Like I said in the previous post, most of my students have not had art since the fifth grade. Most of them also told me at some point during class that they "can't draw." I really wanted to stress to my students that you can be really terrible at drawing but still be a good artist. I have friends in the photography profession who can't paint. I know people who are wonderful sculptors but aren't really strong at drawing. I wanted my students to understand that art is a really large field, and they might be good at drawing--but even if they aren't, there could be something else for them. But, first, I want to prove to them that they probably really CAN draw! We briefly chatted about your right brain and your left brain. Our brain creates symbols and tells us what things should look like on paper, not what they actually look like. I drew a few of these symbols on the board. I showed the class Picasso's drawing of Igor Stravinsky. I told them that we can trick our brains by turning the image upside down. By looking at the image as a set of lines and shapes instead of hands and a face, we are able to create a more realistic drawing. As in most problems that we face, if we step back and look at it from another angle, we are able to figure out a solution. The kids doubted me.. but I begged them to trust me! Once they had their drawings complete, they traced over their lines with Black and we added some spontaneous color. They spent most of their class time working on this drawing and I wanted to loosen them up a little bit. I also wanted to show them that sometimes the process of art is more important than the actual end product. Sometimes its okay to just have fun. Sometimes you have to let the medium do the work, and you just facilitate. We took crayola markers and colored on a laminate sleeve. We then blotted the paper with water and pressed our colored side down onto the paper. Students were able to manipulate the colors if they wanted to, were able to print again and again, or wipe it clean and try new colors.The end results were beautiful ! I think they were surprised at how well they turned out. Hopefully, they realized that deep down, they really are good at drawing! I have actually done this with students as young as fourth and fifth grade. Even theirs turn out just like Picasso's! I promise you, if you doubt you can draw, try this exercise and see if it works!
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