What ARTISTS can do....

Lights and darks...VALUE changes everything!

Leonardo Da Vinci, egg tempera, early 1500's
Link to more drawings by Da Vinci

                                                                                                                                                                                                6th Grade

The Elements of Design are the building blocks of all art and one of the most exciting elements is VALUE. Artists think about VALUE (the range from light to dark) when they are trying to represent how light effects a subject and when creating a realistic work of art. CONTRAST is created when a dark shade is next to a light shade.  Contrast creates drama and interest in a work of art. Any drawing or painting that has different values of the same color is called MONOCHROMATIC.   

The angle and strength of a light source makes a huge difference. Can you see where the light source is coming from and the highlights and shadows it creates?

Whenever a work of art has a caption please take note of the artist that created it.  

St. Jerome,  1605-1606, Oil,  Baroque artist, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio

The Calling of St. Matthew, 1600,   Baroque artist, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio

Pelvis Series with Red, Oil, 1931, Georgia O'Keeffe

Pelvis with the Distance, 1943, Oil, Georgia O'Keeffe

Leonardo Da Vinci, pencil sketch, early 1500's

Value Drawing Worksheet

How does an artist learn how to draw??

                                                                                                                        5th Grade

Being super, super observant is one of the best ways to become awesome at drawing.  Also, if you practice a lot and learn how the Elements of Design are used to create a work of art you will be on your way to becoming an amazing artist.

Contour vs. Gesture

We are going to begin by learning all about "LINE".

LINE is one of the Elements of Design that can be used in many ways to begin a work of art.  

Contour LINE shows the edge of an object, person, place or thing...whatever you are drawing.   Artists take their time drawing in a very controlled way, creating a drawing that shows accurate size, shape, and sometimes texture. 

GESTURE drawings are made using a LINE but when an artist creates gesture drawings they are usually trying to show a general idea of the shape and size of the subject they are drawing.   GESTURE drawings are loose, "scribbly", and aren't concerned with an exact representation of anything, just a general idea of what something looks like.  It's a great way to discover the proportions and a composition.  Take a look at some examples below.