SKILL BUILDER/INVESTIGATION PROJECTS - Ten Drawing Activities That Reflect Synthesis of Materials, Processes, and Ideas That Embrace the Principles and Elements of Design:

Project One An Investigative Approach to Cross Cultural Art Students choose a country of interest and do investigative research on the art of that culture and then pro-duce at least five pieces of art that reflect that cultural dimension of expression. Example: mask making within Africa.

Project Two Creating an Investigation While Creating a Children’s Book Students write their own children’s book and illustrate it showing their work on three levels. Level one: their comps and writing roughs Level two: their developed story and illustrations Level three: Their completed book, writing and illustration

Project Three Three Practicing Foreshortening & Primary Colors Students produce a series of 3 self portraits that show foreshortening that also shows their skills using color pencils with only primary colors being used

Project Four Seeing a Vortex With the Golden Mean Students study the dynamics of a vortex within drawing revealing a clear formation of the Golden Mean. They then discover a childhood photo of themselves and produce a detailed blown up section of the photo that is cropped to show the most dramatic vortex of the image using only lead pencil to create a black and white image.

Project Five Transformation and Technique Students show their skills in transformation and morphing that embraces surrealism. They are to choose an animal and replace the face of the animal with half of a self portrait of themselves. This is a lesson in realism, line, blending, and shading. Students use only a soft lead pencil on 80 lb. paper.

Project Six Exploring Synthesis of Materials Within One Image Students must use mixed media to create the human eye close up revealing the reflective image within the pupil as well as the expression of the eye and eyebrow. The mixed media needs to be well thought out as to how to present the greatest expression using the various mediums within experimentation.

Project Seven Geometric Definition and Composition Formation Students produce a series of two experimentations on drawing. The first experiment is to draw a portrait of themselves using only geometric shapes with a lead pencil. They then add shading to the shapes to present a form of cubism. The second experiment is to draw a still life that contains three objects. They are to focus on the negative and positive spacing within their composition. The main dynamic here is that they are not allowed to pick the pencil up once they begin drawing.

Project Eight The Beauty of the Grey Scale in Drawing Students produce a series of 3 drawings related to nature that depict strong dynamics of texture and values from a solid black to a solid white. They begin with making an Ansel Adams grey scale style landscape with their cell phones and then greyscale their images to depict the full range of values. They then draw the images directly from their phones or printed photos using a grid system or reproduction and scale.

Project Nine Water, Light, and the Eraser as a Positive Tool Students produce a series of 5 drawings that reveal the use of water as subject matter. The three different drawing depict water in various use such as a wave, a water faucet, a water drop, water in glasses, etc. These drawings must depict texture and must be no larger than 5x7”. The depiction of water and its re-flexion qualities of light are at play here. The eraser as a highlight maker is used here to increase student skill using an eraser as a positive line tool. All drawings are created using a soft lead pencil.

Project Ten Changing the Tools Students produce a drawing in two manners. The first manner is to tie a long paint brush to a soft lead pencil and create a drawing of their choice. The second is to create a drawing using only the opposite hand that usually draw with. This lesson forces them to discover mark making in a new light. They will discover that their lines will become more interesting as they free themselves up from always trying to depict a subject perfectly.