Thursday, April 10, 2014

6th Grade Grid Superhero Drawings

Grids. How I dislike them, and am not really wild about teaching them.  I was always that kid in school who struggled with the grid, not being able to make a straight line with a ruler.  It was just easier for me to draw it and not think about it.  That's what makes grid drawings so fun.  Not because of the tedious work of making the grid, but to see those left brained math kids who have struggled along all year do so well on this project.  Whether a student struggles with the grid or not they all seem to be excited about the project because of the content. I've also found it easier for students to first get the concept of the grid down when you break it into simple black and white rather that working with value right away. 

Here's just a handful of the drawings 6th grader produced.  Most students love to take this project home as homework and usually come back with one of every different superhero!

Here's the same lesson done last year, I decided to go with white paper this time. 


10 comments:

  1. I love your projects! I am a new (and struggling) art teacher. Can you provide any additional information or tips on the process for this assignment? Do you provide the superhero pics? If so, where do you get them? When do you introduce the value aspect of it? When they are done inking an outline? Any additional info would be appreciated. Thank you for an inspiring blog!

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  2. On the first day of this lesson we focus on the grid drawing portion. We create a 1in by 1inch grid, students will struggle so emphasize drawing lightly with a pencil. This will be the hardest part for most of the students. Then they pick the superhero. I've provided a link to the superhero drawings I've created that already have a grid placed on top of it. Because this is the first exposure to the grid I liked to keep it as simple as possible, so I don't want students to be concerned with values and shades--some may choose to add it in later, but the requirement is to simply outline with a sharpie. I'll let students choose if they want to use another colors like using a green sharpie for the hulk. Most students love this project and will create multiple and ask to take some home to recreate.

    I'm only in my third year of teaching and I still come across days that are a struggle. BUT let me tell you it will and it does get easier. Sometimes you have to struggle through the tough times to discover the ah-ha moments. Hang in there! Let me know if i can be of any more help.

    https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B-iNvW6khfMKV180bGlEOE9hZWs&usp=sharing

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    1. You are fabulous!!! I too am a first year art teacher and selecting the right lessons has been trial and error so far. I have been wanting to do a grid project but could not figure out yet how to perfectly execute it as you have. This is great!

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  3. Love the superheroes! Where did you initially find the pictures? I like the contrasting areas!

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    1. A coworker and I created the images for this project.

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  4. These are awesome! Thanks for sharing this lesson. :)

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  5. This is great! Thank you for sharing :)

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  6. Would you be willing to share the edited images? : )

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    1. You should be able to access them here: https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B-iNvW6khfMKV180bGlEOE9hZWs&usp=sharing

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  7. Thanks for sharing these!! My 6th graders will love trying this out. It's hard to find art projects that they will be interested in and I think they will love this one!

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