EXAMPLES & NON-EXAMPLES

Sometimes when teaching a new technique, it is helpful to show students both examples and "non-examples," what it looks like, and what it is NOT. This page is a small collection of my middle school examples/non-examples. If you have some technique tutorials you would like to share, email me! 


                   1. TECHNIQUE: CLAY RELIEF                                                (MIDDLE SCHOOL: Anna Nichols)

RELIEF TILES WITH TEXTURE: teacher examples by Anna

• The bird on the far left is the "non-example;" it is drawn/scratched into the clay. 
• The middle example is sculpted in relief but is not textured - it also is a "non-example"
• The parrot on the far right is the example; it is sculpted in relief and has feather and leaf textures pressed into the clay. 
• I made 2 of these tiles before school one morning and then made the 3rd during a demonstration for my first class. I re-made one tile as a demonstration for each of the rest of the classes; from start to finish it only took about 5 minutes to sculpt.

This middle school assignment was to sculpt an animal in relief either as a flat tile or on the side of a hand-built vessel. Students began the project by studying pictures of the animal (real or fantasy) of their choice as well as drawing thumbnail sketches. Advanced students created a "zoomorphic vessel," combining an animal sculpture with a hand-built container. All students studied Pre-Columbian culture and zoomorphic vessels at the start of the unit. 

2. TECHNIQUE: "REALISTIC" PAINTING
(MIDDLE SCHOOL: Anna Nichols)

This is a bulletin board I made a few years ago for my students to see examples of common painting mistakes. We painted variations of a "pumpkin" still-life and learned how to use complementary colors, how to blend paint to create texture and gradations, how to apply light and shadow, and how to keep edges clean. 

Below is a teacher example and a student example of "good" technique:

TEACHER EXAMPLE by Anna

8th GRADE STUDENT EXAMPLE

Here are some illustrations I painted for the bulletin board that show some common painting mistakes (when the artist wants the piece to look somewhat realistic). Ironically, my favorite of all these paintings is the "non-example" that has "messy edges and no clear distinction between objects" below and to the right; I love the furious movement of the paint strokes! 

TEACHER NON-EXAMPLE

TEACHER NON-EXAMPLE

TEACHER NON-EXAMPLE

TEACHER NON-EXAMPLE

TEACHER NON-EXAMPLE

TEACHER NON-EXAMPLE

2.TECHNIQUE: LINEAR PERSPECTIVE

(MIDDLE SCHOOL: Anna Nichols)

Below are two examples of common mistakes: I created these drawings after watching many middle school students over the years attempt to draw the school hallway. Kids forgot to use the vanishing point when drawing the wall tiles and ceiling lights (sometimes the top of a door would be drawn with a horizontal line, too). The second drawing shows an example of doors drawn at varying heights instead of at a uniform height. 

Teacher non-example/"Mistake Page"