Grade 4 - Is drawing a language?
Central Idea:
Drawing is a language through which people communicate ideas, thoughts, and emotions.
The overall understanding of this Unit is that drawing is a language with specific codes and that through its study we can become more fluent in this form of communication. One of the preconceived ideas that it is essential to clarify is that the ability to draw is not something that a lucky few are gifted with, but rather a skill that requires study and practice.
Drawing objects that are presented to our eyes is a form of drawing that, like any form of communication, implies knowledge of specific codes, namely: proportion, scale, perspective, qualities of line, shape and form, positive and negative space, value and shading, color among others. This knowledge is presented to students in a structured and interconnected way so that students can establish connections between them.
Before starting the discussion about these concepts, the students are challenged to make an observation drawing. Several pots and jars are placed on tables. There are no restrictions on materials, just a time limit of 20 minutes. After these 20 minutes, we engage in a gallery walks. One of the first observations is the range of skills that students present, but one of the aspects that many students show is the tendency to make drawings that are too small in relation to the size of the drawing sheet. This aspect allows to simultaneously address the concepts of scale and positive and negative space.
To facilitate a constructive discussion over what was observed, the following questions support the conversations:
- Anyone wants to share something?
- Did you enjoy this type of drawing? Yes? At the? Why not?
- What is different about this type of drawings compared to drawings that you do in your free time?
- Share something that you notice when you walked around.
- What was more challenging?
The goal of this discussion is to guide students towards the idea that observation drawing, as the name implies, is a type of drawing where we draw what our eyes are observing and not what we think that we are observing. The challenge lies in transporting to paper, in a realistic way, what is in front of us. Understanding this idea has an immediate impact on the drawings that students start to make and helps to embody the idea that observational drawing is, above all, a rational and conscious exercise.
This is a type of abstract thinking that can be challenging for some students. Fortunately, there are processes that can support this learning. When we look at an object, the first thing we have to do is reduce the objects to simple shapes: squares, triangles, circles... and quickly sketch the shapes on paper. This exercise is repeated several times in different combinations, and here we begin to observe a greater openness on the part of the students to drawing. Students enjoy this kind of mental challenge that this type of drawing presents and it is gratifying to watch the evolution from drawing to drawing.
One of the challenges of this Unit is to maintain engagement and diversify classes without wearing out students' interest. It is important to observe the progress and adjust the plan according to the performance of the students. The concepts are approached through drawings of new objects for each exercise: fruits and vegetables, lamps, jars, flowers... so the students have a renew motivation for each drawing.
As a final exercise in this Unit, students are challenged to embody the role of a botanical illustrator. This is a challenge where students show great engagement due to several factors:
1. Initially, a discussion is made about what it means to be a botanical illustrator. We watch several videos where we observe artists doing this type of work. We establish links with other subjects such as science and history, and how these artists/scientists have played an important role in the discovery, study, and documentation of new species.
2. Several examples of drawings made by botanists are shared and there is a space for discussion where students are provoked with questions such as:
- What do you observe?
- What is the botanist trying to communicate?
- How this type of drawing is different?
- What techniques and materials are used?
As a provocation, students are challenged to take on the role of explorers, who have found a new species and who need to communicate as much information as possible about the plant. In advance, we gathered a considerable variety of exotic plants that present shapes and colors that awaken students' observation skills.
In this drawing exercise, students are reminded to use their knowledge of proportion, scale, line, positive and negative space, and color. Color theory gains an important emphasis in this exercise.
Students are challenged to explore color mixing techniques in order to achieve greater chromatic diversity. In this sense, it is important for students to understand that plants are three-dimensional objects and that colors are not uniform blocks of color, but present gradual transitions between them. It is important to explore the idea that colors can be constructed, for example, greens result from the mixture of yellow and blue, and this process of “building” colors allows a greater variety and intensity of the colors.
As a reflection, students are challenged to comment on the drawings they made. This reflection makes it possible to gather information on whether links have been established with essential concepts of observation drawing.
Know, Understand, Do - Unit learning goals.
