NAEA Handout

“New Perspectives in Teaching Advanced Drawing in a High School Program”
Julia Healy
NAEA--March 1, 2012
Hooking your teenage audience: Hone your own skills
Power of observational drawing
Add a twist to get rid of the boring still lives
Starters: Harry Wong
Apply ideas of structured classroom
Do-Nows That Surprise
We mostly used 4B pencils on simple copy paper that I eventually put into book form with my binding machine. At the end of the year, the students had a book of their work.
Packet has 5 of them, ready to copy. Book of all 100 available
Some are very simple: drawing a water puddle, dried up leaf, dryer lint, your thumb or a melting ice cube. Others need odds and ends that you collect, scavenge or buy cheaply. A few examples are baby shoes, small toys, yarn, pickle slices, carpet swatches, etc. Some are designed to encourage creativity: draw a deep, deep space, make a landscape that look foggy, draw a feeling, etc. Please email me if you are interested in purchasing a book containing all 100 of the Do-Nows plus a brief introduction. (Juiahealy@aol.com)
Be ready
Make what you are doing worth your students’ while
Be consistent
Recipe for an elegant problem à la Ken Vieth
1. Start with an idea that is stimulating to you and your students
2. Have a set of objectives that will allow for multiple outcomes
3. Add a technical challenge that requires and builds skills
4. Make sure to provide an opportunity for students to reflect on what they have learned through this process
Exquisite Corpse in Oil Pastel to start or other group-forming activity
“Big” Assignments
1. Gradations in pencil
2. Gradations into collages
Observational Work
3. “White Stuff” Still Life in charcoal or conte—I sometimes skip this one, if the class already has done a similar assignment in another class
Gesso Listerine bottles, coke bottles, things students might recognize the shapes of such as old toys, broken electronics, Name-brand sneakers or shoes, etc. Make a still life with a twist.
Importance of Lighting—troll yard sales for desk lamps and extension cords. I color code the lights and cords and make the students responsible for their set-up.
4. Contour plants pencil first
Optional: Adding color and tone, if desired, ink, watercolor, caran d’ache
5. Large Fake Plant Leaves—shading emphasized
6. Hand from plaster model/figure drawing outside of school
7. Fabric Still Life
Teaching creativity—important, yet students need skills, too.
8. Something from an unusual perspective—students are able to personalize the assignment and add a creative piece here.
9. Self-portrait using grid method, pencil lightly first, choice of medium later
Meaningful background added—again, there is a lot of room for creativity here.
10. Reflective Still Life—car parts, mirrors, kitchen pots, teapots, candlestick holders, etc.
11. Free Choice—students are charged with making something amazing. This is often the beginning of their Advanced Placement concentration
Other Ideas for mixing things up:
The Drawing Game
Upside Down Drawings
Art Problems
Pictionary, personalized for your students (Example: Draw your school mascot)
doodlelines
Nouns and Adjectives Game
Nasco’s Sketchables Contest
Taxidermy
True Mirror
Junk of any kind—old tools, broken appliances, junk drawer items

To contact Julia Healy email Juliahealy@aol.com or call 212.358.1640.