Hand Renderings: Grade 5

I am excited to say that I have been subbing for another art teacher all this week and it has been so much fun! This is especially true because I have been given free reign on many of the lessons and have been trying out some new ideas with the students!

The first one I will post about may be my favorite this week -- although it would be a tough choice since all the projects have been great in their own ways.

My Demonstration Drawing

The fifth grade students were presented with the challenge of drawing their own hands from observation only. Cue a few moans here when they were told absolutely no tracing. But after the initial and expected complaints that it was too hard to do, they buckled down and realized with focus they could achieve surprising results.

Once the hands were drawn students could choose from the following options:
1.) Draw more hands in varying poses
2.) Overlap hands
3.) Crop some of the imagery
4.) Add text (such as a name or phrase)
5.)Work collaboratively with a partner

Then with the drawings complete and gone over in permanent marker, students could add color with watercolor paints using any technique they chose. These ended up including some of the following:
1.) Paint everything one color
2.) Paint everything varying colors, no pattern
3.) Paint everything with a pattern
4.) Paint only selective areas (i.e. background or hands)
5.) Use splattering with care

This one is pretty amazing! I love the varied lettering and attention to detail.

Here are more drawings -- I think they are all rather awesome since this was the students' first experience with drawing hands without tracing and with no rough drafts!
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I envision this lesson as part one of a two part idea. In the second part, I would love to expand on the use of hands by incorporating them into a portrait drawing lesson.