Proportion and Portraiture Basics
Investigating the mathematical relationships of the face and using basic shading to create form.
Key Questions
- Explain how light and shadow define the structure of a face.
- Analyze what a portrait can tell us about a person's internal thoughts.
- Compare different methods for measuring facial features accurately.
NCCA Curriculum Specifications
About This Topic
Experimental mark-making encourages 5th Class students to move beyond the pencil and explore the tactile possibilities of drawing. By using non-traditional tools like twigs, sponges, or cardboard strips alongside charcoal, students investigate how texture and value create mood. This topic emphasizes the NCCA's 'Making Art' strand, specifically the exploration of media and the development of a personal visual language.
This approach is particularly effective for large-scale compositions where students can use their whole arm to create marks. It connects to the Science curriculum through the study of materials and their properties. Students grasp the emotional power of art more effectively when they are allowed to experiment freely with tools that produce unpredictable results. This topic comes alive when students can physically model the patterns and textures they see in the natural world using unconventional implements.
Active Learning Ideas
Inquiry Circle: The Tool Library
Groups are given a tray of 'found objects' (corks, feathers, old credit cards). They must create a 'texture catalog' by testing every way each object can make a mark with ink or charcoal, labeling the 'emotion' each mark suggests.
Gallery Walk: The Texture Trail
Students tape large sheets of paper to the walls and create one specific type of mark. The class walks around, adding a complementary mark to their peers' work, creating a collaborative large-scale textured mural.
Think-Pair-Share: Sound to Mark
Play three different pieces of music (sharp, flowing, chaotic). Students make marks that 'match' the sound, then pair up to explain why a jagged line fits a certain sound better than a soft smudge.
Watch Out for These Misconceptions
Common MisconceptionDrawing tools must be bought at an art shop.
What to Teach Instead
Students often think 'real' art requires expensive pens. Showing them how a piece of torn cardboard can create a more interesting texture than a fine-liner helps them value experimentation over equipment.
Common MisconceptionCharcoal is just for making things black.
What to Teach Instead
Students often use charcoal like a crayon. Demonstrating 'subtractive drawing', where they cover a page in charcoal and use an eraser to 'draw' with light, surfaces the idea that value is about the relationship between light and dark.
Suggested Methodologies
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Frequently Asked Questions
How do I manage the mess of charcoal and ink in a classroom?
What is the benefit of large-scale drawing for 10-11 year olds?
How can active learning help students understand experimental mark making?
How do I assess 'experimental' work fairly?
More in Drawing and the Human Form
Introduction to Observational Drawing
Students will learn foundational techniques for seeing and translating three-dimensional objects onto a two-dimensional surface.
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Gesture and Movement
Capturing the energy and action of the human body through quick, fluid sketches and continuous line drawings.
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Expressive Self-Portraiture
Students will create self-portraits focusing on conveying emotion through exaggerated features and color choices.
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Figure Drawing: Anatomy and Structure
Understanding basic human anatomy to improve accuracy and realism in figure drawing.
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Experimental Mark Making
Using non-traditional tools and charcoal to explore texture and value in large scale compositions.
3 methodologies