Flint Corn Observational Drawings

 

My students were not having it with this observational drawing project, lol

The patience required to draw individual corn kernels is something that todays generation is not equipped with sadly.

Grade 7-9 students drew ornamental corn from observation. 

Then they outlined everything in ultrafine sharpie.

Then they added the warm colours using watercolour pencils. 

Some of the finished ones!

Observational Seashell Drawings

Observational drawing offers numerous benefits, primarily focusing on honing visual perception and artistic skills. It enhances an artist's ability to see and represent details accurately, leading to improved accuracy in drawing lines, shapes, and details. This practice also cultivates patience, meticulousness, and a heightened sense of detail, crucial for realistic and proportional drawings. 

I have a large stash of seashells- many I've collected on my travels over the years (Mozambique being the best one!) and some I've bought at garage sales or thrift stores. 

You can even buy small bags at Dollarama.

When I do observational drawing with my students, we use 4B drawing pencils, kneadable erasers and blending stumps.

Here are some examples from my Grade 7-9 students:

 

Tulip Observational Drawings

It is officially Spring, but, where I live, it snowed last night, lol.

Nonetheless, time to start all the spring themed projects to brighten our mood after a long winter.

This is a simple observational drawing lesson where students experimented with different drawing media while drawing an artificial tulip from direct observation.

I demonstrated the qualities of each media. I offered students: felt tip black marker, vine charcoal, charcoal pencils, compressed charcoal and conté.

Marker was, by far, the most popular choice. My students hate getting messy!

Students chose a tulip and then drew it onto long strips of newsprint I had pre-cut. 

I wanted the drawings life size. 

A simple but effective drawing exercise. These were all done by beginner students in Grade 8.

 

Observational Plant Drawings

I have a lot of plants in my classroom. They have proven to be very useful over the years for a spontaneous art projects. One of my favourites, that require no prep, are observational drawings. 

With this group, Grade 7-9, we practiced first directly drawing them with black markers. Afterwards, they could choose their own media- most chose watercolour. 

Observational drawing is an excellent way to help students learn to draw what they see. It is difficult at firs but the best way, in my opinion, to strengthen one's drawing skills and build confidence. 

 

Leaves Observational Drawings

Autumn is starting here where I live in Canada. It's the perfect time to go outside with a class and gather some leaves to draw.  My Grade 4-6 students practiced observational drawing with their leaves.

I turn off all the lights in my room and just use the lighting from the window. You can also light with a lamp if you have one. Have them focus on creating a contour drawing first, then start shading. 

The materials we use are drawing pencils, blending stumps and kneaded erasers (I only use the Faber Castell brand!).

This student sprinkled water on hers as she wanted dew drops.