Putting Yourself Between the Pages
Blind contour drawing of CAW Teaching Artist Ryan Davis by an IS 254 student
School’s out and sixth-grade students are arriving at Creative Art Works after-school Bookmaking program at IS 254 in The Bronx. As they finish their afternoon snacks, the students pepper CAW Teaching Artist Ryan Davis, and each other, with lots of random questions, ranging from the mundane to the profound. “What are vitamins?” “Why is soda bad for you when it tastes so good?” “If God created everything, who created God?”
As a warm up, Ryan asks his students to make some blind contour drawings in their sketchbooks.
“What are the three rules of blind contour drawings?” Ryan asks.
A hand shoots up and Emily answers, “No looking at your paper. No lifting your pencil off the paper. No stopping until time is up.”
They then create several quick drawings of their classmates and share a laugh at the results. This exercise may seem like a game, but it is actually used by serious artists to develop powers of observation and eye-hand coordination. It also teaches you to focus on the process and not get too wrapped up in the final results.
Ryan says his students are responding well to the projects in the class. They like the hands-on nature and are comfortable with tools and materials they’ve been using all their lives – paper and pencils, paint and brushes. But each project is designed with a thought-provoking question at its core.
For example, an early project was inspired by the “I Am” paintings by conceptual artist Glenn Ligon. Ligon was himself inspired by signs carried by protesters during the 1968 sanitation workers’ strike in Memphis, TN.
Ryan explains, “I challenged my students to make a book in which they express to the reader who and what they are. Once they made their books, I told them, ‘I’m going to hold you to your own words. You are responsible for being true to yourself.’”
“You are responsible for being true to yourself.”
Today, as students embark on a new project, there’s a lot of playfulness, including spontaneous singing of the YouTube viral hit “It’s Raining Tacos” by Parry Gripp.
As is typical for sixth-graders, Ryan is frequently called upon to redirect students who are easily distracted or frustrated and encourage them to stay on task. Students are learning patience, how to follow directions, and how to manage expectations. Ryan understands where they are coming from.
He says, “As a kid, I wanted to feel like a professional. I wanted to create art that could be on an album cover. Kids have a vision for what they want to create, and it can be intimidating when they realize it’s harder than they imagined. Some respond with frustration, but most power through it. I have to reassure them that they will eventually get it. In the meantime, everybody is trying their best.”
Wrestling with challenges teaches students to persevere, which is a vital skill for work and school.
Scroll down to see more examples of student work from this class.
CAW Teaching Artist Ryan Davis
Making accordion books during an earlier class
Accordion Books
Sketchbook Images
This Creative Art Works program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs through the Cultural After School Adventures (CASA) initiative, in partnership with the City Council and Council Member Oswald Feliz.
