It is important to educate students on the formal and conceptual differences between working from life or photographs. I provide both opportunities in my beginning drawing and painting classes, so that students can make informed decisions as they advance.
Most of these drawings are completed on 18" x 24" medium surface drawing paper.
Contour Line Drawing
As the first assignment, this drawing is about building trust between the student's hand and eyes. They are instructed to use line to feel the contours of each object, rather than measuring perfect proportions. Students are encouraged to look more at the still-life than at their drawings. I lecture about how line weight can depict space, form, light and shadow.
Accuracy
I introduce the second major project with a flat still life. Students work in their sketchbooks as I instruct them in how to measure proportions, angles, and scale correctly. We quickly move on to the big still life made up of geometric forms. They must measure to fit the entire still-life onto their paper, accurately draw each form, and apply what they learned in the contour line project.
Sketchbook
During the semester there are a number of sketchbook assignments that require students to study the line quality or gestural studies of other artists, and also to practice working from life. These studies compliment the intentions of the larger projects. On some days I begin the class talking about gesture drawing and we do a few studies to get loosened up.
artists: Kathe Kollwitz, Juan Gris, Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Marc Chagall, Leonardo da Vinci, Georges-Pierre Seurat, Claude Monet, Alberto Giacometti, Marcel Van Eeden, Eugene Carriere, Le Corbusier, Vija Celmins, David Reinbold
Abstraction
As a breather from longer assignments the class completes an abstract drawing in one class period. This project makes meticulous students incredibly nervous, even though it is not graded. I try to teach them how to capture the feeling or essence of the subject by seeing things as "whole to part", rather than "part to whole". Each drawing turns out beautifully unique.
Value Studies
The next two projects are value studies. In the first lesson students learn how to work with charcoal and describe shifts in light on a couple different surfaces. There is room for stylistic choices, however the main focus is on specificity of light source and subject matter. I don't accept interpretations of how students "think" folds in a sheet behave, or how light will shift on a surface. I try to teach them how to see, so that they are drawing this sheet with all of its imperfections and surprises.
In the second value study lesson, students work from photographs that they have taken themselves. We look at Edward Weston photographs for conceptual inspiration, learn how to use the grid to translate information, and talk about how placing imagery next to each other can create new meaning or associations for the viewer.
Perspective
Depending on the weather, I have two different perspective projects. During the winter, students work with ink and acrylic on MDF. We look at illustrations by Michael Cho, David Reinbold, and Evan Hecox. Students bring in photographs showcasing strong linear perspective, and I teach them how to accurately draw in one, two, and three point perspective. These illustrations also emphasize mark-making and clean applications of color.
I have taught the standard hallway drawings when approaching one point perspective, but I prefer to get the students outside. These landscape drawings are meant to marry the technical aspects of getting the perspective correct, and the expressiveness you can achieve with charcoal when describing organic shapes and atmospheric perspective.