Cylinders: Circles to Ellipses

Observation of Curvature of Line

BELLWORK:

IN YOUR SKETCHBOOK:

  • Date and Label "Circle & Ellipse Warm UP"
  • Practice drawing circles and ellipses
  • Make some rectangles and triangles to put them in
  • The movement comes from your shoulder not your wrists

Objectives:

I CAN:

  • Observe degrees of curvature in lines for a still life
  • Learn to draw contour lines, circles and ellipses
  • Practice drawing cups using my knowledge of circles, ellipses and degrees of curvature

Curvature of a Circle

Circles are everywhere. And often, when we are looking at circles, we're looking at them tilted. Circles tilted become ellipses.

Take a Moment:

Use the polkadot handout at your table and curve it in different ways to observe how it changes circles into ellipses.

Then we will practice making circles and ellipses together.

So What is an ELLIPSE?

In ART, in terms of perspective drawing, an ellipse is what we see when we view a circle from its edge, rather than from directly overhead.

Math has formulas and vocabulary for ellipses as well. But for our purposes, an ellipse is a circle seen from different points of view.

Viewpoint

Depending on your point of view the curvature of the lines change

Activity: practice drawing circles & ellipses. Practice drawing ellipses at different eye levels.

Drawing Curved Lines & Ellipses: Practice swinging your arm from the elbow & mostly the shoulder. Keep your movements free & loose. Begin making a circle-go round & round until you get it right. Remember to draw lightly! After you have a good circle begin making a series of ellipses beginning almost the size of a circle and progressively squashing to become thinner. Circles change into ellipses when our point of view of the object changes. If we look directly down at a cylinder, like a cup, we will see a full circle. As we lower our position to one side, the opening becomes more & more of an ellipse until we cannot see inside the cylinder any longer. At eye level, the ellipse appears to be a straight line

Learn to See Like an Artist:

Observing how much a line curves. Observe how the curvature of a line changes with your point of view of an object. Notice how the ellipses as well as the bottom lines on the cups change as the point of view changes.

Sketch Activity:

Drawing Cylinders & Cylindrical Objects: To draw a cylinder,

start with center line or axis.

Then draw the ellipse at the right angles to the center line. Draw side diagonal lines connecting the edges of the ellipse down toward the bottom so they are equal distance from the axis line. Turn your paper if it makes it easier to draw the straight lines. finally add a curved line at the bottom.
Sketchbook Activity: Draw a cylinders, practice drawing Styrofoam cups

Day 2 Objectives:

I CAN:

  • Apply my knowledge of ellipses and cylinders to draw a still life of cups
  • Use my observational skills to draw a still life
  • Shade my still life of cups using a range of values and contour shading

Perspective

If you remember basic perspective....then think about how the cup relates to the horizon line. What do you notice in this illustration? How are the straight lines on the cup angled?

Assignment and Submission:

For the remainder of class you will practice drawing the styrofoam cups at your table. You may move your own position to get a different viewpoint before starting, but once you start drawing you must keep the same viewpoint.

  • Capture your viewpoint of the cup using your understanding of ellipses and curvature of lines
  • Use contour lines & shading
  • Use class time wisely and good craftsmanship

At the end of class you will photograph this and submit your progress.