Group Grid Drawing

Break it down...

I teach each middle school grade level for one trimester and as my time with 7th grade was winding down, I realized I hadn't taught "value" yet and I hadn't done any realistic drawing.  But as I mentioned, my time with them was coming to a close so I had to act fast.  I had originally planned on having each student complete a grid drawing assignment so I decided to adapt that lesson to fit my last two days of class with this group of kids.

Student-made Value Scale

I started by teaching the meaning of "value" in art and clarified that it had nothing to do with the price of artwork.  After a short discussion each student made a small value scale showing 9 variations of grey in their sketchbook.  I then introduced them to the concept of using a grid to replicate an image (whether it is on the same scale or larger...or even smaller).  We focused on figuring out and matching spacial relationships, placement and value.  We went from images gridded into 1" squares to drawing them onto 4" squares.  Earlier in the week, I took a photo of our school principle and vice principle and did the 1" grid for the kids, I also cut up the photos and numbered the backs of each square.  Each student completed at least 2 squares and found  where their drawing was to go on my large grid.  They didn't know who or what they were drawing but they loved trying to guess the entire time (and I refused to tell them if they were right or wrong).  As the pieces were getting glued onto the larger grid, they had it figured out!  But a lot of them were being hard on themselves since the results weren't realistic.  I reminded them that 75 different people were trying their best to replicate small squares onto large ones, and they weren't going to come out perfect.  And the fact that they knew who the images were, showed how well they actually did.  Even though, they aren't the most realistic portraits, I am very pleased with how hard they worked on matching spaces with simple shapes, line and value!

A few of the squares "went missing" at the end of the last day, so Mrs. Raes is left slightly unfinished