Three Mediums Drawing Lesson for Middle or High School Art - Fun, engaging culmination project for drawing students
In this lesson, middle school or high school art drawing students will use three mediums to create a piece of art. This works as a culminating lesson for a high school or middle school drawing course as students will demonstrate their knowledge of shading and creating texture with charcoal, colored pencil and ink.
Here are the basics:
- Medium: Charcoal, Ink, and Colored Pencil
- Project Length: 2-3 days
- Grade: 9-12
- Objectives:
- Complete a value scale and shaded sphere in charcoal, ink and colored pencil.
- Demonstrate an understanding of how to apply colored pencil, charcoal and ink to create value, texture, detail and unity in a piece of art.
- Demonstrate an understanding of composition
- Demonstrate an understanding all three mediums
- Create an original and unique piece of art using three mediums
- NOTE: This lesson is best taught after teaching basics of drawing: Value, Line, Texture and all of the mediums have already been covered.
- Materials:
- Old dictionary pages (book pages/maps etc. can be used as a replacement)
- Kraft or Manilla paper
- White Bristol Board or White Mixed Media Board
- Colored Pencils in a variety of colors (Prismacolor or other professional grade is preferred.)
- Charcoal Pencils
- Blending Stumps
- Ink pens with a variety of thicknesses (such as micron)
- (Ultra Fine tip Sharpies can be used as a less expensive option.)
Link to full lesson with video demonstrations!
The Process
Step 1: Create a value scale in each medium, then shade in a sphere in that medium.
Step 2: Find Reference
Step 3: Plan your artwork to create a Thumbnail drawing. You will be using 3 kinds of paper: Think about composition rules when creating your image:
- Focal Point (Emphasis)
- Rule of Thirds
- Diagonals
- Odd numbers
- Positive and Negative Space
Step 4: Glue down papers according to thumbnail. Then start to sketch over the papers.
- Cut or tear the papers to match your thumbnail plan.
- Remember to glue the one that you want on the bottom down first.
- When gluing make sure to put down a scrap piece of paper under each piece.
- Brush the glue all the way off the edges, work quickly to get a good seal.
Step 5: Draw the contour of your reference drawing in pencil.
Step 6: Begin to fill in the details using charcoal on the manila/kraft paper, ink on dictionary page and colored pencil on your white background.
Example Student Work:
Your students will love working with all the different mediums in this lesson to create an amazing piece! Want to make it easy to teach? Check out the links below!