Drawing

Grades 9-12

Fall Trimester 

“The question is not what you look at, but what you see.”     -Henry David Thoreau 

Division:  Upper School

Department: Fine and Performing Arts:  Visual Arts

Course Title/Code:  Drawing  Art 421  

Overview: Students are introduced to basic drawing concepts as they develop their observational skills. Concurrently, students learn to successfully manipulate a variety of drawing media. Each student is encouraged to express his or her individual drawing style. The trimester begins with studies in black and white and concludes with an exploration of color.

Goals: The goal of this class is for students to develop their perceptual skills and gain confidence with a variety of drawing media. Students will be able to create drawings including both traditional and nontraditional subject matter. Students will also gain skills that will allow them to critique and analyze works of art.

Skills:

• Students will gain confidence with a variety of drawing media.
• Students will learn techniques from the textbook, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, as a means of improving their observational drawing skills.
• Students will maintain a sketchbook of exercises related to class projects.
• Students will develop the ability to express themselves creatively through the drawing process.
• Students will develop their skills of creative problem solving.
• Students will gain an understanding of drawing terms and definitions including line, value, texture, form and space.
• Students will learn to understand and appreciate two-dimensional works of art produced throughout art history.

Assessment Methods:

·         In class projects

·         Sketchbook assignments

·         Quizzes and handouts

·         Participation 

GRADING :

60%: In-Class projects

30%  Sketchbook assignments

10%  Class participation. You will be assigned a participation grade twice this trimester. Be on time, clean up well, be polite, try your best to get an “A”  

A: Excellent/ Commendable Quality

- It shows obvious evidence of thinking and care.
- It has some sense of inventiveness and/or imagination.
- Materials are used well. Craftsmanship is strong.
- There may be evidence of experimentation and/or risk-taking.
- Composition is purposeful.
- There is strong evidence of awareness of style and format - a sense of informed decision-making.  

B: Good quality

- It is fairly confident.
-The level of the work may be inconsistent, but the work is strong enough to offset its weaknesses.
- There is successful engagement with some aspects of technique and/or materials.
- Most technical aspects are successful; materials are generally handled well.
- Composition is generally purposeful.  

C: Moderate Quality

- Work shows a sense of real effort, but problems are not successfully resolved.
- Technique may be erratic, with little or no sense of challenge.
- In contrast to work that receives a D, there is at least some sense of artistic decision-making. 

D: Poor Quality

- There is little, if any, evidence of thinking.
- Technique is very poor.
- Work shows a lack of awareness of tools/media.
- Solutions tend to be trite.
- Composition is very poor, or doesn't appear to have been considered. 

F: Incomplete/Missing

(rubric adapted from J. Begonia, Southern Regional H.S.) 

Drawing Class tentative Schedule. Subject to change. Additional sketchbook assignments will likely be added. 

Week one

Purchase Sketchbook by Monday, August 19

Begin reading Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain.

Sketchbook Assignment: Elements and Principles of Design Worksheet. Paste this into your sketchbook.

Face/Vase Drawing (p.51)

Blind Contour Drawing (chapter 6)

Create viewfinder. Modified Contour Drawing (p.96-97) 

Week two  

Continue Assignments Above

Begin Markmaking assignment

Sketchbook Assignments:

1. Preliminary studies for markmaking assignment.
2. Find a photograph or work of art in a magazine or another print source. List and describe all of the elements and principles of design that you can identify. Paste the picture in your sketchbook.

Week three  

Continue Markmaking Assignment

Sketchbook assignment: Find examples of both (1) a balanced, harmonious and (2) an asymmetrical, contrasting visual statement. Analyze and compare the effect of each and their ability to convey information or mood. (from Visual Literary Exercises) 

Week four  

Monday, September 2: Labor Day Holiday

Perspective: Draw Boxes

Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain chapter 8

Draw Cylinders

Sketchbook assignment: Bottle Landscape (see handout) 

Week five: Class trips this week

Value Study: Copy Courbet self-portrait p.200

Sketchbook assignment: Add value to bottle landscape 

Week six

Monday September 16: Work Day (no classes)

Oversized Fruit/Vegetable drawings using colored pencils and watercolor pencils or oil pastels

Sketchbook Assignment: “Everybody’s Junk Drawer” (see handout)

Week seven :

Friday, September 27: Parent/Teacher Conferences (no classes)

Continue Oversized Fruit/Vegetable drawings using colored pencils and watercolor pencils or oil pastels 

Week eight :

Ink landscape drawing

Sketchbook assignment: Atmospheric Perspective handout 

Week nine :

Continue Ink landscape drawing 

Week ten

Monday, Oct 14: Fall Break

Monoprints: Gourds and other subjects

Sketchbook Assignment : “The Other Meaning” (see handout) 

Week eleven  Trompe L’oeil assignment: Tape it Up 

Week twelve :

Continue Trompe L’oeil assignment

Students turn in proposals for final drawing project.

Sketchbook assignment: Preliminary sketches/brainstorming for final project 

Week thirteen : Work on final project. 

Week fourteen : Finish final project/clean/critique                                          

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