Having now drawn many A4 sheets of colorful wood grain drawings together with a total of 8 schoolboys aged 9-12, I can say that this is truly a great exercise, and one that is enjoyable and simple for some, and quite challenging and difficult for others. I did note that the boys who excell the most in school and don't have any serious behavioral problems did a great job with this, whereas the several boys whom I know have either ADHD or some attention disorder problems created drawings that were much less detailed and generally messy. But that is okay, because we are not going for perfection, and an exercise that is difficult is also a good one! We'll be using these pages to make a bonfire craft for L'Ag B'Omer that everyone will enjoy, and the initial pain will be eased, I hope! So friends, sit down with a child or children, or yourself, and create some woodgrain drawings. Keep reading for how I instructed the boys as I drew together with them!
- colored paper, or white paper, whatever you have on hand, even cereal box cardboard is good too
- markers, medium point, in colors that will result in a line that is darker than paper, but don't recommend black, as it is too pronounced
- colored pencils, or ideally woodie water soluble pencils
How To:
We created both horizontal and vertical drawings, but start with a horizontal one, as it is easier.
- Talk about wood grain in general, and how a horizontal slice of a trunk creates a piece of wood with rings, whereas vertical slices creates stripes and knots and arches of sorts. Different types of trees give us wood with wood grains that are not the same, some more, some less, some with more knots etc. There is even a tree called the "knotty pine."
- Talk about how we are doing an artistic representation of wood grain, not trying to get it exactly right.
- Talk about how to draw long lines we move our entire arm and not our wrist.
- Okay, now draw a line down the center of the page, a line that has a bulge in the middle. Draw another line right next to the one that is parallel to it.
- Now draw a line that is a mirror image of that first line, with another line paralell to that.
- Now draw a ellipse shaped eye/knot is the space left due to the bulge in the line, and draw another shape within that first ellipse.
- On either side of this first group, draw a somewhat straight line, such that there will be arched shapes both above and below the bulge. Fill those in with arched shapes by starting at the edge of page, drawing up to the end of the space and then drawing back to the edge.
- Vary these two kinds of groups that create areas for knots both in the middle of the page and at the top and bottom edges.
- Fill in the middle of the knots with solid color.
- Color in between the lines to add color using woodies or colored pencil (not markers, too intense), one could also use watercolor or diluted paint.
- If you've used woodies or water soluble colored pencils, using a brush and water or a cotton swab/ball dipped in water, or a baby wipe, go over colored areas to dilute them, or take color from one area to another, so much fun!
- Now make a lot, as the more you do the better you get!
I'll share some more pages that the students created next week, so stay tuned! Some of them are truly art and it might be sad to cut them up, but at least I'll take good photos, or they'll save one as art and quickly make a replacement.
