Week Five: Proportions and 'Monkey See, Monkey Draw'

Last week we drew after the Mexican mural painter David Alfaro Siqueiros (1896-1974). You continued learning to draw proportions while looking at his painting of a woman. You also used lines and shapes to draw some cool monkeys. Your drawings are shown below.

Your challenge this morning is to use lines, shapes, and patterns (no real life people or objects) to create an abstract drawing. Draw big, and use the whole paper for your composition. Listen to music, draw the rhythm and harmony! Use your imagination, your emotions and have fun.

Examples of abstract artists to help you get started: Click here

Examples of abstract drawings by students in Santa Cruz: Click here


Abstract painting by Wassily Kandinsky

And... check out the eXpReSsiOn sEsSiOn section. There are new posts by Alex P. (shown below), Ian, and Ignacio. Anyone can post drawings.



I'll have another fun abstract drawing project and independent projects for students when I see you at 10:00. --Rob

Jacob V.

Your ability to see and draw accurate proportions really shows in all of these sketches!! Excellent pencil techniques, especially the shading on the woman and texture of the hair on the monkey. Great start on the contour lines of the skull. Also, check out your drawings from the previous week: Click here

Jasmine

Alright, Jasmine!! Outstanding effort on drawing the proportions of the woman! GREAT shading of the arms and the highlights in the hair. Each time you redraw your subject the accuracy of proportions improves, just like when you drew the dog (Click here).

Marisol

Excellent! Work! Marisol! Your contour lines accurately show the proportions on all your drawings. I like how your contour lines naturally define the edges of the dog. GREAT job of drawing the proportions of the woman. The shading and highlights in her hair are a very nice touch!

Alex M.

Alex, your drawing skills keep improving each week, even when you keep saying you can't draw! Imagine what would happen if you say "I can draw" :) The proportions of the woman are very well drawn, and you did a really good job of shading. I really like the contour lines for the texture of hair on the monkeys. Also, check out your proportions on your dog: Click here

Alex P.

Excellent job of drawing realistic proportions of the monkey, Alex! I really like the details of the face and contour lines for the texture of hair. Nice how you added shading to show the form of its body.

Christian

Excellent contour lines, Christian! You've done a great job of including details such as facial features and the texture of the hair. Nice facial expression. :) You drew very accurate proportions of the monkey sitting.

Ignacio

Ignacio, you did a GREAT job of drawing accurate proportions of the monkeys. The contour lines are excellent, especially the monkey that's walking. Nice texture lines for the hair, and cool accessories for the monkey sitting.

Vicky

You're gaining more and more control of your contour lines, Vicky!! Overall, you've done a great job of drawing the proportions of the woman. As always, your proportions become more accurate with each study sketch that you do. I really like the shading that you added on the woman and the texture of the monkey. Be sure to check out your excellent proportions of the dog, too: Click here

Leo

Leo, this is a great example of doing different study sketches of your subject! You did an excellent job of including details of the woman, and the sketch in the middle shows proportions that are well drawn. Check out the accurate proportions on your drawing of the dog: Click here

Ian

Excellent line work, Ian!! I like the style of drawing that you're developing. The proportions of the monkey sitting are well drawn. Your contour lines do a good job of showing the form of the monkeys. I also really like the accurate proportions of the dog you drew: Click here

Jacob B.

Even though you hurried your sketch of the woman, your keen eye for proportions shows in the contour lines you drew. Overall, the proportions are accurately drawn! Lots going on in your sketches of the monkeys. Great line work and proportions. The shading on the monkey and the ball is nicely drawn. Check out the accurate proportions on your drawing of the dog: Click here

Jesus E.

Welcome to SLV Sketchers, Jesus! You got an excellent start with lines, shapes, and proportions! The contour lines that show the form of the woman and monkeys are very well drawn. Overall, the proportions of the woman and monkey are well drawn.

Erik

Great job of drawing the proportions of the monkey, Erik! I like your line work in both drawings, and the facial expression of the monkey looks cool. I know that you didn't have time to work on the woman, but you got a nice start on the overall proportions. I know you're capable of accurate contour lines, like in your drawing of the dog: Click here

Jesus

Great job of drawing guidelines and basic shapes for the face of the monkey. I like the details you added such as the facial features and texture for the hair. Nice facial expression. :) I hope you take a look at the EXCELLENT progress you made on your drawing of the dog: Click here

Challenge Reference: Kandinsky and Miro

Paintings by the modern artists Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944) and Joan Miro (1893-1983) show ideas for your abstract drawing using lines, shapes, and patterns. Click on pictures to enlarge.

Kandinsky was a very influential artist in Europe during the early 1900s and 20s. He believed that painting should let artists express their own inner lives in abstract, non-material ways. Just as musicians do not depend on the material world for their music, so artists should not depend on the material world for their art. His expressions with line, shapes, and color became the foundation of abstract art.



Miro's artwork was influenced by poetry in France, in the early 1920s. His goal was to to create pictorial poems using lines, shapes, colors, symbols, and words. His dream-like images were important influences on the art movement called Surrealism. Both Kandinsky and Miro were inspired by drawings by children and primitive art. As revolutionaries, both were determined to break the traditions of realism in art.

Challenge Reference: Student Examples

Here are examples of abstract drawings done by students in Santa Cruz. They can be used as ideas for your abstract drawing using lines, shapes, and patterns. Click on pictures to enlarge.

by Shaylah:


by Michael:


by Gage:

eXpReSsiOn sEsSiOn

Alex P.


Ian


Christian


Ignacio


Jacob B.