Sketches are a very important part an artist’s development. They are used to spark creativity, practice ideas on a smaller scale, remember and record ideas before they are forgotten, and to work out problems encountered in larger projects without fear of “ruining” the original.
Students begin every class with 10 minutes of silent sketching using the “Art Starter”. This is a time where students are encouraged to focus on getting into a creative frame of mind and prepare for art class. The “Art Starter” is a prompt or picture on the board to help students transition into art class from time spent in other classes or breaks in between classes. .
Exploratory Art Sketches
Students will turn in “art starter” as their sketch requirement at the end of each sketching time during class.
Intermediate and Advanced Art Sketches
One “Art Starter” inspired sketch and one choice sketch are due at the end of each week. Students are not only allowed, but encouraged to come up with their own unique and creative ideas for their daily sketches
These two QUALITY sketches are due each week, and are given instead of homework. However, although students also have time to work on sketches in class, sketches are expected to be made up in the event of an absence. Sketches are expected to be neat, thoughtful, and to have at least 20-30 minutes of time put into each one. The sketches are worth 10% of the overall visual art grade and student conduct during silent sketching time is figured into citizenship and work habit grades.
Should a student be absent for a period of time from visual art and would like to manage their make up work by completely sketches at home, students can access a list of “Art Starters” from the list below, or draw their own creative sketches. Upon return to the art room, students need to see me in order to evaluate how many make-up sketches will be required.
The following list of sketching ideas are a compilation from a variety of sources that have been put together over a long period of time. Please excuse me for not being able to give exact credit to those who originally created them, but I think they are fantastic! How about you?
Sketch folder covers are created based on student identity and wishes as to how to communicate that identity to everyone around them.
Draw a Pile of Shoes: Zoom in. Fill up the page. Extend the composition to all four sides of the paper. Use line, tone, contour, crosshatching, etc.
Advertisement of yourself: What would you like to say about yourself?
Reflective Surface Study: Combine various reflective surfaces. Draw it.
Design a CD Cover of either a real or made up musical group.
Draw a view of yourself or Others in a car’s rear-view mirror.
Draw a close-up study of a leaf, tree bark, or organic texture.
Drapery Study: Must be carefully observed and drawn with 3-dimensional volumes, tonal changes, highlights and shadows.
Draw a view through a magnifying glass (including the magnifying glass).
Draw a well-developed picture. Cut the picture into squares. Re-arrange and paste the squares in your sketchbook to create a design.
Draw a cemetery at night. Use dramatic lighting. You may want to begin with black paper pasted into your sketchbook
Draw an extreme close-up study of a flower like the artist Georgia O’Keefe.
Draw a view of the jungle. The view can be from below (as if you’re an insect), or from above (as if you’re a bird).
Draw a “Foreshortened Figure” in a foreshortened position.
Divide the page into 4 equal sections. Draw an object/objects in one section. Repeat the same drawing in the other sections, but change the style of each (representational, abstract, cubist, harmonious, etc.).
Use a grouping of photos of you and your family to draw into your own composition. Express what you think your family is about.
Draw your sunglasses zoomed in at an interesting angle and what they reflect.
Cut out a square from a portrait photo and draw it blown up to the largest square you can make in your sketchbook.
Choose an object, person or another thing and distort it.
Combine unlikely images. Exchange, overlap, or superimpose parts of objects.
Take a photograph or magazine picture, cut apart the image and paste a piece of it into your sketchbook. Draw the missing area to complete the picture.
Create an abstraction by simplifying an object or scene into it’s simplest shapes.
Look at an area and draw the negative shapes around the objects.
Draw something using one-point perspective.
Draw objects on your desk with the opposite shading (light switched with dark).
Research an artist and use a similar technique.
Work on realistic characteristics and features of people.
Make a value chart and use four of those values in a drawing.
Draw human emotions.
Experiment with texture using rubbings and value in a drawing.
Use cross-hatching to create value in a drawing.
Study a certain body part, drawing it over and over again in different positions.
Use math symbols and letters to make a picture of something realistically.
Do your entire drawing with a ruler (all straight lines to make a curvy object.
Create a drawing in the style of cubism.
Create a drawing in the style of pointillism.
Draw a detailed picture of your hand (with all the little wrinkles, lines).
Draw a picture of the inside of a book with all the text written out.
Draw a detailed piece of your make-up bag- the view into it.
Draw a detailed portrait in pen- with shadows in the lines.
Draw a wooden table, desk, or piece of furniture showing the grain of the wood.
Draw a picture in pencil of a trash can filled to the top with trash.
Draw something made of glass.
Draw a person’s ear.
Draw a very muscular person such as a bodybuilder.
Draw only the hair on a person’s body (head, mustache, eye lashes, eyebrows), but not the outline of the person or features.
Draw a piece of fruit and it’s actual texture and value.
Roll up or fold your jeans and do a detailed sketch.
Take several photos of feet and use them to draw a pencil foot collage.
Use dots to form a landscape in the style of “pointilsm”.
Draw the same person from a bunch of different angles.
Combine Impressionist techniques with more life-like realistic ones.
With careful attention to shadow, draw an outlet in your house with lots of plugs,
Draw one person or object 3 times, allowing only 5 minutes for each drawing.
Draw a glass jar in colored pencil and include all highlights and visible reflections.
Draw people in real-life situations, as opposed to posing on a stool.
Crinkle up a dollar bill, unfold it and then draw it.
Draw a building at different times of the day, with attention to changing shadow and light.
Draw a complex object while constantly turning it. Incorporate several different angles into one piece.
Draw a chess piece upside down, including all shadows and textures.
Draw a piece of tree bark or a sponge as a line drawing without value.
Draw a contour still life using no shading, just lines.
Draw a scene with animals having human characteristics.
Arrange a still life entirely out of square objects and draw it.
Draw a still life showing only negative space.
Chose a small area of skin and draw it in as much detail as possible.
Go outside and draw from nature and/or observation of surroundings.
Create an advertisement for a product.
Create someone’s face using cubist techniques.
Draw an object using polka dots to create value.
Draw stars in the sky with floating images.
Design a dress as a fashion drawing.
Draw a hat from observation.
Draw a street with the exact same houses, with the same people in them.
Draw a street corner with tall buildings.
Draw a tall stack of uneven books.
Draw a portrait using only straight lines.
Create a blueprint for your dream house.
Draw the reflection of a room by looking at it in a mirror.
Draw Pencils falling and hitting the ground.
Draw the structure of a tall building.
Draw four separate frames of a person swinging a bat.
Draw an object using a ruler one day, and without the ruler the next day.
Draw a pencil drawing of a peacock.
Draw an object with your left hand (or right if you’re left-handed).
Draw the same object with your dominant hand the next day.
Use a grid as a guide to draw a magazine picture or photograph.
Draw a realistic self-portrait.
Copy a famous painting using only pencil.
Draw a historical moment.
Draw a picture of your neighbor.
Take a picture of the inside of your refrigerator and draw from the picture.
Draw your room filled with animals.
Observe a magazine picture upside down and draw it.
Draw your worst fear.
Design a character and place them in a series of pictures.
Draw the inside of something.
Draw a favorite hobby.
Draw random images or objects in unlikely settings!
Draw your enemy in a silly outfit.
Draw what you would rather be doing right now.
Draw an image from very close up or very far away.
Draw the food you crave at the moment.
Copy a photo and replace the head with someone more humorous.
Draw Animals doing human activities.
Draw yourself wearing the outfit you plan to wear tomorrow.
Draw an animal that represents your current mood.
Create a wrapping paper design for your favorite holiday or occasion.
Draw a scroll and lettering to look like an old document (what will it say?).
Pick a letter and draw as many things starting with that letter as you can think of.
Create your own “made-up” world and represent it in a drawing.
Use pencils to create a 3D pencil (big pencil).
Draw your reflection from a spoon.
Draw a person’s face using words as the line and shading.
Draw an oversized ant or insect in great detail.
Draw a computer mouse and the animal (mouse or rat) next to each other.
Draw a set of keys on a key ring (not traced).
Draw an object(s) from the bottom (your view of the object from the bottom of it).
Draw a real animal sitting next to a stuffed animal (a real dog next to a fake dog).
Illustrate your most recent or most memorable dream.
Do a family portrait or individual portraits of the people in your family.
Take photos of things/places/people you find interesting and then draw them.
Draw your favorite fruit.
Create a drawing of a friend including a background of their favorite things.
Find an art piece you like and draw your own interpretation of it.
Think about people that you dislike and try to depict these people positively.
Draw the image of your face in a tree.
Draw a monster.
Draw an animal n an urban environment (ex. a penguin on the bus).
Draw yourself in the vision of a monkey.
Draw a princess looking into the reflection of water seeing herself as an old lady.
Paint a birds-eye view of somewhere special.
Put an image in broken glass.
Draw a picture of your parents when they were young.
Draw yourself in the future.
Draw someone blowing a huge bubble.
Draw a horse jumping a fence into a meadow.
Draw an object or an animal in a place where you would never find it.
Draw an object multiple times on one paper in different sizes and values.
Draw someone in a swimming pool as if you were looking at them under water.
Draw something that you use everyday in “Pop Art” form.
Draw a person wearing something made out of something strange.
Chose an adjective from the dictionary that you have not used before, and create a drawing of this word.
Create a drawing about an object without actually putting its image in the picture.
Draw a famous person you have heard or read about, but have never seen (without using a photo or reference. What does s/he look like to you?)
Draw a portrait of you or a friend wearing clown makeup or a mask.
Draw somebody as if they were a china doll or stuffed animal.
Draw a subject changing over time (ex. molding fruit, growing facial hair, dirtiness in your room).
Distort a corporate logo to change it’s meaning.
Depict what you think cannot be seen (music, sounds) and write an explanation.
Draw a Geisha, African tribesman, or another person from a different culture.
Draw marbles with interesting designs inside of them.
Draw what you did during lunch yesterday.
Draw what you think of when you think of summer- or any other season.
Draw something about your childhood that isn’t too important but that for some reason you remember.
Draw a singer or writer in an ironic way.
Draw a still life being viewed by looking through glasses of water in front of you.
Draw a campaign poster for yourself as a candidate for world domination.
Draw a series of “Blind Contour Drawings”.
Draw a candle flame transforming into something else.
Draw a study of “mesmerizing” eyes (eyes that capture your attention).
Draw crossed legs under a table (with permission of the person).
Draw an old man in a contented (happy) state.
Draw a little girl looking up at the sky as if everything else is bigger than her.
Draw hands and fingers in a variety of poses.
Draw a pet that resembles a building.
Draw food changing into a person.
Draw what you think of when one says “the grass is greener on the other side.”
Draw a personalized stereo (the buttons and tuner do what you like)/
Draw a lion ballet dancer.
Draw a foot, ankle, shoulder, or other visible part of the body with a tattoo.
Draw a model on the runway modeling food.
Draw a silver fan blowing papers in the air.
Draw a camera lens with the reflection of a person or place inside of it.
Draw a cow at McDonalds eating fries and a hamburger.
Think of a word, ask someone the first thing they think of when you say that word, and draw it.
Draw the back of the head of a person you feel very close to.
Draw a landscape of a beautiful field with a shopping center in the middle.
Draw a picture of rain falling from the sky on objects that aren’t waterproof.
Draw a baby pushing an adult in a stroller.
Draw a news picture from the newspaper in a humorous way.
Draw your hero or someone you look up to.
Draw a human with appendages of different animals.
Draw the ocean waves in motion or a tide pool.
Combine two animals into a drawing of a new animal (ex. giraffe + lion).
Draw your idea of energy.
Illustrate a saying that everyone uses and then write the saying at the bottom.
Draw some food with personality.
Draw what an insane person looks like.
Draw an unexpected flying animal in an unexpected place.
Draw animals as humans
Draw a picture to go inside of a scary book with the written passage along with it.
Draw your hand without picking up the pencil (from observation, not tracing).
Draw your parents with jobs other than their own.
Draw a new invention of your own.
Draw a person wearing a blindfold.
Draw things that float.
Draw things with wheels.
Draw things that roll.
Draw things that close.
Draw things that come from eggs.
Be an ant. Draw what you would see in the cafeteria.
Draw a candy bar named after you (what does the candy bar contain?).
If you had been a pilgrim, draw what you think you would have looked like.
Draw a picture of yourself as a flower.
Express in your drawing, your happiest time that you’ve had in the past year.
Draw something that you are good at doing or playing.
Draw a picture of something you’d like to become better at doing.
An alien spaceship has landed at JAMS. Draw a picture of it and a caption of what the aliens would be thinking or saying to each other.
High in the Himalayan Mountains lives an abominable snowperson. Draw what the snowperson looks like.
You have made a startling discovery while skin diving. Draw what it is.
Have you ever been to a circus? Draw a picture of your favorite act with yourself as the ringmaster.
Draw a picture of one of your family members at work.
Draw a picture of your pet or the pet you would LOVE to have.
Fill your page with drawings of bugs, seashells, or something that you collect.
Draw a picture of a daydream you have recently had.
Draw a picture of your house and yard with a BIG, HUGE, dinosaur in the yard.
What is the best story your grandmother or grandfather tells about the olden days? Draw a picture of this story.
Draw a picture of your favorite part of school.
Draw a picture of your dream car.
Draw a picture of the boogeyman.
If you could cast a magic spell, what would it be? Draw a picture of it.
The famous American Pop artist Andy Warhol said, “Everyone will have at least fifteen minutes of
fame in a lifetime.” Illustrate your 15 minutes of fame.
Draw yourself screaming because you are scared.
Draw a monster truck.
Draw a picture of the inside of your stomach and the food in it after a big meal.
Draw your idea of Paradise.
If animals could draw, what would their artwork look like? Draw their artwork.
Draw a necktie and design an interesting pattern on it.
Draw a medal for yourself. It must be designed for the thing you do best.
Draw a city on another planet.
You are a toy designer; draw your new toy.
Draw a logo for a t.v.. show.
Draw a picture of the perfect garden for your house.
Draw a scene from your early childhood.
Draw a parade.
Draw a picture of where you would like to fly to.
Draw a poster to advertise your favorite movie.
Draw a construction site.
Draw your view from an airplane window.
Draw a scene on another planet and include another kind of being.
Draw a picture of an ideal wedding ceremony.
Draw a picture of someone you would like to visit.
Draw what you think a garden would look like from the view of an insect.
Draw a sandcastle.
Draw a house built underground.
Draw what a spaceship commander would see on his video screen.
Draw the boat you would like to travel in around the world.
Draw a scientist’s top secret project.
Draw a new piece of sculpture for the museum’s sculpture garden.
Draw a picture of yourself if you grew flowers instead of hair.
An imaginative architect has changed the look of the skyline with an innovative new building; draw the building.
Draw a modern house that still looks good in a neighborhood of older houses.
Write a large number in the middle of a page. Turn it into a person/animal.
Combine a plant and an animal to create a new life form.
Illustrate a famous saying/quotation.
Draw things that make noise and illustrate the sound.
Illustrate “the way things were”.
Draw a “how to” poster.
Design a new license plate for Santa Monica
Design new methods of transportation.
Draw a view of the jungle.
Draw yourself as the last person on earth.
Draw yourself dressed in clothing from the 1970’s.
Draw a leaf from observation (look at every vein).
Draw your favorite animal with a human face.
Draw yourself as a robot.
