Exploring Drawing

IMG_7567-1

Our Grade 5 and 6 students  studied the Art of Graeme Base and drew for most of last Term and, although eight one hour lessons  may seem a long time,  I realized how important it was to keep the momentum going so that their confidence in their drawing  continued to grow. With the emphasis on Literacy and Numeracy in schools providing less time for the Creative Arts I worry that  drawing,  painting, collage , modelling etc.are not getting the emphasis they deserve.

Julian’s crocodile is a case in point. I gave him plenty of time to persevere and complete this animal character and I am proud to display it on our Blog. But where could we go from here? This character lends itself to a story, a name , a setting and a sequence of events, maybe a cartoon strip. I’m not saying that should happen with every drawing . It’s just that by taking artwork as a starting point for discussion or as a stimulus for further work   we allow our students to see the connections between Art and Literature as evidenced in the incredible work of Graeme Base and Dorothy Wall with her Blinky Bill series.

7 thoughts on “Exploring Drawing

  1. Hi there, I totally agree that creative arts aren’t getting the emphasis it deserves. I find that my students look forward to art so much. I’m proud to say that our role is a very important one. And yes I do agree that the student’s art work lends itself quite easily to discussion towards writing. It’s all about visualisation…

  2. Thank you for your Blog comment Anna. I often wonder just who is in our audience and it was great to find a point of connection with a fellow Victorian teacher. Besides Art my other passions include ICT and I include this, usually quite briefly, area in every Art lesson. My students still see the “hands on” phase of the lesson as paramount to their enjoyment of the subject and are thrilled when we display art work they have done at home or artifacts they bring to show. It’s a wonderful , if not chaotic, job and today I will still enjoy planning for another Term of Visual Arts after teaching Art for the first time in 1986. Teaching’s Learning after all and learning’s a great pleasure.
    Best Wishes for the remainder of your School Holidays,
    Yvonne

  3. Hi Yvonne! Wow 25 years of teaching art..my goodness, that is truly amazing. I too enjoy ICT. I am planning a project using the Ultranet. My plan is to start a visual art blog… like we have, but only on the Ultranet. I’m yet to start it as I am trying to get my head around how to actually use it. Another plan I have, is to start up a Visual Art network in the Moonee Valley area. We as art teachers seldom get together and share. I believe you have another art teacher at your school, and that’s fantastic. I feel there are many amazing teachers like yourself out there. We need to get together and network.. Don’t you agree? Yes you are right about how teaching is learning. I feel that I am on an endless learning journey in the the art room. It is extraordinary and I don’t take it for granted.

    Hope to speak to you soon and happy planning.
    Anna

  4. Honestly, I don’t like drawing. But when I gave myself a chance to give it a try, I was amazed that I could draw and can even have a good color combination for it. That’s why I told my 6 year old daughter to draw so she could practice.

  5. Hi Yvonne!

    My name is Natrisha – I’m working for a company called Fusion Books (we create school yearbooks), and have just launched a new blog section on our website. I’m writing a blog about student artwork, and I’m wondering if you wouldn’t mind me mentioning your blog? It looks great, and would love to direct people to have a look! If you would like to check ours out, you can find it at http://www.fusionbooks.com.au

    Kind regards,
    Natrisha

  6. Hello Natrisha,
    That would be fine. I would be absolutely honoured. Thank you for your great feedback. I will check your site as soon as possible,
    Best Regards,
    Yvonne Osborn

  7. Hi Yvonne,

    Thanks for that! The blog has just been posted.

    We are also pleased to announce an exciting new competition for students to design a mural for our new office wall – perhaps some of your students may be interested? All of the details are in the blog. Look forward to reading your future posts 🙂

    Kind regards,
    Natrisha

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *