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- Appropriate Grade (Course) Level(s): 4th through 12th
- Unit Theme and Instructional Concepts:
Understanding Contour & Blind Contour Line
- Lesson Rationale:
Traditional Materials & Techniques
Visual Training is an important part of learning how to draw. As an art instructor you will use many exercises in order to train the eyes as well as the hands of your students. Doing blind contour and contour line drawings train a student to focus carefully on the object being drawn, letting the eye wander and the drawing implement will follow the same path to improve eye/hand coordination.
I like to compare this type of drawing to mapmakers following the shoreline of uncharted lands and relate it to exploring. I tell them to follow the edges of their hands or other objects as if it were a coastline and to just allow the drawing implement to wander in and out on the paper much the way a boat would sail along small inlets.
Contour Line Drawings
We use the computer as a preliminary activity. Students will use various art papers, fine line permanent ink markers such as Sharpies, Elmer's glue, yarn, tissue, colored pencils, standard pencils to render objects such as shoes, leaves, and other still life objects.
Digital Technology
This two session lesson will be a preliminary excercise to traditional contour line drawing in a curriculum which consists of one art period per week. Students will simply use the computer program Photoshop, Painter, Photoshop Elements, or Art Dabbler to draw a contour line portrait on a transparent layer over a loaded digital photo.
Lesson Objectives:
Technical (plain)
- Students will learn to use the software program(s) Photoshop, Painter, Photoshop Elements, or Art Dabbler as a resource for contour line drawing
- Students will be able to open a digital photo in the program(s)
- Students will be able to create a transparent or translucent layer over the loaded digital photo
- Students will be able to use the pencil or pen drawing tool to render a continuous line drawing
Formal
- Students will understand the concept of a continuous line drawing
- Students will learn more about facial proportion
- Students will notice where facial features are in relationship to each other
Contextual
- Students will gain a confidence in dealing with the human face
- Students will get the practice in hand/eye coordination that is necessary for good visual training
Conceptual/Expressive
- Students can experiment with color in their finished contour line renderings to explore various color harmonies
- Students can create a series of different color harmonies using a still life object and create a display of the series
Facilities: (setting, room setup)
- Computer lab with enough work stations with Photoshop, Painter, Photoshop Elements, or Art Dabbler
- Room technology
Required Material(s):
- Computer workstations loaded with Photoshop, Painter, Photoshop Elements, or Art Dabbler
Required Resource(s):
- Digital Camera, Color Printer
Integrated Curriculum: Integrative Aspects:
- If students are learning to create circle poems in Language Arts they will be able to see the similarities to this exercise, since like the contour line, the poem has a sense of flow and unending
- If students are studying a specific historical period in a social studies or religion class, then
the same exercise can be used with photos of historical figures or famous poses.
- Students can relate the following along the curves of a leaf or hand much the same way cartographers had to create maps of uncharted lands which can tie into social studies and explorers.
Activities:
Preparation
- The teacher will do a demonstration showing how to use the software and do the exercise
- The teacher will show exemplars of contour line drawing
- The teacher will describe the entire process of the project
Motivational Strategies
- Students enjoy using the computer, so they are very open to doing this exercise using technology
- Students will get a chance to learn some of the best graphic manipulation software
Procedures for Art-Making Activities:
- Students will take each others photos with the digital camera
- Students will transfer the digital files from the camera to the computers
- Students will open the photo from within the software program
- Students will create an transparent or translucent layer over the opened digital photo
- Students will use the pen or pencil tool to render a contour line drawing on the transparent layer
- Students will print out the contour line layer only
- Students will print out the digital photo and create a display showing the drawing side by side with the photos
Response from students
- Students will be enthusiastic about using technology to learn this concept
Evaluation Criteria/Reflection:
- Students will reflect upon the process of continuous line versus traditional drawing techniques
A.R.T. for Education Research: Consulting on Digital Imaging Teacher Support
Utilizing the Art Education Electronic Instruction Media (AEEIM) Lab, UW-M
176-550 La801 Computer Applications for Art Education FALL 2001
Instructor: Curt Kass, Artisan Resource Technologist for Education e-mail ckass@wi.rr.com
Art Education Area; Department of Visual Art; Peck School of the Arts; University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Olympus America Digital Imaging Teacher Support
Research into Media Integration K-12 and College Levels
How to Apply Digital Imaging in the Classroom
176-550 La801 Computer Applications for Art Education
Student Name: Noreen Strehlow Copyright November 2001