So, the first theme I would like your assistance on is that of Robotics.... This is for a Year 10 GCSE group, but I'm happy if you would like to work along and help develop this. The theme really is unimportant.... what I aim to teach them is how to put together a good sketchbook.... Robotics just seems to fit that quite well.... At present, my pupils have been developing a title page.... this should encompass the theme whole heartedly, but also inform the viewer exactly what the subject is.... I guess a mixture of text and imagery.... (I shall post my version in a few days as I am still working on it). I should state at this stage that at no time throughout my education did I think it necessary to use a sketchbook. I was far to arrogant and pompous believing myself to be such a master that I could just create masterpieces without consideration or effort..... I now fully appreciate the value of drawing and the keeping of work journals - sketchbooks. As preparation for this task, I attempted to turn my pupils into robots and engaged them in a series of exercises so that they produced robotic style drawings.... perhaps you would like to have a go...? Set up a still life on a table of mechanical/robotic artefacts.... (I used parts of a striped down BSA motorbike engine kindly loaned by our caretaker at school). Prepare yourself with a variety of materials.... I'll list what they used for each exercise.... and use them to produce a series of studies made of the still life. 1. Draw your objects without taking your pencil off of the paper.... use a continuous line. (Illustrator/graphics pen. 15 minutes). 2. Cut a shape in card and continually draw around it to create your still life. (Colouring pencils and I showed pupils work from the Futurist art movement. 30 minutes). 3. Tie a crayon onto the end of a 3 foot garden cane and without bending your arm, holding the cane as far away from the crayon as possible, draw your subject. (Crayon and referenced the work of Cy Twombly. 15 minutes). 4. Use only scissors and Pritt stick to draw your subject. (No cheating.... you're cutting drawing. 15 minutes). 5. Drip ink and rotate your paper to create an image of your still life. (15 minutes). 6. Draw your objects without looking at your paper. Be honest.... if you look, start again. (Nicked directly from Start Art issue 6! B pencil. 15 minutes). 7. Drawing using toy cars as paint brushes. (Referencing the work of Ian Cook, white paint on black paper. 15 minutes). Obviously there is a huge variety of exercises to go along with this. I could have got them to:- Only draw using straight lines, Only draw by going from left to right to left to right etc -backwards and forwards, Repeating images/prints, repetitive mark making, Hole-punch paintings, Dot paintings, Photocopy montages, 2 minute drawings. The objective wasn't necessarily accurate drawings but drawings that could have been made by a robot! What would you have done? I would love for you to add to my list. How would you draw like a robot? What does the theme "Robotics" mean to you? What objects would you choose to put into your still life? If I have time tomorrow, I'll try and add some images of my pupils work as well as my title page.... Till then....