Doodlebug Dabblings: exploring india ink

I try to introduce different materials in the drawing class for the students to explore ideas. This past week I was trying to help the students understand how breaking subjects down to basic shapes can help make drawing easier.

So we used india ink to find the basic shapes of a bear to create our 'drawings'.

We started on rice paper for our warm ups. I find this helps the students relax and explore without worrying that this is a final piece.

7 year old

I love how this student, eager to start drawing, had first created a bear drawing with just pen and then flipped the paper over to try it finding the bear shapes with the india ink and brush. Just look at the difference! And what a great idea for a final artwork with the two different styles, although not intentional I think the shadow as a line drawing is brilliant.

7 year old

Once they had their shapes on the rice paper with the india ink, I gave them the opportunity to explore how they could add more interest with line work for details. Isn't it cute how the bear looks like it is jumping based on where the artist placed the shadow?

They created several paintings on the rice paper and when they were feeling more confident I handed them some bristol paper to explore. The first thing they discovered was how different the ink could be manipulated on the paper.

7 year old

You can see how their confidence is now growing at this point as they began to create their own unique compositions. How sweet is this silhouette of a mama and baby bear?

7 year old

Or this one of a mama and baby trotting off to who knows where? This artist started to discover how to create values with the india ink using water and it's obvious these two students are good friends as they both began adding babies to the artwork.

Then I had them move on to trying to create a bear on watercolor paper. Again they quickly discovered how differently the ink was to work with on a different paper. The watercolor paper definitely allowed them to explore how to create values with the ink more easily.

And then finally they had the opportunity to create whatever they wanted. I had them start by just putting a shape on the paper with the ink and then finding the animal within the blob and adding shapes according.