A lesson in character education and in art

Title of Lesson: Contour Drawing

See enclosed list of California State Standards addressed in this lesson




Art Concepts:

o Contour drawing: The drawing of an object as though the drawing tool is
moving along all the edges and ridges of the form.
o Draw what you see, not what you think is there.
o Element of art: Line
o Op Art: Art that contains optical illusions
o Drawing from real life vs. drawing from memory or imagination

Connections to Other Curricular Areas:

This lesson can be applied to any other curricular area. This is a drawing
lesson that can be used to have students illustrate science concepts, as well as depict
artifacts, maps, etc., from social studies.




Materials Needed:




Paper for practice drawing
hite construction/drawing paper 12 x 18 for each student
rten pencils work well)
of drawing
W
Eraserless pencils (kinderga
Black felt pens
M. C. Eschers Drawing Hands or other example

Procedure:

Allow the students to look at Eschers work. Ask what they see. Discuss how
the artist fools the eye by having the drawing go from flat to three dimensional

students a soda can. Tilt it a little toward them. Ask them what shape
What they
t on it.
ng simple to draw,
m
length and width of the leaf by using thumb and
sure and making dots at key places where the leaf
see.
w slowly and dont sketch. Try not to let your pencil off the

Allow ractice paper. Have
h follow the same procedure. Let them examine their work and decide where
ne of their shoes to draw.
Teacher could bring some shoes to school for them to draw. (Old tennis shoes
ify

by the use of shading. The part of the picture that has no shading is contour
drawing.
Discuss what contour drawing is. See definition above.
Show the
they see on the top of the can. They will usually say circle.
actually see is an oval or ellipse. Show them your extended hand, palm out.
Ask: If you were to draw this hand, how many fingernails would you pu
Many will answer 5 because they are being tricked by their brains. No
fingernails should be drawn because they cant see them.
Introduce the idea of Draw what you see, not what you think is there.
To practice doing contour drawing, give them each somethi
like a leaf. Demonstrate how to draw by using the following strategies:
o First look at the leaf. Notice its features.
o See the veins
o See the indentations
o Look at the ste
o Begin by determining
forefinger to mea
extends.
Start at one of those dots and begin drawing the lines that you
Dra
paper. If you make a mistake draw over it.
the student to do their own drawing on a piece of p
t em
they could have done better and what they liked.

Have the students, if they are willing, to take off o
are perfect for this.) Have students look closely at the shoe. Have them ident
the lines they will need to draw. Tell them to think of the shoe as any object with


Have them follow the following instructions: (Materials are white construction
Using your fingers, determine how high the object is from the bottom of the object
ng
f the laces toward the toe
foot enters the object
raw the basic outline of the object by connecting the dots.
e laces, the foot
onduct a Gallery Walk after the lesson so that the students can see one anothers




Sponsored by a generous grant fr the Bonner Family Foundation
lines, not a shoe. If they think shoe they will likely draw what they think one
looks like, rather than the one that is in front of them.

paper and black felt pens)

to the top of the object at the back. Using that measurement, determine how
long the object is. Put dots on your papers to show where they should be. Usi
the same process, put dots where the following should be:
o The arch
o The end o
o The top of the tongue
o The space where your

D
Fill in the remainder of the lines you see: the arch, the toe, th
space, the design on the object, etc.

C
work.


om