minutes
Participation: all 16 students
Setup: Same as previous.
Instructions: Create a traditional contour drawing of the plant by only using your non-dominate hand.
If you are right-handed, use your left hand. If you are left-handed, use your right hand. If you are ambidextrous, draw it upside down. As before, draw the plant perfectly with all the details.
3) Reach/Jump
Duration: 8 minutes
Participation: 4 students per round
Setup: Students attach their paper on a wall as high as they can reach by standing on their toes. (If the student wants to jump, the paper should be high enough that the student can only reach the paper by jumping) Students stand with their feet together with toes touching the wall. With one arm, they reach as high as they can up the wall. Use Push Pins
Pin the plant below the paper but close enough so they can easily be observed. Do not hang it in the way of your jumping.
Instructions: Create a traditional contour drawing of the plant by stretching or jumping to draw on paper hung beyond your reach.
As always, draw the plant perfectly with all observed details.
4) Short Stick
Duration: 8 minutes
Participation: 4 students per round
Setup: Using Masking Tape
About one inch (2.5 cm) of pencil should extend beyond the end of the rod. Use enough tape so that the pencil won't wiggle on the end of the dowel rod.
On the other end of the dowel, wrap a small piece of Duct Tape
Your hands are not allowed to cross the tape line.
Use push pins to hang a piece of paper on the wall around eye-level. Pin up the plant near your drawing paper so that it can be easily observed.
Instructions:
Create a traditional contour drawing of the plant by drawing with a pencil attached to a three-foot dowel rod. As always, draw the plant as perfectly as possible with all observed details.
5) Long Stick
Duration: 8 minutes
Participation: 4 students per round
Setup: The setup for this round is the same as the Short Stick scenario, except the dowel rod is longer. Use duct tape to attach two three-foot (1 meter, 2 meters in all) dowel rods together.
Overlap them about five inches (12.7 cm) and thoroughly tape them so that they do not wiggle or break. As before, attach a pencil to one end of the rod and tape a boundary line on the opposite end, about five inches (12.7 cm) from the base.
Instructions: Create a traditional contour drawing of the plant by drawing with a pencil attached to a six-foot dowel rod. As always, draw the plant as perfectly as possible with all observed details.
6) Stationary Pencil
Duration: 8 minutes
Participation: 4 students per round
Setup: Use masking tape to attach the pencil to the top edge of a desk. Roughly half of the pencil should extend beyond the desk.
You may need to put extra tape on top of the pencil and on the side of the desk in order to keep the pencil in place.
Use masking tape to attach the pieces of paper to the center of their Drawing Boards
You can use the back of Sketchbooks
Instructions: Create a traditional contour drawing of the plant by maneuvering a piece of paper attached to a drawing board against a stationary pencil. As always, draw the plant as perfectly as possible with all observed details.
Critique:
Once students have completed all six plant drawings using all six scenarios, the class session should end with a quick critique.
Hang all drawings grouped by scenario. Students should use push-pins to vote on their three favorite drawings for each drawing set. The push pins should be on the side of the drawing of course so it doesn't mar the surface of the paper. Students are not allowed to vote for their own drawings.
Discuss what students feel are the strengths of two or three highest scoring drawings in each drawing group scenario.
Evaluation:
Students will be graded on the following: participation, enthusiasm, effort, and creativity.
Rationale:
How you make a drawing can illustrate as much meaning as what you draw.
For two years, I taught art lessons to an 86-year old woman who was 60 years older than me. Her first drawings were based on simple objects and photographs. I was confident and assertive which was typical in my youth. I could make three drawings in the time she took to make one. My marks were dark, fast, and clean while her marks were light, soft, and delicate. Her lines had a slight quiver probably due to her arthritis and aged hands. Both our drawings were the same subject matter, but both drawings conveyed an entirely different meaning.
Most students who fail to make a great drawing fail to use the full rotation of their wrists and elbows. This is especially a problem for over-confident students who think they are already a great artist. I believe rigid wrists illustrate their inflexibility and unteachable attitudes. (Note from Ken: I myself was taught using a similar technique in college. My professor had me whittle a short bamboo poll into a point and then dip it in ink. He wanted to break me of my rigid drawings)
These six drawing scenarios are opportunities for students to take risks and lose some control through physical impediment. The scenarios allow students to make meaningful marks that they didn't know were possible or permissible. Because each scenario demands different kinds of movement and marks, each scenario will contain unique meanings. There will be a difference in pressure, speed, direction, consistency, control, and accuracy. Human gestures can show meaning in art and record body movement.
Note how each scenario is limited to the style of marks in each drawing. Each scenario requires unusual body movement, and those movements should be evident in each drawing. These emotive gestures should impart their mood to the marks on the paper.
