Drawing Assignments Instructor: Dawn Jacobson

djacobsonart@weebly.com

Week 1 & 2- Sketchbook & Drawing Skills

Students will create a sketchbook and will learn review some basic drawing skills. Working from a variety of still life
objects, various hand to eye coordination activities will focus on drawing what you see versus what you think you see.
Students will do studies in sighting, proportion, using of a viewfinder, the grid, continuous line and blind contour
drawing, tonal value & light a & shadow.

Week 3-4- Graphite Drawing of Drapery and Folds

Composition is an important part of this assignment. Fabric is a popular subject matter in
drawing; it is used in many drawings from still lifes, portraits, comics, and fashion design.
Fabrics are tricky to draw because of all the folds and complicated shading. Students will learn
how to draw and shade fabric using graphite pencils on 12x18 drawing paper.
Time on project: 10 days

Week 5-6 Composition / Parts of a Whole Fruit/Vegetable Drawing

Composition is an important part of this assignment. Students
will bring in a fruit, vegetable or edible object to work from.
They should make a series of three contour line drawings of that object on white 9x12
paper. The size of each drawing should be no bigger than 5x7 inches and centered on the
paper. Views should be chosen that have a dynamic composition and strong visual
interest. Drawings should be composed with one drawing showing almost the entire
object, another with a close up and the final with either a below eye level or above eye
level point of view. Students will share their drawings in an informal critique with the
class-examining which composition is more dynamic. The students will then learn about color pencil methods and
render the object to look realistic. The goal is to make the common ordinary object look extraordinary. Final project will
be matted on mat board. Time on project: 10 days

Week 7-8 Chalk Pastel Still Life Drawing

This technical drawing emphasizes the importance of careful observation,
proportion, color and value. Students will sit directly in from of the still life each
day for this observation drawing. The students will be working with a variety of
textured still life objects. First they will create two thumbnail sketches on 12x18
newsprint in pencil to find the best composition. Then they will create a very
light contour line drawing on 18x24 colored pastel paper. Pastel pencils, stick
pastels will finally be used to render in color, highlights and values. Students
should push the range of values to show contrast in the drawing. Time on
Project 10 days

Week 9-10 Charcoal Subtractive Self Portrait

Students will learn about drawing portraits and the proportion of the human face. They will work from a photograph of
themselves on 18x24 paper and use the subtractive drawing technique. The subtractive method is the process of first
laying down a layer of charcoal and then using an eraser to create the lightest values of the drawing and then later going
in with more charcoal to at value and contrast. Time on Project 10 days

Week 11-12 One-point and Two-point Perspective

Students will learn about one and two point perspective. Students will review Art One perspective basics. Then an
interesting part of the art room to use as inspiration for their drawing. Camera phones and digital cameras will be sued
 to find the best composition. Preliminary sketches will be done on newsprint paper, once
they have a strong scene, correct proportions and perspectives they should redraw it on
12x18 paper. The final drawing should be outlined in sharpie marker . Time on project: 10
days

Week 13-14 Drawing the Human Form

Students will learn about human proportion and how to
draw the human form. Students will begin by creating a
pencil drawing of the skeleton. Carefully measuring the
proportions from an actual human skeleton they will
sight and render each bone on 24x36 paper. Once this
drawing is complete- they will more closely examine the
skeletal structure by using camera phones or digital
cameras to take several close ups of a sections of the skeleton. They will select the
best composition to draw using sketch and wash pencils to show proportion,
contrast, value and texture on 11x14 bristol board. Time on project: 10 days

Week 15 Practice drawing human form from model

Students will study human proportion and work from live models. A series of
gesture drawings done with conte crayon will teach students how to work quickly
to find accurate proportion in the human form. A final study done in ink wash from the model will be done on 18x24
paper and rendered to look as realistic as possible.
Time on project: 5 days

Week 16-18 Surreal Landscape Drawing

Students will learn about surrealism and create a surrealistic type landscape. The landscape must include some kind of
Fantastic beast that lives there. Composition should have a clear background, middleground and foreground, with an
obvious center of focus/dominant form. For surrealism to be successful students must render the objects as realistically
as possible and should therefore research photographic images to work from. A rough sketch of the idea must be
worked out on newsprint paper and discussed with Mrs. Jacobson. Final project will be done on bristol board with any of
the medias that we used. Time on project: 15 days