Scale and Proportion | Studio Art Teaching Resources

Learning Outcomes

Students will be able to utilize a grid to aid with drawing at scale.
Students will be able to demonstrate an understanding of size, scale and proportion.
Students will be able to demonstrate a basic understanding of Surrealism.

Materials

1 sheet of 9″ by 12″ Bristol Board
Ruler
Photograph, printed image or magazine image
Drawing materials – either graphite or colored pencils
Old school glue stick (not hot glue)

Sketchbook

Watch videos that are linked below.
Take notes on vocabulary words and research links (at the bottom) in your sketchbook.
Complete Steps 1-3 in the Project section then –
1. Brainstorm! If you made the object in your image larger, how would it change the context? What about smaller? If the object in your image was next to an ocean, riding a giant french fry or standing tall above everyone else, how would our interpretation of that image change? Feel free to pull other source material into your sketchbook. Do several quick, rough sketches to work out ideas. These don’t need to be perfect – you’re just trying to sort the meh ideas from the wow ideas. Sketches can include photos, drawings, digital work.

Project

Overview – You will be collaging an object from a photo onto a sheet of paper and then drawing on the rest of the paper to change the scale or proportions of the original object.

This assignment is an exercise in understanding how proportion and scale can be used to inform our understanding of a work of art. Large works, particularly sculpture, can intimidate or inspire while smaller drawings may imply intimacy. I encourage you to get creative and not to be afraid of humor.

Check out the examples below under research and then come back. Cool? Cool.
Before you go looking for an image (Step 3) decide first if you want to work in color or black and white. If you have never used colored pencils before, stick with black and white and graphite. We will cover colored pencils and color theory extensively in the next assignment.
Find an image of a real object, person, place or thing. No images of fictional things or illustrated works. You can use something that you found online, a magazine or your own photo. Print out your image or tear it out of a magazine. If you’re working with graphite make sure to print the image in black and white. Colored pencils? Print it in color. The photographic image should account for no more than 20% of your final work. The rest will be drawing.
Sketchbook time! Look at number 3 in the sketchbook section above. Once you are done come back here.
Once you have some good ideas, cut your image as close to the object as possible. Use an exacto knife if you have one but scissors can work if you take your time. Determine where on your sheet of paper your object needs to go and using the glue stick, apply glue to the back of the image. Press it down onto your sheet of paper and make sure to get it nice and smooth. A credit card or ID wrapped in a shirt can help get it flat.
Now start drawing. Think about how you will move from the photograph to the section that you’re drawing. How will you make it look like one cohesive piece?
You will need to fill the entire sheet of paper so get creative.

Vocabulary

Words to know – system, grid, size, relative, scale, anamorphic distortion, ratio, proportion, Surrealism.

A “system” is simply an orderly way of doing something. Art that seems to result from the application of a specific procedure, from repeated use of a pattern or set of patterns, or from adherence to a body of rules is sometimes referred to as “systemic art” or “systems” art.

A “grid” is understood, in most instances, as a system of fixed horizontal and vertical divisions. Grids are among the most adaptable and universally applicable of all systems. Any flat shape, no matter how irregular, can be conceived of in terms of what mathematicians would call X (horizontal) and Y (vertical) axes. The regularity of a grid can be used as an aid in copying, in scale or proportional changes, or to reveal complicated relationships within a work of art.

“Proportion” is a relationship or ratio between parts of a given whole. “Size” is a quantitative description of an object that only makes sense in relationship to either another object or an agreed upon standard of measurement. (e.g., something is “big” only in relationship to something already agreed to be “small.”) “Scale” is a proportional relationship between two sets of dimensions. In general, “scale” refers to the mathematical relationship between an object and a measurable quantity. We say that an object is “full-scale” when it corresponds 1:1 with real life. If the same object is rendered such that any part of it is one-half the length of the original object, we understand this to be at “half scale” or 1:2. One quarter the length would be “quarter scale”, 1:4, or 1/4th scale.

Research