I love beginning the year with sketching for 5 & 6 grade. It is a nice reminder of all of the art skills from the previous years. For this lesson I used to bring in an actual vase to show them, but it’s not necessary. It still works great just using my examples.
Materials: charcoal sticks or charcoal pencils, eraser, 2 pieces of newsprint paper each.
I have the students practice with the charcoal pencil on 1 of the pieces of newsprint. Practice drawing light circles in a sketching motion, practice creating light and medium shading with the charcoal.
We begin by breaking down the shapes from large to small. Sketch on the large circle in the middle, then the opening of the vase and the neck of the vase, then the foot of the vase.
We add in a horizon line and shade in a shadow. Shade in above the horizon line to create depth.
Discuss lighting and what happens on the vase when the light is shining on it. Use the charcoal lightly to create shading on the vase.
-Art Teacher in LA
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