Observation Drawing

• Practice observation drawing because children who gain drawing confidence through observation practice will less likely have the crisis of confidence.  A crisis of confidence  about drawing tends to extend to other aspects of art and is very common among children and adults in our society.
• Encourage creative work habits
• Change habits of work by selecting things that can not easily drawn from memory
• Learn about significant art history, art criticism, and aesthetics

M edia

• Distribute the materials before discussing the process and giving drawing directions.  This is avoids disrupting them when they are ready to start working.
• Use any drawing media that students are already familiar with.  Select paper that is large enough for the drawing tools and art media being used.  For charcoal, pastels, oil pastels and paints you could use 12 x 18 or larger.  If they work with drawing pencils, ink, ball point, or with small brushes, use a smaller size so it does not take too long. This might depend on the the age and prior experience of the students.

Preliminary Warm-up Students place their 6B soft lead drawing pencils through a hole in the middle of 7 x 7 inch card which serves as a blinder preventing the temptation to look at their paper. The class does some warm-up practice blind contour drawings of something they have never seen before . Here a piece of soft aluminum cable is used because it can easily be bent into new shapes and it is easy to follow because it is linear.

By using an unfamiliar subject, the teacher can be confident that students will not draw from memory, but they will actually want to observe the lines and shapes they see.

Here a pet rabbit is allowed to roam the room.  The rabbit becomes the subject of more practice blind contour drawings. Students are asked to continue their lines when the rabbit moves, allowing unconventional renderings.  This gives them "permission" to make "individual" renditions. Below is a sheet of these practice observations.

A live animal is very engaging and creates very strong attention and motivation.  We are naturally drawn to animals.  They are probably one of the best subjects to use for an art assignment. Teachers need to check to be sure no children in the class have an allergy to a particular animal and they need to make sure school policies do not prohibit animals.

Final Project Students use a new sheet of drawing paper. They are asked to make a larger drawing and attempt of fill the paper. They are allowed to try several times until they get an outline they like. Using crayons, they are encouraged to add the texture and tone (values) they observe. The drawing below by a third grade student is unique in that the student drew the whole scene including the children on the floor, the teacher standing on the left and the camera on a tripod at the right.

This drawing by a third grade student shows that the student felt free to start three times, each time making an observational improvement.

Displaying Work Be inclusive and educational. Include every child's work each time or at least use a fair rotating basis. Public displays need to include the teacher's goals and objectives to help educate other children, teachers, parents, administrators, cleaning staff, and others who may wonder what is being learned. Teach children how to put up these orderly well designed displays by themselves.

Discussing Student Work  (the dreaded critique)
• The teacher's main roles are to ask questions and reinforce articulate comments from students. Look for specific positive attributes to discuss. Some teachers find this difficult because it is so easy to see mistakes in student work and talk about them.  When we make suggestions or when we say what is 'wrong' with the work, we are implying that art is supposed to look a certain way.  Too often this is simply the teacher's way.  When negative comments are made, student artists become discouraged and often stop trying.
• Students must be allowed ownership.  Students do not make perfect work, but they make real work that reflects their own efforts.  There is a lot to learn from student efforts without being negative.
• In a negative and judgmental environment they tend to do as little as they feel they can get by with.  They ask, "Is this good enough?"
• They should ask, "What else does it need?"  At this point the teacher does not make a suggestion, but turns the question back to the student, "What are some things you can think of?"  "What part is working best for you so far?"  "Good. How could you make the rest work that well?"
• Try questions like: "What do you notice first when you look at this one by . . . . "  "Why do we notice that?"  "Did somebody notice something different?" "Can somebody explain the reason for that?"  "Which is one of most original approaches you see?"  " What is different about it?"  Do not allow negative remarks. When a positive remark is made, ask for elaboration.  Be sure reasons are articulated.  Use a lot of encouraging comments like, "Very good, thank you for explaining that."
• It can be good to speculate about the meaning of their pictures (interpretation).  Making up titles helps with this.  After others have given their ideas, give the creator a chance to give an answer.
• We can ask about the art elements and compositional principles in the work.  "Can somebody find an example where somebody used contrasting size to make something more important in the picture?"  "Is there an example where somebody used several different textures to make a picture look more interesting?"
• Sometimes, use written questions. Be sure to ask the students to write open questions that can be answered several ways.
• Ask the students, "What are your ideas for other kinds of art projects you could do now to learn more about what you just learned?"  "What could you do now to practice so you get even better at what you just did?"  Art is a life-long thought process and practice.  We never arrive, we are on journey.  We are in a search.
• If discussions are too long, try working with small groups as they finish their work.  Or, try a rotation system where you only discuss one third of the works each time, but all students get equal turns.

Art History After completing their own work, students will be interested in seeing how other artists have approached similar subjects. After drawing rabbits, they will notice more about Albrecht Durer's rendering of a Young Hare . On the left the class is discussing prehistoric animal drawings that were discovered in caves in France . In addition to "What do you notice" and "why" questions, students can be asked to speculate about reasons these animal drawings were created. After exhausting the student ideas, a teacher could also add what "some people think" about the reasons. NOTE on IMAGE SOURCES

1. "In what country would you find very old animal drawings in caves?"
2. "How are cave drawings and graffiti we see on train cars similar and different"
3. "If the animal drawings in the caves were about hunting for food, what could we draw to put on our walls in our cafeteria about how we get our food?"
4. "How does a contour line feeling change as you change the speed of your hand motion when you draw?"
5. "What skills other than drawing are useful for artists?"
6. "Can you describe an example of when expressionism is more artistic than realism?"