Kids in art class
An art lesson is so much more than giving your students a pencil and piece of paper and telling them to draw. The students need to understand the different parts that make up the whole of the bird. This can be done by teaching them make the different "pieces" of a tropical bird come together to make a realistic recreation.
Proportions
The first part of any art lesson is to study the object you will be recreating. Whatever medium you will be using, you still need to get the form correct. Instruct your students to study the bird's form, and pay special attention to the proportions of the beak, wings, legs and tail to the body.
Have the students describe the parts of the bird using approximate fractions. An example would be the bird's wing is a third of the area of the body, the beak being a tenth of the area of the bird, and so on. Have the students practice drawing the parts of the bird in the correct proportions. Then give them 10 minutes to sketch the figure of the bird to proportion. Once they are done, provide constructive criticism of the sketches. If the class is for adults, have them be part of the critiquing process by reviewing each sketch in front of the class.
Placement
Next discuss the bird in movement, whether it be in flight or standing still. Even when the bird is standing still, the weight is shifted onto the legs and this needs to be recreated realistically by the correct leg bend and spacing of the claws.
If the bird is in flight, discuss the muscles that are used, where the air is flowing under and over the wings. Have your students practice making the wings in realistic form. Discuss the angles of the bird in flight and give them some visual examples on the blackboard or drawing board on how important it is to keep the head, neck and body all going in the right direction.
Show them a bird that is drawn slightly off by just a small tilt to the head or a wing higher or lower than it should be by just a fraction of an inch. Make the bird's eye higher or lower on the face and point out the drastic change it gives to the appearance. This will give the students a good perspective of how just by being a tiny bit off can turn a realistic looking bird into an amateur looking re-creation.
Colors and Tiny Details
Pass feathers around the classroom for the students to study. These intricate little objects have so much more to them than a stem and wispy lines coming from it, as most people draw when they recreate the feather. The feathers are a very important part of re-creating a bird, so ask the students to practice drawing the feathers under different conditions, such as in the wind and standing still.
Re-create the colors in the bird and have your students practice doing this. Point out that the tropical bird's reds are not just "red", there are shades of orange where the light hits it, and the red appears as a dark blue or purple in a shaded area of the bird.
Point out to the students that the lines of the bird are not always "lines" but contrast of color that gives the illusion of lines. The many different hues of the vivid colors of the tropical bird should also be pointed out by having them count the many shades of red, yellow or blue in just one feather.
Tags: students practice, your students, standing still, tropical bird, area bird, bird flight