Let the Artists Decide

Home

Chat

Blogs

Collection

Directory

Home : 2001 : October : 15

Let the Artists Decide
By Nathan

A student spends a great deal of time learning the exact same information, and doing the exact same work as the rest of the class. I believe that Art should be an opportunity for each student to do something different than
everyone else for a change. I'm not saying that step-by-step projects don't have their place in a student's education; I'm simply suggesting that a child's creativity should be encouraged. What's wrong with occasionally allowing students to draw or paint whatever they want without guidelines or restrictions? That's just my opinion for what it's worth.
That being said, one project that

could work is to have the students find a relatively large picture (preferably from a magazine) of a face. The picture should be a direct frontal view and symmetrical. Have the students cut the picture in half through the line of symmetry (top to bottom between the eyes, and down the nose). Throw one half away and glue the other half on a piece of drawing paper. Then have the students draw the missing half of the face, trying to make it match the remaining half. This activity helps students better understand proportions, shapes, and color matching. You can also use animal pictures.