Drawing from your imagination vs. Drawing what you see

Drawing from your imagination. Children see things in symbols or shapes.  When thinking of a sail boat you may see a triangle for the sail or a half circle for the bottom of the boat.  Students then progress onto seeing things as forms like cylinders, spheres, cones, and cubes.  For instance, being able to visualize the forms that create an airplane.  Other strategies we use are from our observations of the world around us.  This leads us to using size, overlapping and value to make our drawing 3-D or like the world around us.

Drawing what you see.  Contour drawing techniques are the best way to draw what you see.  Students trace with their eyes and use their peripheral vision to keep track of their drawing hand.  You can also build the basic structure of the objects with shape or form and then use your contour drawing techniques.  The concept of a how to draw book works the same way.

Students struggle with proportions or size relationships.  When size relationships are inaccurate the drawings become distorted.  A drawing grid is a great way to enlarge a drawing or to make sure the  proportions and size relationships. are correct.  This can easily be done by drawing a plus sign on the image and on your drawing paper.  The next step is drawing what you see box by box.  This helps the artist focus on the size and placement of the object one box at a time which produces an accurate drawing.

How to Create an Original Work of Art

Art Club students are creating original works of art for the Collin County Youth Art Show.  Often times students are excited to create a work of art with their paper and supplies out on the table ready to go but have difficulty coming up with an idea.  In Art Club we went over Art Criticism, Subjects in Art and Themes that will help students develop a solid idea and get them on the path to creating an original work of art.
  Art Criticism allows us to "read" a work of art.  Art critics DESCRIBE what they see, ANALYZE what elements and principles of art the artist used, INTERPRET to see if a story is being told and JUDGE by saying if they like the art or not and explaining why.  Many artists have started out by using the characteristics of their favorite artists.  That could be everything from Pop Artists that use bright unnatural colors and black outlines or Picasso that used a monochromatic color scheme during his blue and rose period paintings. Being able to "Read' a work of art allows you to be an art critic but also help you create your own art.

Students can begin a work of art using a Subject in Art like a Portrait, Still-Life, Landscape, or Abstract art.

Themes are a great way to start a work of art.  Often times Themes can have significant meaning and tell a story that allows the viewer to connect to your art.  There are thousands of themes from upside down world, your favorite character, or discovery.  Once you've decided on the theme you can then write down the objects or what your background would look like and start drawing.