Illustration
Training Exercises and Resources

In this exercise, delegates practice giving precise and useful instructions. It helps with communication skills, especially within teams where people work closely with each other. Delegates also learn the value of feedback and how lack of feedback can slow down the communication process significantly.

This exercise is different from the standard exercises in this area. In a standard exercise, a delegate is supposed to describe a diagram and the other person is supposed to draw it based on the descriptions given. In some variations of this exercise, it is often the case that the describer can see what the illustrator is drawing and provide corrective feedback. In addition, the describer is also usually told not to talk directly what the image is and instead just describe it.

In this exercise, the difference is that the describer cannot see what is being drawn so can only respond to questions asked by the person who is drawing. In addition, there is no restriction on the type of communication made. For example, if the diagram is a square and the describer is supposed to explain it, he can simple say it is a “square” rather than explaining the shapes such as “4 equal lines connecting to each other at right angles” and then continue to expand on this to make sure the illustrator gets it right.

As a trainer, this exercise gives you an opportunity to cover topics such as making assumptions, how to give precise and clear instructions and how to help when a person cannot see what the other person is doing and needs to rely purely on the quality of the communication.

Knowing how to communicate well with others is an essential skill.

Here, you will be introduced to several communication skills exercises suitable for kids and young adults. The way you run these exercises highly depends on the age of your audience so you will need to adjust them as necessary.

In this exercise, delegates get to practice making a TV advertisement. The aim is for the delegates to think creatively and quickly with given resources and come up with an effective ad for a new product launch.

The exercise is useful for practicing art, marketing skills, management skills and creativity skills. The given scenario makes the exercise entertaining and realistic so the results are also meaningful.

In this exercise, delegates practice a visual brainstorming technique known as Brain Sketch (VanGundy 1988). The aim of this technique is to encourage visual solutions in isolation and also facilitates systematic exchange of ideas for creative problem solving.

Use this exercise to get a group of people work on a common illustration exercise. This can be used as an icebreaker to make the group feel more comfortable with each other and also assess the competency of each person in drawing or painting. The group’s work leads to a final piece that everyone has equally contributed to which can then be kept to represent the class for future sessions or even to show off to external visitors. This exercise scales up quite easily for a large group as well, so it is ideal if you have a large audience and want to engage them in an illustration activity.

In this brainstorming exercise delegates learn to come up with ideas separately and then together as a large group. The brainstorming technique helps those who are more comfortable in smaller groups to contribute while still taking advantage of large group creativity and brainstorming.

This drawing exercise is ideal for art classes on life drawing, or making illustration. The drawing results are often inspiring, helping delegates learn more about drawing techniques. This exercise also allows you to explore the topic further.

This exercise helps the delegates practice visualising a given statement. In the process they will practice composition, working with limited resources, working under time pressure, making a visual story and get to exercise their creative expression and style.

In this creative exercise, delegates get to use their illustration skills and imagination in making new creatures that resemble known animals. It is a great exercise to use the power of imagination and encourage participants to be as bold and imaginative as they can. It is also a suitable activity for kids to help them exercise their drawing skills creatively.

This standard exercise is ideal to get a group of delegates practice drawing from life without using a specific model.