Lesson 12

Finish the Eye & Dream It

Complete your tonal eye to gallery standard — then spark the surreal ideas it will star in.

👁️

→FINISH

→DREAM

💭

Learning Objective:

Complete a tonal eye drawing with a full value range
Annotate my work like an artist
Generate surreal ideas ready for my final piece

Key words: tone · value range · catchlight · annotation · juxtaposition · initial ideas

Teacher Print Tools

Pack: KO · finishing reference · quiz · sprint boxes + ideas sheet · scaffolds · exit · feedback.

Bridge

Grid ✏️ + Tone 🌑 — today we FINISH 🏁

Two lanes today. Missed last lesson? The Catch-Up lane gets you there fast. Already gridded? The Finish lane takes your eye to gallery standard.

Tell your partner: which lane are you in — and what is your FIRST move when the timer starts?

Everyone should be drawing within 60 seconds of the independent slide.

Retrieval Quiz

Arrival Task — Retrieval Quiz (Do Now)

Answer from memory. Everything you need for a strong finish.

1) What does tone mean?

The lightness and darkness of a colour.

2) Which part of the eye is the darkest?

The pupil (press with 6B).

3) What is the catchlight?

The bright white reflection — left as untouched paper.

4) What is gridding for?

Copying accurately, one small square at a time.

1) The five gridding steps, in order?

Tonal scale → grid → box-by-box outline → rub out grid → add tone.

2) The five tonal zones of the eye?

Catchlight, white of eye, iris, shadow under lid, pupil.

3) Which are all tonal techniques?

Blending, hatching, smudging (also layering, shading, lifting).

4) Who painted The False Mirror — a giant eye?

René Magritte.

1) Why build tone in layers rather than pressing hard at once?

Layers let you control the value; heavy pressure makes flat grey you cannot lighten.

2) What is a full value range?

Using everything from paper-white to true black — not just middle greys.

3) What does juxtaposition mean in Surrealism?

Placing unrelated things together to create a strange, dreamlike effect.

4) How does The False Mirror use juxtaposition?

He replaces the iris with a cloudy sky — an eye and a sky fused into one image.

I Do

I Do: Three Finishing Moves 🏁

The difference between "done" and "gallery-standard" is three moves. Reveal them one at a time.

Step 0 of 3watch each demo on the visualiser

1️⃣ Push the darks

Press a true 6B black into the pupil and lash roots. A real black makes every other tone read correctly.

2️⃣ Soften the edges

Blend the lid shadow into the white of the eye — no hard stripe. A cotton bud or clean finger, small circles.

3️⃣ Rescue the light

Corner of a rubber: lift the catchlight sharp and clean, and pull one thin bright line across the lower lid.

A finished eye is everything coloured in grey — it is paper-white light AND 6B black in the same drawing.

Annotation counts as art. Two sentences by your eye — what you did, what worked — turns a drawing into sketchbook evidence.

We Do

We Do: 60-Second Pencil Sprints 🏃💨

Warm up your hand before the big finish — on paper, in your book margin. Three sprints, sixty seconds each. Start each timer when the class is ready.

Sprint 1 · Scale

Six even steps, white → black.

01:00

Sprint 2 · Hatch

A hatched patch: sparse → dense.

01:00

Sprint 3 · Blend

One smooth gradient, no steps.

01:00

Rule of the sprint: pencils move the whole 60 seconds. Rough is fine — this is a warm-up, not a masterpiece.

We Do

We Do: The Surreal Combo Spinner 🎰

Before you settle in to finish — let's manufacture the IDEAS your final piece will need. Spin the reels, then everyone does a 60-second thumbnail sketch of the combo in the back of their book. Two rounds.

Your eye…

👁️ AN EYE

…meets

Spins: 0

Thumbnail rules: tiny (5 cm), rough, no rubber. The idea matters, not the neatness. Keep every thumbnail — they are your initial ideas evidence.

After round two: which combo would Magritte pick, and why?

Juxtaposition = two unrelated things fused into one strange image.

Independent Work

Independent Work — Finish Your Eye 👁️🏁

Pick your lane and go. 2B for mid tones, 6B for darks, rubber for light.

🏃 Catch-Up lane (Foundation / away last lesson)

1. Grid your page lightly.
2. Outline the eye box-by-box.
3. Rub out the grid, begin tone light → dark.
4. Leave the catchlight paper-white.

🏁 Finish lane (Middle / Higher)

☐ Move 1: true 6B black in the pupil
☐ Move 2: lid shadow blended soft
☐ Move 3: catchlight lifted clean
☐ Annotation: 2 sentences beside the eye
☐ Title added: Realistic Eye (or Surreal Eye)

Higher: add reflected light — a faint lighter curve at the bottom of the iris makes it read as a wet sphere.

🌟 Finished early? Photocopy-swap: draw a 3 cm mini-eye from memory in the corner — no reference, all recall.

Annotation starters: "I used ___ to create ___." · "The strongest part is ___ because ___." · "Next time I would ___."

Exit Ticket

Exit Ticket ✊

No notes. Show what stuck.

1) Which two tones must BOTH appear in a finished eye?

Paper-white (catchlight) and true black (pupil).

2) What goes in an annotation?

What you did and what worked (e.g. "I used blending to…").

3) Write one surreal eye idea from your spins.

Any combo, e.g. an eye with a galaxy iris.

1) Name the three finishing moves.

Push the darks (6B pupil), soften the edges (blend lid shadow), rescue the light (lift catchlight).

2) Why does a true black improve the whole drawing?

It anchors the value range so all the other tones read correctly against it.

3) What is a thumbnail sketch for?

Testing an idea quickly and roughly before committing to it.

1) Define juxtaposition and give one example from your spins.

Unrelated things fused for a dreamlike effect — e.g. an eye whose iris is a whirlpool.

2) How will your eye study feed your final piece?

It gives me the accurate, tonal eye that my surreal idea will be built around.

3) Which idea will you develop next lesson, and why?

Personal answer — the strongest combo with a reason (link to an artist counts double).

Knowledge Organiser (L12): Finish the Eye & Dream It

Name: ____________________ Class: __________ Date:

Learning objectives

Complete a tonal eye drawing with a full value range
Annotate my work like an artist
Generate surreal ideas ready for my final piece

Success criteria — tick when you can

☐ My pupil is a true 6B black ☐ My catchlight is clean paper-white ☐ My lid shadow is blended soft ☐ I wrote a 2-sentence annotation ☐ I have 2+ surreal eye thumbnails

Finishing move	How
1. Push the darks	True 6B black in the pupil and lash roots
2. Soften the edges	Blend the lid shadow — no hard stripe
3. Rescue the light	Lift the catchlight sharp with a rubber corner

Word	Meaning
Value range	Using everything from paper-white to true black
Annotation	Short notes explaining what you did and why
Juxtaposition	Unrelated things fused for a dreamlike effect
Thumbnail	A tiny, rough sketch used to test an idea fast
Initial ideas	Your first rough ideas page, sketches + notes

Key distinctions

Finished ≠ coloured in — finished = full value range + clean catchlight + annotation. Thumbnail = fast idea test; final idea = a developed drawing (next lesson).

Self-quiz — cover the answers, write, then check

The three finishing moves? — Push the darks, soften the edges, rescue the light.
What must an annotation say? — What you did and what worked.
What is juxtaposition? — Unrelated things fused into one strange image.

Common mark-losers

Grey pupil (never pressing 6B) · shading over the catchlight · no annotation next to the drawing · throwing away rough thumbnails (they are evidence!).

Memory hooks

"Darkest dark, lightest light — both in the same drawing." · "Annotate = what I did + what worked." · "Eye + anything = Surrealism."

Finishing reference — keep beside you

Zone	Finish check
Pupil	True black, 6B pressed
Iris	Mid tones + fine radiating lines
Catchlight	Untouched or rubber-lifted paper-white
Lid shadow	Soft blended band, no hard edge
White of eye	Light grey — never pure white

Golden rule: a drawing is finished when it holds paper-white AND true black at once.

Arrival Task — Retrieval Quiz (Do Now)

Foundation

1) What does tone mean?

2) Which part of the eye is darkest?

3) What is the catchlight?

4) What is gridding for?

Middle

1) The five gridding steps in order?

2) Name the five tonal zones of the eye.

3) Name three tonal techniques.

4) Who painted The False Mirror?

Higher

1) Why build tone in layers?

2) What is a full value range?

3) What does juxtaposition mean?

4) How does The False Mirror use juxtaposition?

Sprint boxes + Dream-It ideas sheet

Pencil sprints (60s each): scale · hatch · blend

Sprint 1 — tonal scale

Sprint 2 — hatching

Sprint 3 — blend

Surreal Combo thumbnails — sketch each spin combo, tiny and rough:

Combo 1: an eye + ______________

Combo 2: an eye + ______________

My strongest idea is combo ___ because…

Scaffolding – Foundation

Catch-Up order: grid → box-by-box outline → rub out → tone light to dark.

Darkest = pupil. Brightest = catchlight (leave the paper alone).

Annotation starter: "I used ______ to create ______."

Scaffolding – Middle

Finish order: darks first check (6B pupil) → blend lid shadow → lift catchlight → annotate.

Annotation = 2 sentences: what you did + what worked best.

Thumbnails: tiny, rough, no rubber — quantity beats neatness.

Scaffolding – Higher

Add reflected light: a faint lighter curve at the bottom of the iris = wet sphere.

In your annotation, use tone vocabulary: value range, contrast, blending, hatching.

Push one combo toward an artist: how would Magritte (juxtaposition) or Höch (cut-and-fuse) treat it?

Independent – Foundation

☐ Page gridded ☐ Outline box-by-box ☐ Grid rubbed out ☐ Tone begun light→dark ☐ Catchlight left white ☐ 1 combo thumbnail

Independent – Middle

☐ 6B pupil ☐ Lid shadow blended ☐ Catchlight lifted ☐ 2-sentence annotation ☐ Title added ☐ 2 combo thumbnails

Independent – Higher

☐ Full value range ☐ Reflected light in iris ☐ Annotation with tone vocabulary ☐ Title ☐ 2+ thumbnails, one linked to an artist

Exit Ticket – Foundation

1) Which two tones must both appear in a finished eye?

2) What goes in an annotation?

3) One surreal eye idea from your spins:

Exit Ticket – Middle

1) Name the three finishing moves.

2) Why does a true black improve the whole drawing?

3) What is a thumbnail sketch for?

Exit Ticket – Higher

1) Define juxtaposition + one example from your spins.

2) How will the eye study feed your final piece?

3) Which idea will you develop next lesson, and why?

Finished Eye — Feedback Sheet

Staple beside the finished eye page.

Pupil name:	Date:
Tier: F / M / H	Lane: Catch-Up / Finish

Craft checklist	Evidence checklist
☐ Full value range ☐ 6B pupil ☐ Soft lid shadow ☐ Clean catchlight	☐ Annotation (2 sentences) ☐ Title ☐ 2+ combo thumbnails kept

✅ What Went Well:

🔧 Even Better If:

Eye Complete — Idea Sparked!

Pencils down — quick partner check!

Finish the Eye & Dream It

Teacher Print Tools

Grid ✏️ + Tone 🌑 — today we FINISH 🏁

🏃 Catch-Up lane (were you away?)

Arrival Task — Retrieval Quiz (Do Now)

I Do: Three Finishing Moves 🏁

1️⃣ Push the darks

2️⃣ Soften the edges

3️⃣ Rescue the light

We Do: 60-Second Pencil Sprints 🏃💨

Sprint 1 · Scale

Sprint 2 · Hatch

Sprint 3 · Blend

We Do: The Surreal Combo Spinner 🎰

Independent Work — Finish Your Eye 👁️🏁

🏃 Catch-Up lane (Foundation / away last lesson)

🏁 Finish lane (Middle / Higher)

Exit Ticket ✊

Knowledge Organiser (L12): Finish the Eye & Dream It

Learning objectives

Success criteria — tick when you can

Key distinctions

Self-quiz — cover the answers, write, then check

Common mark-losers

Memory hooks

Finishing reference — keep beside you

Arrival Task — Retrieval Quiz (Do Now)

Foundation

Middle

Higher

Sprint boxes + Dream-It ideas sheet

Scaffolding – Foundation

Scaffolding – Middle

Scaffolding – Higher

Independent – Foundation

Independent – Middle

Independent – Higher

Exit Ticket – Foundation

Exit Ticket – Middle

Exit Ticket – Higher

Finished Eye — Feedback Sheet