Process and Product: Drawing

Part of Process and Product

Explore activities, ideas, and artworks to learn more about drawing techniques- and get inspired to create! This unit features a video with a contemporary working artist who makes drawings, image galleries of drawings from the National Gallery's collection, an explainer that dives into the basics of drawing, and a lesson for beginner experimentation with various drawing techniques. This resource is intended for grades 6-12.

Aurelia Arbo, Wrought Iron Balcony Rail, c. 1936, pen and ink and gouache on paper, Index of American Design, 1943.8.11864

Grade Level

Subject

Language

Hear From an Artist About His Work

In this video, artist Michael Booker discusses drawing and his approach to art as a form of healing.

After you watch the video, discuss these questions.

  • What is the source of the artist’s inspiration?
  • What does he see in a blank piece of paper?
  • What choices does he make as he draws?
  • What interests you about drawing?

Drawings From the National Gallery of Art

Artists depict subjects using different drawing tools and methods. Look at each of the groups of drawings and think about these questions.

  • How did the artist use scale, color, line, and shape?
  • Which tools were used to make a drawing?
  • Which steps did the artist take in making the drawing?
  • Where did the artist use drawing, hatching, or blending?
  • What feeling or story does each drawing communicate? Why do you think that?
  • What surprises or inspires you about these drawings?
Aurelia Arbo, Cast Iron Balcony Rail, c. 1936, pen and ink and gouache on paper, Index of American Design, 1943.8.11717
Aurelia Arbo, Cast Iron Bell, c. 1936, pen and ink on paper, Index of American Design, 1943.8.8679
Aurelia Arbo, Balcony Railing, 1935/1942, pen and ink and graphite on paper, Index of American Design, 1943.8.16979

Arelia Arbo (1909–1993), an artist and teacher in Louisiana, contributed to the Index of American Design, a project that documents the history of American arts and crafts. Her drawings record the artistry of architectural elements in her home state of Louisiana. 
 

Ralston Crawford, Eroded Conch Shell, 1947, pen and black ink on wove paper, Gift of Neelon Crawford, 2000.164.10
Ralston Crawford, Anchor, 1938, pen and black ink on wove paper, Gift of Neelon Crawford, 2001.133.1
Ralston Crawford, Lights and Plane Parts, 1940s, pen and black ink on wove paper, Gift of Neelon Crawford, 2001.133.20
Ralston Crawford, Dog Track, Sanford, 1938, pen and black ink and white gouache on wove paper, Gift of Neelon Crawford, 2001.133.3

Ralston Crawford (1906–1978) often explored the themes of cities, buildings, machines, and industrial life in his works. He experimented with different media, including drawing, painting, and photography. 
 

Donald Carlisle Greason, Bridge and Trees, 1959, pen and brown ink with gray and brown wash on wove paper, Rosenwald Collection, 1980.45.644
Donald Carlisle Greason, Gloucester, 1937, pen and black ink with brown and gray wash on wove paper, Rosenwald Collection, 1980.45.673
Donald Carlisle Greason, Shack on Inlet, 1937, pen and black ink with gray, green, and brown wash on wove paper, Rosenwald Collection, 1980.45.704
Donald Carlisle Greason, New Jersey Landscape, 1932, pen and black ink with brown wash and colored crayons on wove paper, Rosenwald Collection, 1980.45.689

Donald Carlisle Greason (1897–1981) was an artist and teacher in Massachusetts. He often focused on local landscapes in his drawings. 
 

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Educational Resource:  Process and Product: Drawing

Explore activities, ideas, and artworks to learn more about drawing techniques- and get inspired to create! This unit features a video with a contemporary working artist who makes drawings, image galleries of drawings from the National Gallery's collection, an explainer that dives into the basics of drawing, and a lesson for beginner experimentation with various drawing techniques. This resource is intended for grades 6-12.

The spruce-green silhouette of a broad-shouldered man standing among palm fronds looks up at a faint red star against a field of green circles radiating out from the horizon in this abstracted vertical painting. The scene is made with mostly flat areas of color to create silhouettes in shades of slate and indigo blue, lemon-lime and pea green, plum purple, and brick red. To our right of center, the man faces our left in profile. His eye is a slit and he has tight curly hair. The position of his feet, standing on a coffin-shaped, brick-red box, indicate his back is to us. He stands with legs apart and his arms by his sides. Terracotta-orange shackles around his wrists are linked with a black chain. A woman to our left, perhaps kneeling, holds her similarly shackled hands up overhead. A line of shackled people with their heads bowed move away from this pair, toward wavy lines indicating water in the distance. The water is pine green near the shore and lightens, in distinct bands, to asparagus green on the horizon. On our left, two, tall pea-green ships sail close to each other at the horizon, both titled at an angle to our right. Concentric circles radiate out from the horizon next to the ships to span the entire painting, subtly altering the color of the silhouettes it encounters. To our left, a buttercup-yellow beam shines from the red star in the sky across the canvas, overlapping the man’s face. Spruce-blue palm trees grow to our right while plum-purple palm fronds and leaves in smoke gray and blood red frame the painting along the left corners and edge. The artist signed the painting in the lower right, in black, “AARON DOUGLAS.”

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