Drawing clothing with middle school

 

My sixth graders produced these wonderful drawings in the fall. 

It was an introduction to drawing pencils, shading, value, drawing from life/observational drawing. To get them engaged right off the bat, students could bring in an article of clothing they wanted to draw (I discouraged ones with large logos/cartoons, or complicated patterning). 

We then hung them from the ceiling! 

The focus was on drawing the folds, wrinkles, and nuances of the fabric. 

I emphasized that clothing without a human body inside of it will look different than if someone was wearing the garment so it was important to draw what they see rather than what they think it should look like. 

Lastly, to add a bit of color, but to continue with the pencil train- the kids used watercolor pencils to fill in the background. They had to choose colors that would blend together.