ABOUT DRAWING: RA WORKSHOP NOTES AND RESOURCES
The resources here have been developed for a workshop with Primary teachers at the Royal Academy. The imagery may not make much sense without accompanying explanations (or with them, even - but let's hope so!). But then, there's also something to be said for some ambiguity when it comes to teaching drawing, and we'll get to that too.
PART 1: DRAWING, ON THE TABLE - PERMISSION TO DOODLE
WRITE-DRAW-DOODLE PROMPTS:
- What do you want/need from today - and the subsequent RA sessions?
- What permissions do you give to yourself/others - and/or what permissions have other artists/art teachers given you?
(For example, John Baldessari gave me permission for serious art-teacher mischief; Rachel Whiteread gave me permission to whisper in the gaps).
Jean-Michel Basquiat, Monticello, 1983
WRITE-DRAW-DOODLE PROMPTS:
- With reference to (teaching) art/drawing, write down an area of knowledge, understanding or ethos you are particularly interested and/or secure in - for example, if you had to share/present something to a group. How about an area of doubt or for development?
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Frank Auerbach, Self Portrait, 1958
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Frank Auerbach, Head of Gerda Boehm, 1961
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WRITE-DRAW-DOODLE PROMPTS:
- What comes to mind when you encounter the drawings, above - for example, descriptive words, knowledge, connections, questions, emotions, meanings-to-you?
- How does thinking and feeling, understanding and intuition, and/or defensiveness or doubt ... collide and conspire - in this moment, here and now - to form an opinion, reaction, sensation, connection?
- What 'invitations', (connections, possibilities, call to action ...) do these drawings offer - for teaching about art, drawing, or beyond; as a force for good?
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From 'What Shall We Draw', Adrian Hill
Top row, stages of learning to draw; bottom row, possible artist connections - roll over images to reveal details. Click to enlarge.
WRITE-DRAW-DOODLE PROMPTS:
- How familiar (convinced, even) are you with 'stages of drawing development'? Can you identify with particular stages?
- In your experience, what joys and/or issues arise when children draw? How do we - parents, teachers, schools, society - help and/or hinder drawing development?
- When do we see children draw freely, authentically engaged, and when do we see self-consciousness and/or constraining perfectionism creep in?
"How old do you have to be to do a bad drawing" LYNDA BARRY
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Perception; Communication; Invention; Action? Click to enlarge. Roll over images to reveal details.
WRITE-DRAW-DOODLE PROMPTS:
- Do you draw for pleasure, for purpose, often, ever? What, for you are the benefits of drawing and/or teaching drawing? Which words help best explain this? Which words best describe your interests in drawing - styles and approaches and/or its benefits and possibilities?
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Rothko Slow Swirl with Picasso thinking, by Matthew Collings
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John Berger visits LS Lowry, by Matthew Collings
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WRITE-DRAW-DOODLE PROMPTS:
- How might the histories of art and drawing be helpful/relevant across the curriculum?
- What do you lean towards with your own practice/understanding/confidences - Traditional (classical, academic, figurative, realistic ...); Modern (impressionistic, expressionistic; geometric, abstracted ...); Contemporary (post-modern, deconstructive, self-referential ...)?
- Are these definitions helpful/relevant/inviting for Primary art teachers and/or students?
- How can we both teach conventions and challenge/play with them in beneficial ways?
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Year 8 students drawing collaborative hybrid nature/machines
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Käthe Kollwitz. The Mothers (Mütter), 1918
SO, WHERE TO BEGIN?
WRITE-DRAW-DOODLE PROMPTS:
- When it comes to planning an art curriculum, how to decide what to include or exclude; what to accept or to resist; what to challenge and what to champion?
- In Primary and Secondary education, does a preoccupation with levels, assessment, performance and/or progress compromise opportunities for creative exploration and expression - individually and collaboratively?
For example, below, using TCs as a way of playfully ccomplicating stereotypical approaches to 'markmaking' lessons.
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PART 2: MOVING TO ACTION
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Sketch of Michelangelo's Taddei tondo, c. 1823?
Sir David Wilkie RA (1785 - 1841)
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Sketch of Michelangelo's Taddei Tondo, 1st July 1830
John Constable RA (1776 - 1837)
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FORMAL/VISUAL ELEMENTS - 'THE INFORMATION THAT WE SEE':
LINE, SHAPE (2D), TONE (LIGHT & DARK), TEXTURE, FORM (3D), COLOUR
THE ARRANGEMENT (COMPOSITION) OF THESE ELEMENTS HAS THE CAPACITY TO COMMUNICATE TO CREATE ... SPACE, SCALE, PERSPECTIVE; CONTRAST, PATTERN; BALANCE, HARMONY, TENSION; SIGNS, SYMBOLS, MEANINGS; IMPRESSIONS, EXPRESSIONS, ILLUSIONS; POWER, BELIEF; CONNECTIONS, COMPLICATIONS ... ART.
A PREOCCUPATION WITH (IDENTIFYING/DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN/STARTING WITH) THE FORMAL/VISUAL ELEMENTS IN ART EDUCATION STEMS FROM MODERNIST THINKING, AS DO POPULAR/STEREOTYPICAL 'MARKMAKING' EXERCISES, FOR GOOD AND BAD.
WRITE-DRAW-DOODLE PROMPTS:
- (How) do you introduce the visual/formal elements? How is/might this be revealed through sequences of drawing, explanation and/or story-telling?
- Draw-doodle in response to the illustration above - copy, adapt, question and challenge, as you see wish.
NOTES: WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU ARE GIVEN AN OPEN BRIEF TO RESPOND AS YOU WISH - IN A GROUP SITUATION? DOES THAT FEEL DAUNTING OR LIBERATING? DO RESPONSES CONTAIN CAUTION, FAMILIARITY, THE STEREOTYPICAL; DO THEY GIVE ANYTHING AWAY?
You might embrace the Ivan Brunetti-inspired approach of Lynda Barry.
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NOTES: Play 'pairs'/opportunities to connect across drawings, descriptions, responses - and each other. Also to (re)consider own expectations, rules, habits, obediences etc. Potential to slice up descriptions (or drawings), extend on quick sketches with something more illustrative/refined/considered - connections to Surrealist games, strategies of chance and order.
COMPETITION TIME
1. IN GROUPS OF 4, USING TAPE PROVIDED, DRAW ONE CIRCLE ON THE FLOOR. THE CIRCLE SHOULD BE BIG ENOUGH FOR ALL 4 MEMBERS OF THE GROUP TO STAND IN WITH BOTH FEET ... BUT AS SMALL AS POSSIBLE.
2. PLACE 5 CHAIRS EVENLY AROUND THE CIRCLE. SIT DOWN AND, USING AN A3 CLIPBOARD, DRAW ANOTHER LARGE CIRCLE ON A3 PAPER WITH A MARKER PEN.
3. ONCE COMPLETE, ALL 5 PEOPLE SHOULD STAND IN THE CIRCLE WITH CLIPBOARDS AND PENS.
4. TEAM RACE SHADE IN CIRCLE (OR NEGATIVE SPACE) WITH A MARKER PEN - AND THEN HOLD THESE UP (GROUPS SHOULD HAVE EXAMPLES OF BOTH POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE SHAPES).
1. IN GROUPS OF 4, USING TAPE PROVIDED, DRAW ONE CIRCLE ON THE FLOOR. THE CIRCLE SHOULD BE BIG ENOUGH FOR ALL 4 MEMBERS OF THE GROUP TO STAND IN WITH BOTH FEET ... BUT AS SMALL AS POSSIBLE.
2. PLACE 5 CHAIRS EVENLY AROUND THE CIRCLE. SIT DOWN AND, USING AN A3 CLIPBOARD, DRAW ANOTHER LARGE CIRCLE ON A3 PAPER WITH A MARKER PEN.
3. ONCE COMPLETE, ALL 5 PEOPLE SHOULD STAND IN THE CIRCLE WITH CLIPBOARDS AND PENS.
4. TEAM RACE SHADE IN CIRCLE (OR NEGATIVE SPACE) WITH A MARKER PEN - AND THEN HOLD THESE UP (GROUPS SHOULD HAVE EXAMPLES OF BOTH POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE SHAPES).
NOTES:
DRAWING AS PHYSICAL/COLLABORATIVE ACTION/PERFORMANCE; SENSATION; RESISTANCES AND AFFORDANCES OF BODIES, MATERIALS, SURFACES; SPATIAL AWARENESS; TRANSITIONS OF ENERGIES - INTO CONNECTIONS AND MARKS; DETERMINING/CHALLENGING COMFORT ZONES; INSTRUCTION-BASED ART, ABSURDITY, CHANCE & ORDER
DRAWING AS PHYSICAL/COLLABORATIVE ACTION/PERFORMANCE; SENSATION; RESISTANCES AND AFFORDANCES OF BODIES, MATERIALS, SURFACES; SPATIAL AWARENESS; TRANSITIONS OF ENERGIES - INTO CONNECTIONS AND MARKS; DETERMINING/CHALLENGING COMFORT ZONES; INSTRUCTION-BASED ART, ABSURDITY, CHANCE & ORDER
NOTES ON NEXT STEPS:
1. ORGANISE ALL RESPONSES INTO A GRID ON WALL OR FLOOR. OPPORTUNITY TO CONSIDER COMPOSITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS.
2. USING A4 COLOURED PAPERS, CUT OUT A FIGURE AND AN ABSTRACT SHAPE TO REPRESENT YOU - DON'T BE OVERLY PRECIOUS OR CONCERNED WITH DETAIL.
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3. TAKE IT IN TURNS TO INDIVIDUALLY PLACE/ATTACH ONE SHAPE TO GRID. GROUP TO WATCH THIS PROCESS/'PERFORMANCE', CONSIDER COMPOSITIONAL DECISIONS BEING MADE AS WORK EVOLVES.
4. ONCE COMPLETE, THUMBNAIL SKETCHES AND/OR PHOTOGRAPHS COULD BE PRODUCED, EXTENDING ON THIS COMPOSITIONAL EXERCISE. WORK COULD BE DECONSTRUCTED/DIVIDED/RE-PURPOSED/COLLAGED IN BOOKS ...
4. ONCE COMPLETE, THUMBNAIL SKETCHES AND/OR PHOTOGRAPHS COULD BE PRODUCED, EXTENDING ON THIS COMPOSITIONAL EXERCISE. WORK COULD BE DECONSTRUCTED/DIVIDED/RE-PURPOSED/COLLAGED IN BOOKS ...
NEXT STAGE: CONSIDERING 'VALUE' AND INVITATIONS/POSSIBILITIES FOR EXPLORATORY DRAWING
1. REMAINING FIGURES/SHAPES TO BE PLACED IN A ROW, ORDERED AND REVIEWED/DISCUSSED BY 'VALUE' - HOWEVER THAT IS DEEMED
E.G. best to worst (I know), colour intensity, scale, etc.
2. Screw up someone else’s. Pay attention to it's changing properties as it's unfolded and then, place back down - Re-order/curate. Consider sculptural properties. Shine a light on forms. Consider potential extension tasks/possibilities for drawing.
3. Using A4 paper, make a 'perfect' paper ball. In groups of 5, develop a collective response to/with these balls - reflecting on experiments and insights so far. For example, a series of circular/spherical drawings to be presented in a grid - these might explore line, shape, texture, tone, colour, with visual elements shared across group; a group performance/installation, sculpture ...
1. REMAINING FIGURES/SHAPES TO BE PLACED IN A ROW, ORDERED AND REVIEWED/DISCUSSED BY 'VALUE' - HOWEVER THAT IS DEEMED
E.G. best to worst (I know), colour intensity, scale, etc.
2. Screw up someone else’s. Pay attention to it's changing properties as it's unfolded and then, place back down - Re-order/curate. Consider sculptural properties. Shine a light on forms. Consider potential extension tasks/possibilities for drawing.
3. Using A4 paper, make a 'perfect' paper ball. In groups of 5, develop a collective response to/with these balls - reflecting on experiments and insights so far. For example, a series of circular/spherical drawings to be presented in a grid - these might explore line, shape, texture, tone, colour, with visual elements shared across group; a group performance/installation, sculpture ...
Robert Rauschenberg
Erased de Kooning Drawing, 1953
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Martin Creed
An A4 Piece of Paper Crumpled into a Ball. No. 126, 1995
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GROUP TASK:
Return to groups and sit around circles taped on floor - 4 groups of 5. Provide a4 paper with circle on - one person in the middle, 4 evenly spaced chairs - front, back, sides. Complete 4 studies, 4 different people, 4 different views - one for each stage of the stages of drawing timeline:
Return to groups and sit around circles taped on floor - 4 groups of 5. Provide a4 paper with circle on - one person in the middle, 4 evenly spaced chairs - front, back, sides. Complete 4 studies, 4 different people, 4 different views - one for each stage of the stages of drawing timeline:
- The Scribbling Stage : Use your mouth or your cubital fossa (yep, I looked that up) to hold your pen or pencil.
- The Schematic Stage: Use your non-writing hand to grip your pen in fist - use basic, flat shapes and lines only with no suggestion of form.
- The Dawning Realism: Develop a more controlled, detailed version of your Schematic Stage self-portrait. Use your usual hand and a marker pen or felt tip, and pay attention to the finer and more decorative details - textures for hair, patterns on clothes, freckles, shoe laces, teeth...
- The Pseudo-Naturalistic Stage: Remember those first attempts as a child at one-point perspective and/or crudely smudging your pencil in an attempt to make a drawing look 'more real'? Try to recreate these attempts. They are often a little more heavy-handed in line quality with key features overly-outlined.
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GROUP TASK 2 Exquisite corpse drawing exercises - strips of A3 paper folded into 4 sections, for: Head, torso and arms, waist to knees, knees to feet. Take it in turns to pose - for one section drawing only, facing a different way each time. Those who are drawing complete different sections each time. Once complete, lay these out together to review. Can experiment with mixing and matching. Exercise can be repeated but passing the sheets around so each section is completed by a different person. |
VISITING GALLERIES
NOTES: Opportunity to visit the Michaelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael show - and RA collection 30-45mins.
Time to draw, process, connect on own terms. Pay attention to 1. composing within a circle; expressive faces and dynamic body positions.
Note any further observations or thoughts that arise, for example:
Time to draw, process, connect on own terms. Pay attention to 1. composing within a circle; expressive faces and dynamic body positions.
Note any further observations or thoughts that arise, for example:
- consider if/how your students might engage with the works and how the exhibition might connect with current/forthcoming learning
- the key words/'hooks'/stories/activities that might help connect/lead students in
- your own thoughts - perhaps on the contrast between the 'classical' work on show and the playful/experimental approaches shared
REVIEW OF DAY/FINAL EXPERIMENTS
In groups - and within a circle, taped upon the floor or the wall - create a teaching & learning drawing themed tableau. Inspired by exhibition, try to make this performative composition as expressive and dynamic as possible. To be sketched by other groups and/or photographed through a circular viewfinder.
Opportunity to organise, curate, reflect on all work and issues/questions arising.
Home learning! To be discussed and agreed, based on day. Potential thoughts: enjoy adding experiments to sketchbook; developing circular group tableau image; revisiting. this website resource (if you wish); sharing thoughts and feedback ...
Opportunity to organise, curate, reflect on all work and issues/questions arising.
Home learning! To be discussed and agreed, based on day. Potential thoughts: enjoy adding experiments to sketchbook; developing circular group tableau image; revisiting. this website resource (if you wish); sharing thoughts and feedback ...