Drawing With Children, Lesson 3

Drawing From A Still Life

Topic - Applying Skills

Lesson 3 has only one topic and that topic is drawing the still life. There are no new micro-skills introduced as pre-lesson classes. So you will have classes that concentrate on drawing a still life. The author discusses the thought process behind that in the chapter. Additionally, your child will use the skills learned from lessons one and two to transform the 3-d still life into a 2-d drawing, so if you have not completed Lesson 1: Learning the Basic and Lesson 2: Drawing from Graphics, then do that before starting this chapter.

Preparing for the Lesson

This lesson is straightforward and easy to plan—basically, you are to set-up the still life as described in the book. Be certain to read entire the chapter a day or two before starting. You might wonder how to do the lesson in one class and I suggest that it is okay to use two or more days to complete this lesson. That means the still life will need to stay in the same spot, undisturbed until the drawing is finished. Keep that in mind when you set it up.

The author wants you to make a photocopy of figures 3.4. and possibly 3.5. that are on page *120. The pictures are small, so I hope that you know how to enlarge the images with your scanner or copier equipment. It is also possible that, with the right light, you can use a digital camera to copy the image. Get paper and markers. The suggested paper size per age group is listed on page *120.

The Lesson Outline

The lesson is conducted in a particular order. This can take several days [classes] depending on how much time you have. [Page numbers are based on the book published in 1996]

1. Eye and body relaxation [pages 56-57]
2. Review elements of shape [page 60]
3. A warm up from lesson one [begins on page 65]
4. Planning [compositional study] [page 95]
   1. Imagine the composition on the blank paper
   2. Make preliminary sketches
5. Draw the still life [begins on page 122]

More Lessons

After completing one still life, work with your children and plan more still life arrangements. On pages *135 - 140, Mona Brookes writes about planning still life arrangements. I recommend that you do several, and spend a month or two on lesson three unless you are in a hurry to move to lesson four.

Donna Young, August 21, 2010, edited August 23, 2011

Notes and References

* Page numbers are based on the book published in 1996.