Drawing with Charcoal

Today, I introduced the Drawing 1 students to the messy, but forgiving, medium of charcoal.  I have this gigantic, white ball (on the right side of the image) that we use for shading.  This is the third time the students have had to draw this ball.  They first drew it when we started shading in graphite and then again when they learned about shading with ink.  They love the ball.  Kidding.  Mostly I get 'the ball...again?'.  Yep.  Again.  I started the way I always start.  Students get their own tin (once upon a time in Photography, I use to get 100ft rolls of film and roll film for students...it was awful, but the tins are great for drawing material storage), I hand out vine charcoal, compressed charcoal, a pink eraser, a kneaded eraser, a blending stump, and tissue for blending.  We discuss the materials and how they are used.  I start by showing them how to tone the paper, sketch with the vine charcoal, and then eventually use the compressed charcoal to add value.  I did something a little different today.  When the students thought they were finished, I had them hang their drawings on the wall and step back.  By stepping back, students are able to easily see areas that need more attention.  I talked with each student individually about what they still need to work on.  Students even gave each other feedback about areas to work on.  Most students knew exactly what they needed to work on as soon as they saw the drawing hanging on the wall.  Students then took the drawings and continued to work on them a little more, trying to perfect the drawing as much as they could.  It was a little chaotic, but it was awesome formative assessment.  This is a one day project and tomorrow students will start a white object still life in charcoal. 



Dr. Seuss Drawings

This project is always a student favorite.  At this point in Drawing 1, students have been introduced to shading with graphite.  Yesterday, we moved onto ink and did some general practice shading with markers using hatching, cross-hatching, and stippling techniques.  In this project we focus on using hatching to make shapes appear three-dimensional.  Students start by drawing the tubes and then some guidelines that will help them stay on track as they add ink.

 

In the top right image, you can see the guidelines I have students add before they start adding any hatching with ink.

Drawing Sculpted Words

At some point in my countless hours of web surfing, I came across this great project idea over at A Faithful Attempt for my Drawing 1 class.  Previously, when I started teaching students about shading in graphite or charcoal I would have them take a strip of paper, twist it, and tape it down to a square base.  Usually, students are able to easily see the variety of shadows that exist on the object.  Then they are required to include the various values on the mini sculpture in a drawing.  I have had the students complete this introductory project in charcoal, graphite, and ink.  But, really, an introductory exercise is all it is.  This time around, I thought I would try the ribbon word idea and it seems the students were more involved in the drawing.  I allowed them to choose the word and the size.  In the end, this little adjustment put a little of the student's personality into a basic exercise.  The only thing I would do different next time is require a minimum width, at least an inch, for the strips of paper.  For some reason, my students right now want to work super small and I found that the thicker the paper, the easier it was to make it look realistic.  Here are some of the finished works:

 

Left: Haven B.  Top Right: Miranda H.

Bottom Image, Left Side: Tian Yin J. Bottom Image, Right Side: Melinda K.