1. Michael O'Reilly 2004 (Revisited 2017)
DRAWING
WORKSHOP
Michael O'Reilly 2004 (Revisited 2017)

2. Michael O'Reilly 2004 (Revisited 2017)
What is drawing ?
Drawing is a fundamental activity that is concerned with visual expression and communication. It contributes much to learning through the process of intensive looking, selecting and organising material. It is an immediate and direct means of making a visual response to the world that is personal and unique. In drawing we represent in one set of materials what exists in a different set.
PRIMARY ART HANDBOOK
Michael O'Reilly 2004 (Revisited 2017)

3. Four main categories of drawing
RECORDING – personal statements from first hand observation. In this work children need to be encouraged to spend as much time looking as drawing e.g. empty your pencil case on the table – draw what you see.
ANALYSIS – isolating certain elements texture, pattern, etc. and focusing attention on them e.g. explore particular types of line.
EXPRESSION – personal response to things seen, heard or imaginary events – poetry, dance, music, etc. can lead to expressive drawing e.g. make a drawing about your favourite party.
COMMUNICATION – where drawing is used to pass on specific information to another person e.g. signs, cartoons, maps, plans, etc. e.g. draw a map that shows the way from your home to the school.
Michael O'Reilly 2004 (Revisited 2017)

4. What is involved in drawing?
Drawing will involves the use of lines, shapes, tones, colours, textures and patterns
Drawing involves a great deal of exploration and experimentation
Drawing involves working out and thinking about ideas
Drawing involves lots of discussion with both the teacher and with other children
Drawing involves looking at and responding to artists’ drawings
Michael O'Reilly 2004 (Revisited 2017)

5. How do you teach drawing?
The best support to drawing is the teacher who generates careful looking through discussion and questions using the language of art to heighten children’s awareness of the qualities of the stimulus materials / tools.
“ How To Draw “ manuals are not appropriate for use with children, as they attempt to impose adult styles and disrupt the natural stages of development.
Michael O'Reilly 2004 (Revisited 2017)

6. Michael O'Reilly 2004 (Revisited 2017)
Stages of Development
Scribbling stage
Stage of symbols ( schematic stage )
Stage of dawning realism
Stage of realism
Michael O'Reilly 2004 (Revisited 2017)

7. What materials should be used?
It is essential to offer a range of drawing materials that enable children to explore and experiment in order to discover their characteristics and in turn to use the experience to select what will be the most suitable for a future drawing.
We need to talk to the children about their discoveries to share them with others and to include these discoveries in displays of work.
Michael O'Reilly 2004 (Revisited 2017)

8. Qualities of drawing materials.
HARD AND POINTED – biros, felt tip pens, HB-2B pencils, handwriting pens, mapping pens and ink.
SOFT – pencil crayons, oil pastels, wax crayons, graphite sticks, 4B-6B pencils.
SMUDGY – chalk, chalk pastels, charcoal, charcoal pencils
WET – water soluble colouring pencils and crayons, paints and brushes.
PAPERS – a wide variety of size, shape, colour and texture need to be explored – also drawing into other materials e.g. clay, polyblock, fabrics, etc.
Michael O'Reilly 2004 (Revisited 2017)

9. What will children draw?
Lines, shapes, textures, patterns, tones, colours – EXPLORE AND EXPERIMENT WITH A WIDE VARIETY OF DRAWING TOOLS AND SURFACES
Pictures about their own lives – MAKE DRAWINGS BASED ON EXPERIENCE
Pictures about imaginings – MAKE DRAWINGS BASED ON IMAGINATION
Pictures about things, places and people they look at – MAKE DRAWINGS BASED ON OBSERVATION.
Michael O'Reilly 2004 (Revisited 2017)

10. Elements in Drawing: LINE
Lines are marks that create shape, pattern, texture and volume on paper. They indicate movement, give direction, form decoration, divide areas and communicate ideas and feelings
The following are examples of some drawing activities that help explore line – activities that explore and experiment with drawing tools and surfaces
Michael O'Reilly 2004 (Revisited 2017)

11. Michael O'Reilly 2004 (Revisited 2017)
LINE 1
TEACHING TIP.
The following activities might be reproduced as a set of workcards. Put them in a drawing box for use at any time.
Choose one media and draw
A bumpy line
A busy line
A tired line
An excited line
A sleeping line
A jumping line
Michael O'Reilly 2004 (Revisited 2017)

12. Michael O'Reilly 2004 (Revisited 2017)
LINE 2
Draw a collection of your own lines.
Write your own word beside each line to describe it.
Michael O'Reilly 2004 (Revisited 2017)

13. Michael O'Reilly 2004 (Revisited 2017)
LINE 3
Work in a group.
Pass a sheet / a number of sheets around the group.
As you receive each sheet draw a new line on it – do not touch or go over another persons line.
After a while choose one of the sheets and continue working with all the lines on it until the sheet is full.
Michael O'Reilly 2004 (Revisited 2017)

14. Michael O'Reilly 2004 (Revisited 2017)
LINE 4
Draw a collection of lines on half a piece of paper – give it to a partner to continue and complete.
Take your partner’s half sheet and finish this one yourself.
Michael O'Reilly 2004 (Revisited 2017)

15. Michael O'Reilly 2004 (Revisited 2017)
LINE 5
Copy a drawing from a magazine or a newspaper on the photocopier.
Stick it in the middle of a page.
Continue the lines drawn by the artist to add to the drawing.
Michael O'Reilly 2004 (Revisited 2017)

16. Michael O'Reilly 2004 (Revisited 2017)
LINE 6
Photocopy an object e.g. a feather.
Cut your photocopy of this in half and stick it to a page.
Make the object whole again by drawing the missing half using an appropriate drawing medium.
Michael O'Reilly 2004 (Revisited 2017)

17. Michael O'Reilly 2004 (Revisited 2017)
LINE 7
Draw one type of line diagonally across a piece of paper ( e.g. curved, zig-zag, etc. )
Make the same line again next to it , in the same direction but using a different type of drawing medium.
Continue, using different drawing media each time.
Talk about the way in which the line changes.
Michael O'Reilly 2004 (Revisited 2017)

18. Michael O'Reilly 2004 (Revisited 2017)
LINE 8
Stick or print a shape in the centre of a page.
Work around this shape, following its outline but using a different line each time.
Use a range of drawing media as you work.
Michael O'Reilly 2004 (Revisited 2017)

19. Michael O'Reilly 2004 (Revisited 2017)
LINE 9
Draw thick and thin lines across the paper at first closely together then gradually getting further apart.
Try it with different drawing media.
Michael O'Reilly 2004 (Revisited 2017)

20. Michael O'Reilly 2004 (Revisited 2017)
LINE 10
Draw lines
Falling from the top to the bottom of a page
Rising from a pile and then floating away
Wriggling together through a small gap
Marching in a pattern like an army
Use a different medium for each.
Michael O'Reilly 2004 (Revisited 2017)

21. Michael O'Reilly 2004 (Revisited 2017)
LINE 11
Draw lines to show
An angry sea
A quiet sea
A waterfall
A whirlpool
A stone dropped in water
Rainfall
Add colour to your drawing to create a drawing on the theme of water
Michael O'Reilly 2004 (Revisited 2017)

22. Michael O'Reilly 2004 (Revisited 2017)
LINE 12
Look for and collect line patterns around the classroom, on objects, on fabrics, etc.
Draw the lines you observe.
Group them into sets e.g. wavy lines, straight lines, etc.
Make a list of “line” words.
Michael O'Reilly 2004 (Revisited 2017)

23. Michael O'Reilly 2004 (Revisited 2017)
LINE 13
Draw lines about sounds you hear e.g. the traffic, birdsong, etc.
Listen to a piece of music and draw lines to describe how the music moves.
Michael O'Reilly 2004 (Revisited 2017)

24. Michael O'Reilly 2004 (Revisited 2017)
LINE 14
Look at a drawing by an artist through a viewfinder.
Isolate a favourite part of the drawing and make your own drawing based on this.
Michael O'Reilly 2004 (Revisited 2017)

25. Michael O'Reilly 2004 (Revisited 2017)
LINE 15
Choose an interesting piece of fabric.
Look at it through a viewfinder.
Find a section you like and make a drawing about this part using coloured drawing materials.
Michael O'Reilly 2004 (Revisited 2017)

26. Other elements of art can be explored in a similar way e.g.
Tone – Use white chalk and charcoal to make light and dark patches on grey papers – smudge them together – talk about what happens when they meet.
Texture – Make a rubbing of a rough texture – make a drawing next to your rubbing that matches its texture.
Shape – Draw the outside and the inside shapes of a variety of fruits and vegetables e.g. lemons and peppers.
Pattern and colour – Create your own patterned coloured borders, to be used for framing your pieces of writing.
REFERENCE TEXT:
The Primary Art Handbook.
Topical Resoouces ISBN
Michael O'Reilly 2004 (Revisited 2017)