Line Lessons - 5 Ways to Draw a line
Line Lessons - 5 Ways to Draw a line
A step-by-step PowerPoint guide that can be used by students or as a lesson plan for teachers.
DRAWING THE LINE
Each of these 5 lessons can be taught separately, giving students time to hone their skills. They have been put together into one 40 minute - 1 hour lesson as a sampler for students that will give them lots to do without tiring out inexperienced artists. The goal here is to do the work, not to produce masterpieces. As this lesson provides guidelines for beginners, the output should not be judged as a final product.
Lesson 1: Warm-Up
This lesson is designed to get students drawing. The idea for the lesson comes from "Drawing in Black & White" by Deborah Velasquez.
Lesson 2: Gesture Drawing
This lesson is designed to get students drawing. The idea for the lesson comes from "Drawing in Black & White" by Deborah Velasquez. Please remind students that they may take their hand off the page as often as they like.
The Denver Museum of Art images that have been selected for the PowerPoint are ordered so that there is a logical progression between them. For best results, have students complete the three boxes in the time progression: 30 seconds, 1 minute, and 1 minute and 30 seconds. For the two chairs, I give students 1:30 per chair. The other images are optional.
Lesson 3: Follow the Line
This lesson is designed to give students a rest from observational drawing. When I teach this lesson, I talk about the benefits of doodling in terms of meditation and mental health. I also emphasize the usefulness of "rule based" drawing styles to create patterns and beauty with repetition. The idea for the lesson comes from "Drawing in Black & White" by Deborah Velasquez. Again, students may take their pen off the page many times.
Lesson 4: contour drawing
In this lesson, like in the first, students do not take their pen off the page. The sample image shows three different contour drawings.
Denver Museum of Art images have been selected for the PowerPoint. These are options but students should be encouraged to use objects in their surroundings rather than on the screen.
Lesson 5: Blind contour drawing
In this lesson, like in the first, students do not take their pen off the page. They only look at their page twice - once when they place the pen down on the paper and again when they are finished drawing. Please keep times quite short - 30 seconds to 2 minutes, max. The temptation to look at the page is strong. You may wish to have students sit in a particular way to reduce temptation.
