I have always tended to lean towards the darker side of things. Whether that be films, literature, art, games or whatever, if there are dark, or horror themes I am on board. So for me there was no choice but to choose the spiral workshop, Drawing Danger: Making Monsters. This workshop does much deeper than just drawing monsters. Instead students come away with an awareness of how the portrayal of monsters and deviations spur from modern societal element. Below is the workshop’s mission statement.

Mission Statement

The mission of the Drawing Danger: Making Monsters group was to investigate contemporary culture through monster metaphors. We operated in the space between fear and desire. Through the study of the monster genre in stories, images, and movies, the students gained awareness that political, cultural, racial, sexual, and economic differences tend to be portrayed as monstrous deviations from a comfortable normalcy.

The students experimented with shading, color, and composition to create monstrous effects. Recognizing that fearfulness is often signaled by dramatic conventions, the students developed an “elements and principles of horror.” Elements include the many monsters of myth and contemporary culture—from Grendell to Freddie Kruger.  Principles included such fear signals as dripping blood, seeing the shadow of an unseen figure, a stormy night, or a dangling phone.

Drawing Danger: Making Monsters explored the relationship between fear and attraction, between self and other. We gained a greater understanding of how culture constructs and uses monsters to contain its deepest fears. We also learned that “The Monster Always Escapes.”

– Making Monsters Faculty: Nick Gorisch & Abby Neisendorf 2005 Spiral Workshop Directors: Olivia Gude & Jessica Poser

Drawing monsters is not a new concept to me, but the idea of bringing this this theme and relating it to social and cultural themes, while fitting in elements and principles of design through the use of colour, shadow and atmosphere has never crossed my mind. This makes what would have probably been Halloween themed exercise in my own classroom, into what can now be a fully flushed out unit. I only wish I had looked into this workshop sooner so I could have integrated it into my semester plan. Luckily, this is only the beginning of my semester and unit plan journey, and I will have many years to play around with these exciting ideas.

To end off I wanted to share a couple of monster watercolor painting I did a little while ago.

Nymph, watercolor, By Rena Kanya

Vampire, watercolor, by Rena Kanya

Siren, watercolor, by Rena Kanya