What's Going on in the Classroom: Charcoal, what a mess!

We have ventured into the messy world of charcoal! All our drawing projects so far have been using graphite. However to finish up our quarter on drawing we are using charcoal and also doing a pen and ink project (more on that later!)

Part of our curriculum asks us to deal with the idea that artists are always toeing the line between 2D and 3D. We either trying to create a 3D image on a 2D surface, or we are taking a 2D design and attempting to create a 3D piece of art. Sometimes the switch between these two ways of thinking is difficult for students. While working with charcoal, students also investigated the difference between 2D and 3D.

To start off, all students had to pick on object and do three realistic drawings of that object from different viewpoints. Realistic meaning making them look as 3D as possible. Then they had to translate those drawings into 2D designs using only shapes and positive and negative space. Here are images of those six drawings.

The next step was for students to choose their most successful 2D design of the three and draw it larger. Then the positive space was shaded in using white charcoal and the negative space was colored in using compressed black charcoal. This color scheme provides awesome contrast for a really graphic image. It was also very messy! 

What's Going on in the Classroom: 2-Point Perspective Cityscape

After our spectacular journey into Surrealism through the use of 1-point perspective, I wanted to give my students a taste of 2-point perspective and what is possible when you add that second vanishing point! We did a lot of step by step at the beginning of this project, helping students to understand what different shapes will 'do' when drawing in 2-point perspective. Here's how we started making a city scape:

After the foundation of the city was laid down, students were given free reign to add details as they saw fit. We have a lot of imaginative students so you better believe that the cities were fabulous and varied.

Now we're embarking on a charcoal journey. To start, students were given a day to explore and have fun with the new medium. The goal for that day was to learn the way that charcoal worked best for them. Now we're moving forward into a charcoal project that incorporates the idea of playing with two dimensional and three dimensional space on our papers. More to come on that next post!