Teaching artist Katherine Hocker takes students through the process of creating a true-to-life illustration of a found object that inspires curiosity and wonder in the artist.

Vocabulary You Will Learn:

• Drawing cycle—A method for creating true-to-life drawings that involves observing, planning, practicing, and drawing.

Materials You Will Need:

• Pencil with eraser
• A piece of paper or sketchbook
• An object that inspires your curiosity

How to Create an Illustration of a Found Object Using the Drawing Cycle

1. First, you need to find an object that inspires curiosity and wonder in you. This can be an object in your home, or one that you find outside, such as a leaf, a pine cone, or a stick.
2. The next step, which is the first step in the drawing cycle, is to observe your object. Look at your object closely for several moments and take in all the details about it, both big and small.
3. Step two in the drawing cycle is to plan your drawing. Look at your object and decide where on the paper you will draw it, how big the drawing will be, and which part of the object you will draw first.
4. Next, begin step three in the drawing cycle: practice. Practice how you will draw your object by tracing it with your finger in the same way you are planning to draw it, starting with the part of the object you will draw first. This teaches your hand how to draw the lines and shapes that your eyes are seeing.

5. Now it’s time to draw your object! Follow the plan that you made for how to draw your object and sketch it on the paper. 
6. Next, you’ll go back and add any details that you see on your object that aren’t included in your drawing. You’ll do this by repeating the drawing cycle: observe the object again, plan which details you will add and how, practice creating the drawing with your finger, and then put the details on paper. Repeat this until the drawing is as detailed as you would like it to be.
7. Finally, you’re going to add some written questions to the drawing. Take a look at your object and your drawing and write down any questions that you have about it. For example, why is your pine cone missing a portion? Or, why is your leaf the color that it is? These questions can inspire further inspiration and investigation.

In this video, Katherine teaches us how to create an illustration of a found object using the drawing cycle, which involves observing, planning, practicing, and, finally, drawing our object. If you want to go even further, think about these questions: 

• How did the questions that you came up with after finishing your drawing inspire you to investigate further? Could you find some of the answers to your questions by observing and drawing a different object? 
• How many times did you find yourself going through the drawing cycle to add detail to your picture? Do you think that you could have gone through the cycle even more times to add greater detail to your drawing?
• Why do you think it’s important to go through the drawing cycle each time you want to add more detail to your picture? What do you think would happen if you just drew more detail without going through all four steps of the cycle?
• How do you think real, professional scientists use methods like the drawing cycle to investigate different phenomena? How do you think it helps them discover new scientific information?

Accessibility

Don’t forget that you can turn on “Closed Captioning” to view the YouTube video with English captions.

More about the Teaching Artist

Katherine Hocker (she/her) is a science illustrator from Gustavus, Alaska, who teaches as an artist-in-residence in schools, typically through grants from the Alaska State Council on the Arts. As a teaching artist, Katherine’s mission is to inspire students to use art to observe the world more closely, make connections with what they observe, build on those connections to learn more, and share what they learn with others. She approaches these goals by teaching life drawing and science illustration as tools for science learning. Explore more of her art at https://katherinehocker.art/.

Kennedy Center Education provides resources and experiences that inspire, excite, and empower students and young artists, plus the tools and connections to help educators incorporate the arts into classrooms and learning spaces of all types.

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Generous support for educational programs at the Kennedy Center is provided by the U.S. Department of Education.

Gifts and grants to educational programs at the Kennedy Center are provided by The Paul M. Angell Family Foundation; Bank of America; Capital One; The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation; Carnegie Corporation of New York; The Ednah Root Foundation; Genesis Inspiration Foundation; Harman Family Foundation; William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust; the Kimsey Endowment; The Kiplinger Foundation; Laird Norton Family Foundation; Lois and Richard England Family Foundation; Dr. Gary Mather and Ms. Christina Co Mather; The Markow Totevy Foundation; Dr. Gerald and Paula McNichols Foundation; The Morningstar Foundation; Myra and Leura Younker Endowment Fund; The Irene Pollin Audience Development and Community Engagement Initiatives;

Prince Charitable Trusts; Dr. Deborah Rose and Dr. Jan A. J. Stolwijk; Rosemary Kennedy Education Fund; The Embassy of the United Arab Emirates; The Victory Foundation; The Volgenau Foundation; Jackie Washington; GRoW @ Annenberg and Gregory Annenberg Weingarten and Family; and generous contributors to the Abe Fortas Memorial Fund and by a major gift to the fund from the late Carolyn E. Agger, widow of Abe Fortas. Additional support is provided by the National Committee for the Performing Arts..

The content of these programs may have been developed under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education but does not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education. You should not assume endorsement by the federal government.