Following on from the last exercise when we explored “drawing small“, this exercise gives you the chance to make much freer, larger drawings.

It’s up to you what “large” means to you. It will depend on the space and materials you have, and might just be 4 pieces of A4 stuck together, or you may have some old wall paper that you can draw on the back of, or even an old white board you could use. The important thing is that instead of feeling like you are making tight, small drawings, you feel like you are able to make drawings which are looser, and, most importantly, that when you draw you can feel yourself using your whole arm is moving at the shoulder and the elbow, as well as the wrist.

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Pathway: Gestural Drawing with Charcoal

Featured in the ‘Gestural Drawing with Charcoal Pathway’

Session Recording: exploring Charcoal

Molly Hausland

The ancient art of konan

A collection of imagery and sources which you can use to prompt drawing in schools and community groups. 

Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control. 

Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate. 

We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks. 

Nests

Use the film below to enable children to explore drawing nests. Try to create a sense of momentum – for example you might pause the video 4 times and ask the pupils to make a 1 minute, 2 minute, 3 minute and 4 minute drawing at each pause. 

Encourage close and slow looking by talking as they draw – use your voice to attract their attention to qualities of the nest.

Try the same exercise using different materials, ie handwriting pen, ink and nib, pastel, watercolour…

Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge, Davis, United States. Original public domain image from Wikimedia Commons

Bird nest hanging on a tree. Free public domain CC0 photo.

Birds nest in tree, nature photography. Free public domain CC0 image.

Birds nest in tree, nature photography. Free public domain CC0 image.

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Pathway: Sculpture, Structure, Inventiveness & determination

This is featured in the ‘Sculpture, Structure, Inventiveness & Determination’ pathway

using sketchbooks to make visual notes

Find out how pupils can respond to artists work in sketchbooks

Show me what you see

Enable close looking and drawing with this exercise

A collection of imagery and sources which you can use to prompt drawing in schools and community groups. 

Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control. 

Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate. 

We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks. 

This resource is free to access and is not a part of AccessArt membership.

Drone Footage Over Natural Landscape

Use the film below as source material to enable an exploration of drawing natural landscapes. You can also try to find drone footage of your own environment, or that of areas relating to projects you are covering in school.

Pause the footage at points which catch your eye and invite the children to make timed drawings – 15 minutes, 10 minutes, 5 minutes, 2 minutes or 1 minute. 

Vary the drawing materials you use and work in sketchbooks or sheets of paper of different sizes and textures. You may also like to make multiple line drawings over one page – each with a different colour or line weight, to describe different pause points in the same film to capture a moving landscape. 

Dixie National Forest, Utah

Howqua Hills, Australia

Reading, UK

The Netherlands

This Source Material Features in…

Pathway: Cloth, thread, paint

This is featured in the ‘Cloth, Thread, Paint’ pathway

Pathway: Mixed Media Land and city scapes

This is featured in the ‘Mixed Media Land and City Scapes’ pathway

using sketchbooks to make visual notes

Show me what you see

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Pathway: Exploring the world though mono print

This is featured in the ‘Exploring The World Through Mono print’ pathway

Drawing Large

Many thanks to accessArt Young Artist Rowan Briggs Smith

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Pathway: Exploring pattern

This is featured in the ‘Exploring Pattern’ pathway

Talking points: Andy Gilmore

talking points: Louise Despont

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Visual Arts Planning Collections: Portraits

Assessment & Progression