This week, 3rd grade learned how to draw their classmates using loose spirals which is taught in high school and college! It was very fascinating to observe how each student has a unique line drawing style. It was also beautiful to know that young people are so incredibly capable of much more advanced approaches to drawing from observation.
I brought my wooden mannequin to class to show the classes the proportions of our bodies. I reminded them that our body is 3-Dimensional, so we can learn how to draw it 3-DImensionally instead of 2-dimensional stick figures.
We discussed how different gestures suggest movement or not. For example, a vertically standing figure may not suggest movement, but a diagonally oriented position will.
I demonstrated 3 drawings starting with the head. I showed them how to "look" for the gestural "line" - vertical, horizontal or diagonal, and to draw this under the head. We added the arms, hands, legs and feet paying attention to the negative space behind the figure (how much space is between the poser's arms and body, how far are the legs apart from each other?
We all made our own mannequin our of Aluminum Foil - being very careful to not squeeze too hard to flatten. We will mount them onto a stronger base next week.
