Middle School

The Essential Questions
How can students demonstrate their understanding of placement and line in creating depth and scale while also learning how to draw a cylinder?

Objectives
Students will draw a cylinder and transform it into a common object. Students will draw or collage objects around the cylinder to make it look colossal.

Materials
slideshow of images (see step one), pencils, drawing paper, markers or colored pencils

Procedures
1. Share a slideshow of illustrations featuring objects that appear larger than life and objects that exhibit depth. Ask students to identify these elements.
2. Ask students to practice drawing a cylinder by connecting two ellipses with vertical lines.
3. For their final composition, have students draw their cylinder, then transform it into a common object that they might find in their pantry.
4. Encourage students to include details in their drawings that convey depth, such as scale and overlapping, to give the objects a sense of place and make the cylinder appear larger than life.
5. Students use markers or colored pencils to color the background and foreground.

Assessment
Did students accurately draw a cylinder? Does the scale and positioning of objects around the cylinder make it appear giant in proportion?

Melody Weintraub is a retired art educator and art education supervisor for the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.