Art News recommended by Yong Chen : Dynamic Dragons

Dynamic Dragons
Arts & Activities, Dec, 2005 by Deborah Lenny

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Students will ...

* know that texture is one of the "elements of art."

* understand the difference between warm and cool colors.

* know how to create simulated texture.

* improve compositional skills and know borders can enhance art without confining it.

MATERIALS

* Pencils and rulers

* Watercolors

* Round watercolor brushes

* Newsprint

* Watercolor paper (at least 90-lb.)

* Pictures of dragons

* Samples of textural patterns created with pen or marker and of border designs

When we think of dragons, we often associate them with the Chinese culture. Some of the first written stories of dragons, however, go back to myths of the Sumarians.

Folklore says that some of the ancient Chinese myths of dragons may have come from the discovery of dinosaur bones. Dragons in early Asian mythology were often worshipped and prayed to for deliverance from evil.

Dragons, especially imperial dragons, were considered very powerful. Imperial dragons were depicted with five claws and supposed to be the wisest of men's messengers to the gods. Only emperors were allowed to talk to them. Besides the Chinese culture, dragons are found also in mythology from other cultures, such as Celtic, European, Russian and Australian.

In my beginning drawing class, I thoroughly cover the elements of art. I also teach basic drawing skills. I start with line, teaching them simple line-drawing techniques, and move through the elements focusing on one at a time with different projects.

During our section on texture, I wanted to try something new. I had recently seen some illustrations of dragons in a book from the library and as I was reading about them, I became aware of how richly diverse their cultural history was. I decided to have my students create works of art using dragons as the theme with the focus being on texture. We discussed dragon myths of different cultures and in fairy tales. They were excited to discover that there were as many different cultures of dragons as there are cultures of students in my classroom.

I did the project myself first, so that the students would have an example to see, for the more visual learners. As I was working, I thought it would look great if the work were in color. We had already completed lessons on color and they knew basic color theory. I chose a warm/cool color scheme for the project.

The project started with students practicing making different textural effects using fine-tipped black markers. I gave them handouts on texture examples that included hatching, cross-hatching, stippling, small circles, scales, scribble texture and more.

I also gave students lessons in basic watercolor techniques. We spent one class period practicing flat washes, washes with color changes, adding texture to watercolor with salt, blotting with a paper towel, and wet-into-wet.

We then were ready for the project to begin. Using the wonderful book that I found from the library, I photocopied the illustrations to show examples to my students. I passed around the examples, but told students they were not allowed to copy any design. They were required to invent their own dragon.

As they worked on thumbnail sketches, I told them to start with a stretched out "S" for the shape and to then add another "S" for the rail. It then occurred to me that it would look great if the tails were wrapped around a border. Borders were then added to the assignment. They weren't required to wrap the tails around the border, but I told them that the dragon should "break out" of the border in places so that the dragon would be more connected to it, without being "trapped inside." I gave them samples of border designs and told them they could simplify the borders or invent their own.

When they had finished their sketches and made decisions about borders, I had them do a full-size sketch on newsprint. We used 12" x 18" paper and the students did complete line drawings of their dragons and borders. When I approved their work, they traced the work onto student grade (90-lb.) watercolor paper. They could use a light table or put graphite on the back of the newsprint to transfer the drawings to the good paper.

When the drawing was complete, it was time to watercolor. We did the watercolor work before putting the texture on, because I used water-based markers instead of India ink (I have very large classes and don't want to deal with spills). Students were required to use warm colors for the dragon and cool colors for the background or vice versa. They were free to choose whether to use flat washes, textured washes, of multi-color washes as long as they kept in the warm/cool color scheme.

When their watercolors had dried, it was time to embellish their artwork with texture. They were required to use at least 10 different textures on the dragons. Many students also added black lines and textures to their borders with the markers.

The results were amazing. Their dragons all had personalities of their own. Some were powerful and frightening, while others were whimsical. Still others were beautiful in their fluid movement and elaborate borders. The students enjoyed working on them and were proud of their art when it was complete. I hung the pictures in my room and many students couldn't wait to get them back to show off to their friends and families.

Deborah Lenny is an art teacher at John Marshall High School in Los Angeles, California.

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