Technique Objectives for Improving Observational and Cognitive Skills
Most activities and exercises promoting an improvement of observation skills start with still life drawing. Still life drawing forces, through concentrative repetition and routine, the observer (student) to look more closely at any given object or objects. It enables students to look more closely and to draw what they see instead of just what they ‘think’ that they see. Yes, it is true that it can be a challenge to break the habits of using simplified symbols and icons to represent the objects instead of the actual lines, shapes, and colors of the object, but I promise you that it is worth the sustained effort on our part as educators and the sustained effort of our students. When we are creatively forced to look for and use all the elements of art (line, shape, form, color, value, texture, and space), we are going to find it easier to create and produce more realistic artwork. But how does that impact and affect the outcome of our work? What do we add or take away even when we are working to create a realistic interpretation of the object? What would happen if we took out one of those elements and just focused on one or two of the elements? What if we were only focusing on line and shape? What if we were focusing only on color and texture? What happens when we put all of these together?
With this unit, we will not only be looking at some or all of the elements of art, but we will also be focusing on how a scientific artist would look at the subject and what story or message they are trying to tell to the viewer. We will be looking at an animal, a plant, and a human and be looking at all three from both the eye of the artist and the eye of the scientist or biologist.
By asking the students to not only draw what they see, but also to look at it through the eyes of a scientist, we are discretely nudging them to learn about each subject at multiple levels, from different angles, and a multidisciplinary lens while still honing their concentration and observational skills. How can you describe the lines on the leaves? How would you draw the paw of a lion? How do you make a human face look and seem realistic? Even though so much of a landscape is green, how can you tell the difference between the leaves, the stems, the flowers, and the grass? How could you explain and describe, in words and pictures, something that you can see and observe that others are unable to see and observe?
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