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| Horse by Mara M. |
Fourth graders created these wonderful line drawings of horses in art. With all the busy patterns we used to fill our horses it was important that the silhouette of the animal be recognizable. To draw a realistic outline of a horse, we experimented with a few drawing techniques in class. One technique had us all laughing. We tried to draw a horse without looking at our papers (see examples below). These blind contour drawings were remarkably recognizable and many resemble the quick gesture drawings of Picasso! Then we tried drawing our horses upside down. This technique sounds strange, but it allowed us to observe the angles and shapes of the animal most accurately. Once our outline was complete we were ready to tackle the small patterns that filled the space.
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| Blind contour drawing of a horse by Alexander L. |
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| Blind contour drawing of a horse by Luke N. |
Our completed horse drawings were filled with line patterns called
Zentangles, a fancy word for a doodle that is formed with repetitive strokes. Zentangles are meant to be a peaceful exercise as the word "zen" implies. Once you decide to draw a certain type of line or a swirl, you simply repeat it a few times. You do not have to constantly make new decisions, just enjoy the art of repeating the lines you draw and the overall pattern they create. Not everyone chose to fill their horse with the patterns. As you can see by Saahil's drawing below, some students filled the background and left their horse white!
Zentangles could be considered a modern form of doodling, but detailed line patterns can be traced back in time to the decorative artwork of ancient cultures.
During the Medieval age, designs like these were used in manuscript illuminations, such as seen on the pages of the Book of Kells, an illuminated Gospel book written in Latin.
