Drawing upside down has an up side!

Here is the best book I used to help me think about drawing

and then practice drawing.  It is amazing.  I have used exercises from inside this book with Girl Scouts and other children in after school programs.

The coolest one is seeing how well you can draw if you turn the line drawing upside down that you are being asked to replicate.  There is a shift that happens in one's brain and you no longer think, "I cannot draw _____!"

Here are ones I did from the book. No tracing! You just look at the line and make adjustments as needed.  Tomie dePaola says an artist's best friend is his eraser.

This first one was originally done by Pablo Picasso and it is of Igor Stravinsky. Foreshortening would probably drive you crazy if you were looking at how to do it.  But remember the book on page 58 has this assignment and this line drawing is upside down.  The job of the student is to draw the person upside down and then turn it right side up only when done.  Cool, huh?  The explanation on page 59 (above) tells how to proceed.

 This is mine here on the right.  Right side up now!

Here is a YouTube video of a high school teacher assigning the above lesson to her students:

This next one I am most proud of because it is so detailed.  It took a little longer but so satisfying when done. 

This is not a gimmick but it does have a lot to teach us about how we think while we are drawing. Learn how to quiet down the left side and Draw on the Right Side of the Brain. Thank you, Betty!

My Philosophy of Education

My philosophy of Education revolves around encouraging life long learning as we engage our students. Why?  Because learning will not stop with graduation day.  Ideally everyone the student comes in contact with will model the way of thinking that shows well-informed community members are knowledgeable about more than just their vocation;  and that each position has duties and responsibilities.

My duty and responsibility as a community member who engages students in learning about art is to have in place classroom management procedures to keep all of us working together. The students will learn that the language of art has its own vocabulary-the elements of art & its own grammar or rules- the principles of design.  We will use art language in every thing we do:  in observing and creating.  In studying about art history.  And in analyzing, interpreting and critiquing art.

Thus each assignment will include an opportunity to use creative problem solving and critical thinking skills.  We will look at art in technology and how it may evolve: the world of CGI is here, so we will look into careers in the Graphic Arts. I believe the visual arts matter and may serve as a bridge between cultures- one that often goes beyond the limits of language. We will study artists from around the world including those active today.

But this philosophy is really about reaching one child at a time. I believe children learn best in a caring, structured environment where exploration is encouraged.  The restraints are all about safety-for each person in the classroom. Thus the responsibility falls on me to consistently model this sensitivity to differences.  My goal as their teacher is to teach them to think critically as they are learning about diverse cultures and applying what we have learned about appreciating differences-inside and outside the classroom.

And so when they graduate from high school and join the community outside of  the classroom, they will know that the learning has just begun!

Beginnings

This blog is about art that I have created and how the art shaped me into a better thinker.
Early on in college art courses I realized how often I heard the phrase that "art is problem solving".  True. It is.
It is also about developing critical thinking skills. There were many hours spent in art history  viewing slides. ( I genuinely enjoyed every minute of those classes because they were usually full of stories behind the art! )
But not only in art history papers and tests were we thinking critically about art.  We would have plenty of time at the end of projects for group critique.  And at the end the professor would see if we met the objective criteria for such and such a grade.  There were times when someone would come to class with a painting that was well executed and enjoyed by all during the critique but the criteria was not met for the assignment.  And the professor would have to gently point that out.
I was usually not that person.  Normally I diligently wrote down what was the assignment.  I would reference my syllabus during the semester.  I had to work very hard to learn because I was not just fulfilling the assignment, I was learning how to use the materials and techniques at the same time.
Yes, I was one of those people.
I wanted to create art but never thought I could so I didn't take art classes in middle and high school.
But once I went back to school to get a college degree, I knew what I wanted to learn.  I wanted to learn how to communicate visually.
I had seen how much children like the illustrations in their picture books.  As an adult, I even liked information more if there was a graphic element.
So I launched into the world of the visual arts and I learned.
I learned how to draw.





Self portraits were common since I had a free model.

This model was included in the cost of the course.  This is a cropped picture for obvious reasons.



It is great to learn to draw with someone in front of you but drawing from instructional books comes in handy too. In fact, I practiced learning how to draw before my first college art classes.



I will share two of my favorite books for that purpose in another post.  And of course, more of my drawings!