Project Description:
In this mixed media art project, students will imagine what lies beyond a mysterious keyhole. The artwork will be divided into two contrasting areas: the world outside the keyhole, drawn using black ink, and the scene inside the keyhole, created using colored pencils. This project will encourage storytelling through art while teaching students how to use two different media to convey mood, contrast, and depth.

Project Goals:
Creativity & Storytelling: Encourage imaginative thinking by having students invent a scene or world that could exist behind a closed door.

Technical Skill with Media: Develop proficiency in ink techniques (e.g., line work, hatching, stippling) and colored pencil techniques (e.g., layering, blending, shading).

Contrast & Composition: Use the difference in media to create visual contrast and focus, with the colorful keyhole drawing the viewer's eye.

Framing & Perspective: Use the shape of a keyhole to frame a scene, guiding the viewer’s perspective and enhancing composition.

Project Steps:
Step 1: Brainstorm & Plan

Discuss the idea of secrecy and hidden places—What might you see if you peek through a keyhole?
Sketch 2–3 thumbnail ideas that explore different possible scenes (realistic or imaginative).
Choose the most compelling idea and refine it in a more detailed sketch.

Step 2: Final Composition

Lightly draw a large keyhole shape in the center (or off-center) of the final drawing paper.
Sketch the outer scene (what’s visible outside the keyhole) and the inner scene (what’s seen through the keyhole).

Step 3: Ink Techniques

Use black ink pens to draw and texture the outside of the keyhole (the surrounding area).
Focus on using techniques such as hatching, cross-hatching, and stippling to add depth and detail.

Step 4: Color Pencil Techniques

Inside the keyhole, use colored pencils to render the imagined scene.
Focus on color blending, value, and mood to create a sense of depth and life inside the keyhole.

Step 5: Finishing Touches & Reflection

Clean up edges, add final details, and ensure the contrast between ink and color is effective.
Write a brief artist reflection or short paragraph:
What’s the story behind your keyhole? What mood or message did you want to express?

Demonstrate technical skill by applying a variety of ink techniques (e.g., hatching, stippling, contour line) to create texture and value.

Apply colored pencil techniques (e.g., layering, blending, shading) to develop color, form, and depth.

Combine two media (ink and colored pencil) effectively within a single composition to create contrast and visual interest.

Design a balanced composition using a keyhole as a framing device to focus the viewer’s attention and suggest perspective.

Develop original visual storytelling by creating a narrative or imaginative scene that contrasts the inside and outside of the keyhole.

Critique and reflect on their own and others' artworks using appropriate art vocabulary related to media, technique, and composition.

Rubrics have become popular with teachers as a means of communicating expectations for an assignment, providing focused feedback on works in progress, and grading final products. A rubric is a document that articulates the expectations for an assignment by listing the criteria, or what counts, and describing levels of quality from excellent to poor.

Value:
An element of art by which positive and negative areas are defined or a sense of depth achieved in a work of art.