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Reproductions
of early Cubist work are hung around The Creativity Lab. We
begin with an exploratory discussion of the reproductions,
specifically: “What do you see?” Be prepared for laughs,
confusion, and students who dispute that these represent
“good” art.
Divide
classroom into groups of four. Distribute to each student:
drawing board, one sheet of drawing paper, short piece of
masking tape to secure paper to board. Have each student
select three different colored markers.
Describe
Blind Contour Drawing. Explain that many people draw what
they THINK they see and not what they REALLY see (symbols of
trees, hearts, etc. rather than observational drawing.)
Blind Contour Drawing is a way to improve observational
drawing skills. Acknowledge that it is tough and
intimidating at first, but FUN! (I always let the class
watch me do one first, let them know that it’s OK to laugh
at my drawing to loosen things up a bit.) Explain that in a
Blind Contour Drawing, each student should select a starting
point on the paper, place the marker at that point and without
ever lifting the marker from the paper, begin to make a
contour drawing without looking at the paper. Don’t
scribble and draw BIG! Explain that in each group, each
person will act as a model at one time. Groups choose their
first model, choose one marker, and in a short timed session
(2 minutes), everyone except the model will complete a Blind
Contour Drawing. (I draw along with my students by the way.)
Call time and then everyone breaks for a moment, laughs and
groans at the results. Groups now need to change models –
I tell students to choose the next person on their left –
and on the same piece of paper, using a different color of
marker, we begin the exercise again, drawing right on top
of the first sketch. We repeat the exercise until each
person has an overlap of at least three drawing on the page.
Many times I will model for my students on the last Blind
Contour Drawing, posing in some utterly ridiculous way.
(This way I can keep their attention on me and OFF their
drawing paper!)
Next
class, I hang drawings around The Creativity Lab and place
them on tables. We discuss how the overlap of drawings
represent three visual points-of-view. We notice how new and
interesting shapes are created from the overlapping contour
drawings. We re-examine the Cubist reproductions and a short
Picasso/Braque slideshow then discuss how Picasso and Braque
attempted to show multiple viewpoints in a single artwork.
Written assignment: “Can you think of other examples of
multiple viewpoints?” (Movies, television are good
examples)
Using
the overlapping contour drawing I created while drawing
along with my students, I demonstrate techniques for using
chalk pastels: blending, filling, smudging, gradations, etc.
I place several examples of previous student art works on my
easel to use as exemplars and I explain that my current
students’ drawings have only just begun and that each
learner must select colors from the pastels to use to
complete their art-making. Colors must be blended and
graduated from one to another by filling in the various
shapes formed by overlapping the contour drawings – the
entire page must be filled in with color and the only white
that will show will be chosen intentionally and created by
pigmented chalk. Blending is done with stubs or by folding a
brown paper towel until it is a hard, pencil-like shape –
blending is not done with fingers. Learners must take care
to avoid smudging colors as they draw to avoid
“muddying” up the color. I explain that our multiple
drawings will now become a single, combined artwork and that
by making intentional choices about color, placement,
and specific shapes, each learner will bring order to chaos.
As
a warm up to each class during this unit, I ask that
learners complete five two-minute Blind Contour Drawings in
their journals. |
and 
[VHS], 
- This landmark publication presents for the first time a comprehensive catalogue of the works by Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) in the Metropolitan Museum.
- Hefty, elegant, and inclusive, The Ultimate Picasso hits most, though not all, of these marks. It offers more than 1,200 reproductions (nearly 800 in color) spanning the artist's entire career.
