Monday, March 05, 2007

Observational Drawing
In many of the classes that I go into the children do 'observational drawings'. An object is placed on the desk in front of them and they carefully draw what they see. Younger children may need some questions to get them started -
"Which way round do you think you should have your paper - landscape or portrait?"
"Where do you think you might start?"
"What shape can you see there?"

Older students, once they have the outline become very adept at noticing light and shade and with a little guidance can begin to shade effectively. Again the questioning guides the process -
"Which direction is the light coming from?"
"Where is the shadow falling?"
"Does it help to hold your pencil a different way?"

Children become quite obsorbed in the process and frequently surprise themselves with the results.