Lesson At A Glance

A brief overview of each step. Buttons jump to each section for detailed information.

10 Min – Teach cubes

15 Min – Demo shading

10 Min – practice shading

20 Min – play shape game

20 Min – Shade cube realistically

If time left – shade a cartoon

2 Min – Everyone helps

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 best with your phone.

You can have slightly more elaborate boxy items such as a book, for Creations students. Make sure they are sitting where they can see at least 2 sides of a box. This should be a quick sketch but tell them to look for shadows to shade.

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Get students attention to teach about cubes. Make sure they understand the difference between a square, which is 2-dimensional, and a cube, which is 3-dimensional. Technically, 3-D shapes are called forms, but because almost everyone refers to them as 3-D shapes, or simply shapes, in every day life, it actually communicates much better to say 3-D shape.

Below is a list of questions you can ask your students and comments to make about cubes and light/shadow on a cube. They may seem easy, but most students have to think hard to figure these out, and thinking about the 3D form is helpful.

• How many sides does a cube have? (6)

• How many can you see at one time? (3)

• With one light source, how many will be in light and how many in dark? (3 & 3). This is because the light and your observation can both affect exactly half of any object.

• If you and the light are in the same place, you will see only the 3 lighted sides. We have a full moon when the sun is behind the earth, with the same view as we have. We see half the moon, but only the lighted side

• Much more often though, light is in a different place than our head, so usually we will see two sides in light and one dark, or two in dark & one light. The full moon happens only once a month.

• We use shading for two purposes in pencil drawings. What are they?:

1. Shadows that are created by light sources for that 3D look
2. To show how things are different colors, but in greyscale, by making some areas darker or lighter overall.

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Students will trace the cube outline 3 times and use 3 different shading techniques on each cube. Listed below are the 3 techniques for each cube. These are not for learning how to make shading look the best, but to get warmed up, to have a “before” picture so you can see your own improvement, and also to experience some kinds of shading that does not work very well for realism. It’s good for students to struggle at first, and to see progress during the day. This will help them avoid practices that are common, but also frustrate them.

Place the cube print with the bold lines underneath the sketch paper. It will show through enough to trace it lightly in pencil. Use the shaded cube as a visual reference guide for shading the cube.

1st Cube – Leave top blank. Fill in 2 sides: medium shading on the left, and dark shading on the right, using your natural shading technique. Do not tell your students a technique to shade this first cube.

2nd Cube – Leave top blank. Fill in 2 sides the same, but use tiny scribbles to make your shading. Decide yourself what tiny scibbles should look like for shading.

3rd Cube –  Leave top blank. Shade the 2 sides going back and forth in a zig-zag shading technique with the pencil from edge to edge. Begin in one corner of the side you’re shading, and move towards the opposite corner as you shade. Your zig-zag shading lines will get larger and larger as you move, so that they touch each edge. See the sample image below:

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Gather students around in a group. For large classes, use a lower table or stool and have students make a wide circle around it. Demonstrate hatch shading techniques, beginning with this teacher talk.

Display the cakes on a screen as you talk.

Tap the 4 arrows icon to enlarge the video to full screen.

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

1. A zig-zag line, like a little cartoon tornado
2. Pencil tip gets worn down & that makes shading smoother.
3. Do a bit of drawing off to the side to get that nice tip.
4. Layer the shading up instead of pressing hard to get a dark area all at once.
5. Large shading strokes makes it look haphazard and not smooth (smooth is good for realism).
6. Place smaller shading areas next to each other to fill large areas.

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Students draw a new practice cube. If they run out of room on their last sketch pad page, they can move on to the next blank page.

Have students trace another cube, or try to draw one on their own if they feel confident and you know they’re more advanced. Be cautious though! Cubes are difficult.

Practice shading the cube lightly with a 4B or Ebony pencil.

Steps to follow:

• No shading on top, or 1 very light layer after they’re finished.
• 2 layers on one side.
• 3 layers on the other. Start lightly and build shadow.
• Early finishers can add the “off” shadow that is to the side of the cube on the surface it sits on.

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Pinterest Gallery – Cezanne

Use This Link or tap the icon to the left to open our special Pinboard showing examples of Paul Cezanne’s artwork to display to your class.

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Note how on the shading example, each side has a darker area and a lighter area. This is how light behaves on a cube shape, so see if you can make these soft gradients. Don’t let the shading have any sudden changes within one side. To do this effectively, you will have to go very slowly, and build up layers gradually. We have a lot of time so that you can do this in slow-motion. Go veeerrrry sloooowwwwly.

• 1 layer on top. Very light. Continue this light shading as the first layers on each side.
• 3 to 4 layers on left front side. Let last layers only cover the darker area.
• 5 or more layers on right side.
• Try creating the OFF shadow by layering too. See if you can make it fade away at the edge.

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On a blank page in the students’ sketch pad, draw a cartoon or a small 3D object of their choice, and use hatch shading to shade and change areas into different shades of grey. They can use a real object or make something up. The idea is to enjoy the drawing while practicing the shading technique.

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

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

STUDENT’S

MATERIALS

• 14” x 17” Sketch Paper
• 2B Pencil
• 4B Pencil
• White eraser
• Ebony Pencil

Week 9: Artists’ Perspective

Students will use the simple form of a cube to learn the basics of artists’ perspective. Any artwork that includes a man-made object will be improved after understanding how to translate what you see into what you draw. Several handouts and analogies help the lesson be informative, understandable, and interesting.

Week 10:Birdhouse Drawings

Students will create a detailed drawing of an old weathered birdhouse. If possible, the birdhouses used should be real-life objects, but photos are provided. Steps for preparing, using the 3 steps to accuracy, making guide-lines, and pencil techniques are all practiced to create a finished work. A few fun short projects for early finishers are also included.