Thoughtful Mark Making
By Paula Briggs
This week in the AccessArt Art Club for ages 6 to 10, we started with a mark making exercise to help the children understand the importance of looking when drawing, and also of thinking, to help build their confidence in making creative decisions during the drawing process.
Teachers can read key points about this activity in a classroom setting by clicking the links below.
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Click to Read: Using Thoughtful Mark Making in a Classroom Setting
The Thoughtful Mark Making is a great exercise to introduce to children, and one which can be usefully referred to in future drawing lessons. It is suitable for all ages from 5 upwards. Benefits include:
- Helps children develop mark making skills to improve drawing outcomes.
- Helps children "look" more closely.
- Helps children understand how they can use a single drawing medium in many different ways.
- Helps children become confident in making their own creative and informed "drawing decisions".
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You Will Need...
- A set of cards with different marks on: Simply fold and tear a sheet of paper until you have 8 or so "cards". On each make a particular type of mark: a dash, a dot, single line cross hatching etc...
- A sheet of paper for each child.
- An object to draw near each child: a fossil, a key, a piece of fruit, or a feather...
- A handwriting pen or a sharp B pencil for each child.
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Summary of the Exercise
- This exercise will take between five and fifteen minutes*.
- Invite the children to look carefully at the subject matter (which should be a single object placed near to each child).
- Hold up a card and invite the children to begin to draw their object, using only the type of mark on that card.
- Repeat with each card until the children have made a single drawing comprising lots of different types of marks.
*Read from the "Thoughtful Mark Making" section down the page.
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