Aidan B.

Cristina Pinton

Many of my students are coming to school with the feeling that they failed out of art in middle school. Students stepping into the studio for the first time assume that their inability to draw a stick figure makes it inappropriate for them to be there. That’s why I’ve made it my priority in the first month of drawing class to inspire confidence.

My Foundational Drawing class, attended by a mix of ninth-graders through post-graduates, is designed to cover a few key technical and structural skills as well as five to six different types of subject matter. My goal is to introduce students to new ideas and concepts, and to show them just how creative and capable they truly are.

My goal is to introduce students to new ideas and concepts, and to show them just how creative and capable they truly are.

I design projects based on line and contour, then move to value through gradation, stippling, line density, and mark-making. Providing a few techniques for achieving realistic value is the tried-and-true hook, since so many young people are convinced that “looking real” is “real artwork.” I also add the use of color in small parts, monochromatic renderings, and references for animal or object mashups.

Architectural Renderings
The project that really convinces my students they are artists and designers who are truly thinking in two and three dimensions is the architectural rendering. The final result changes over the years, but the application of precise lines, use of geometrical terms, and the project’s flexibility to be inclusive in skill level and comprehension are topped off with a pinch of fantasy and surrealism.

Lines and Space
We start by looking at the Renaissance use of perspective and rendering of space by watching a video about Brunelleschi’s Dome in Florence, Italy. After covering basic terminology, I print out photographs of street corners and city scenes with modern and historic buildings and have students use a ruler and colored pencils to identify horizon lines (often hidden), vanishing points (often off-page), and orthogonal lines (using balconies, ridges, roofs, and glass panes) in each scene.

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