This presentation is intended to outline the process of building a foundation for observational drawing.

1. Arresting Motion
Practical Observational Drawing
Curriculum for 6th to 12th grade
Brighton Smith
Studio Art Teacher, Great Hearts Academies

2. “The aim of every artist is to
arrest motion, which is life, by
artificial means and hold it
fixed so that a hundred years
later, when a stranger looks at
it, it moves again since it is life”
-William Faulkner

3. Line
and
Shape

4. Shape into form

5. Contour Line Drawing

6. Form and Value
Direct Light- Where is it coming from?
Core Shadow- What is the darkest area on
the object?
Reflective Light- What happens as the
form turns away from us?
Cast Shadow- How is it created? Do we
need it? What would it look like
without the cast shadow?

9. Multiple Solids

10. Complex solids / “REAL” objects

11. Hand Drawing

12. Folded Paper

14. Transition
to Fabric

16. 7th Grade Fabric Drawing 3 hours
24x18 in

17. 12th Grade Student 8th Grade Student

18. Transition from Objects to Figures

21. Have the students draw
from the human
skeleton as it is a still
life object. Place a light
on the skeleton and
have students do a
variety of different
views of the skeleton.

24. THRUST and DIRECTION also called
FORCE

25. GESTURE and FORCE

27. Building Anatomy

28. Anatomy for Drawing

30. Portraiture
Once students
understand the
“General to Specific”
standard they can
look at any object,
any figure, any
person’s face and
depict a likeness with
a faithful rendering of
light and shadow.