Lesson At A Glance

Here’s a brief overview of the complete lesson. It’s also on your prep page in the Ready, Set, Go! section (below the lesson).

Colored buttons jump to each section in the full lesson plan below.

10 Minutes – Draw nose from memory

27 min – Follow along to sculpt nose

5 min – Discuss shadows & shapes

10 min – Artists draw model – no lines

 10 min – Find shadows & shapes in reference

40 min – Use reference to draw

2 Min – Everyone helps

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SCROLL & TEACH

LESSONPLAN

Each section is a different color. Read over once and then you can SCROLL & TEACH using any device you like. It’s designed to work well with your phone.

All materials are suggestions and may be modified as you see fit. We have tried many items, and these seem to allow the most versatility for the cost.

Draw

• Realistic but without looking at friends or reference.
• Sign with date and time. Write, “from memory”

Intro to the noseWait until artists are about halfway through, and then display the slideshow and read the teacher talk below.

The Unimportant Nose (tap any image to open viewer)

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Learn the Demo or play video

Tap the 4 arrows icon to enlarge the video to full screen. NOTE: if you show the demo to your class, DO NOT allow students to work while watching. The demo is too fast for that. Stop after a few steps and have everyone do them together. Then continue playing the video for a few more steps.

Review the demo video and demonstrate to your students, or you can simply display the video on a larger screen for them to watch.

• Warm up the clay. Twist apart into smaller pieces. Large chunks can’t be shaped.
• Hand out the “Sculpting the Nose” instruction page PDF (print at least one for every 2 students to share between them).
• As they work, explain about the nose: It’s a really weird shape and people try to make too much of it. You do not ever want to make the nose more than it is, instead make it less. We really don’t like to look at noses. It’s just a lump without much definition.
• Clay works slowly, so you can’t make big changes. Only lots of small ones.
  1. Make 3 golfball sized balls – a little larger is better than too small this time
     1. Flatten one into a rectangular cookie shape for base. Turn as you pinch to flatten it.
     2. Shape the other into a triangle shape that looks like a slice of pie or brie.
     3. Place the triangle on base as shown on the instruction sheet Figure 1
        • D E M O – Show next 2 steps up close and then have students do them. You can use the video and pause it as needed.
  2. Make structures. These will not look like the nose, but will aid in sculpting it.
     1. Divide 2nd golfball into two equal lumps.
     2. Roll one lump into a log and pinch into 3 smaller equal lumps. Roll these into little balls
     3. Divide the other lump in two, and roll each into a short log shape
     4. Place logs on each side of triangle as shown in Figure 2
     5. Place 3 little balls as shown in Figure 3, and begin to press the logs, making them join into the triangle and the base.
  3. Make a triangle that will become the little bridge under the nose (called the columella).
     1. Pinch off a small piece from the 3rd golfball and make a little ball like the 3 you just made
     2. Shape it into a mini-version of the triangle pie shape
     3. Place it on the structure as shown in Figure 4
        • D E M O – shaping and sculpting the nose & making a stand – then students finish theirs
  4. Press gently all over to blend all of the shapes, being careful to not press too hard or you’ll lose the overall shape. See Figure 5.
  5. Sculpt the nose as shown in Figure 6. Look in a mirror and try to make a nose that looks more realistic. It doesn’t need to look like your own nose, but reference helps. Move your head around so you can see different angles.
     • NOTE: the nostrils are like little caves, and the entrance is the base. They’re also shaped like commas.
  6. Use the rest of the last golfball to form a log-shaped stand and place your sculpture vertically

Have everyone follow along

Go through the steps on the PDF directions. Make sure you have one of your own so you say the same things they see on the page.

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Use a lamp for Demo

Place lights. Gather around to show how the light hits the sides of the nose. Use a pencil to point out the shadows as you talk.

• There is NO LINE on the side of the nose looking from the front.
• There may be a shadow on one side of the nose. But it always has a soft edge, not a hard line.
• Most of the shadows are underneath the nose.
• There are sphere-like on shadows and a highlight on the round tip.
• There is most often an OFF shadow underneath the nose, on the upper lip. It’s triangular.

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Students create a soft drawing

Soft-draw the nose using only the side of your Ebony pencil or charcoal for soft shading. Areas can be dark, but no lines. NO. LINES. This won’t take much time because there’s almost NOTHING to actually draw. It should look like a shapeless blob. That’s the point.POINT: The nose, by itself doesn’t look much like a nose. It only looks right after it’s place in-between the eyes and the mouth. The reason is that there’s not much definition to it, so context is more important than accuracy.

If you have time – draw simple eyes

Have students draw 2 simple cartoon-like eyes above their fuzzy nose. It should suddenly look a lot more like a nose.

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Insights can help.

Explain these important insights before your class begins to work.

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 Students draw while you give more insights

Draw and shade using hatch shading. If students also blend with fingers or blending stumps, that’s ok. As they work, remind your artists one more time about how weird the nose really is.Don’t forget to encourage!  

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Students clean up their work area.

• Wash hands
• Super-wash brushes if used
• Put art supplies away
• Wipe tables & toss trash
• Remove any smocks (last)
• Check for items on floors and tables

Try to get photos of your student’s artwork. 

Find a good spot for quick lighting without highlights or shadows from your hands and device. Ideally in-between two strong lights on each side

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Print all of your PDFs from the lesson plan and cut any references apart as needed.

STUDENT’S

MATERIALS

• 14×17” Sketch pad
• 4B Pencil
• White and Kneaded erasers
• Ebony pencil
• 2B Pencil

Week 27: Mouth and Face

Students finish off a 3 lesson series on faces by drawing and discussing the mouth. Then, they will have fun creating an expressive face out of air dry clay that they will get to take home.

Week 28: Self Portraits

Students try out their face parts by drawing their own face using mirrors. This has the same 3D effect as using a live model and has been used by master artists for years.

Use this button to view our parent’s blog. Share the link: http://parentart.org, with your student’s parents so your they can read about the lesson each week.