Sketchbooks! Sketchbooks! Sketchbooks!

SPOILER ALERT; More amazing drawings like this (from 6th-8th graders!!!!)  if you scroll down!

I started having my middle school students do sketchbook assignments this year.  We've always used our sketchbooks in class for planning, free drawing, doodling, etc but I wanted my students to push their talents and figure out what their artistic interests were a little bit more.  So I started requiring them to do three sketchbook assignments each trimester--that's about one drawing every three-four weeks...nothing major, right?  I created a list of 25 options for each grade level 6th-8th (if you'd like a copy of my lists, let me know).  These are the requirements I gave them (this is just my 6th grade list, each grade level has their own):

Then the magic happened!  They gave me amazingly beautiful and brilliant drawings!  Enjoy!

This one didn't photograph well but I have to show it off--this 8th grader drew a tiger in the jungle using pointillism!!!

Worth noting: This was drawn based off of a photo of this student's grandfather that played college football-such an amazing tribute!!!

Texture Remix

This is the Re-Re-Re-REMIX!

Furry, Lumpy and Spikey Grapes

I really enjoy teaching texture rendering (though I'm not positive all of my students have the same affinity for it as I do) because it really pushes some of my students to try something new and a little more challenging.  It forces them to think about angles, space, shapes and perspective while using value and realism.  I think they are all pretty impressed with themselves in the end too!  A more detailed description of the lesson and older examples are posted here.  

My quick tips that I draw up on the board for them to keep in mind while they work

Spiked Broken Pencil, Scaley Cup, Stone-Brick-Bump Pumpkin and Misc Texture Paintbrush with Palette

Stone Guitar, Scaley and Spikey Hammer with Nail, Woven Turtle and Brick Apple

5th Grade Optical Illusions

Op Art!

I love teaching about Op Art!  The kids get really excited and love looking at all of the examples and what's even better...they like to discuss them!  I don't even have to prompt them into having a conversation about it, they automatically start the discussion as soon as I show an example!  It's amazing!  Last year I taught the fifth graders an amazing cube optical illusion (lesson here) but this year I wanted more variety and to teach them a little more about shading.  So I gave them a series of options in their illusion.  They all started with 3 circles (though one of my examples below only has one big one) and then they chose their style of background.  They could do "cones with draping ribbon," checkerboard or a checkerboard fading back into space:

 

I demonstrated all of the steps (full lesson details for the fading into space plan are here) for drawing out the backgrounds and let the students get to work.  I showed them how to make their circles have the illusion of spheres and had them color in their background and spheres like checkerboards (or color in the "ribbons" along the "cones").  My example used a black marker for this step but some of them opted for color.  After that had been finished or nearly finished by most, we discussed shading and how to shade based on the chosen background.  The kids were all great about knowing that with the distance/checkerboard background, the smaller tiles were darker because they were farther away--and I love that they know that!  So smart!  After that, they finished coloring them in with colored pencils and appropriate shading!

Since students all work at a different pace--some students didn't quite finish and others had tons of free time.  So I suggested that they use their 'finished early' time looking at Optical Illusion books that I have on hand, drawing a simple optical illusion design with their name (I demo this and how to do this with a wavy line instead of their name) or to try to draw their own optical illusions that they create from their brain!