Today is Drawing Day 08. The organizers of the event have encouraged us to “drop everything and draw”. The goal is for artists around the world to create and share 1 million drawings today. Meeting that goal is less important than raising awareness of the possibilities and opportunities that exist. I agree with the organizers’ assertion that, “the internet is an open canvas” for creative expression.

Art is a “subject” that deserves to be taught in schools, but I believe there is much more to it than that.

While I’m no expert on UDL, I’m becoming an increasingly passionate proponent. Universal Design for Learning is the approach to education that intentionally supports the diverse learning needs of ALL learners, regardless of learning style, aptitude, physical access challenges, or any other potential barrier. For all learners to have any hope of success, there are three essential requirements:

• multiple means of representation
• multiple means of action and expression
• multiple means of engagement

I believe there are learners for whom art is an indispensable component of all three–representation, expression and engagement. With digital media, it is now realistic to offer learners multiple options for artistic expression. Learners can use their artistic aptitude, and/or available digital tools, not just for creative expression, but to demonstrate and share what they know. There is also an infinite range of convenient ways that art can be used to present information and to engage learners in our classrooms.

Many of the resources I have written about on this blog can be used to create and/or share art of one form or another. A few such posts that stand out in my memory are Viscosity, Glogster, Sketchcast, and artPad. As a result of Drawing Day 08, I’ve discovered several wonderful digital art resources that are new to me. I intend to begin a series of reviews here soon.

One of the new art resources I discovered this week is Mutapic. I used it to create my own submission for Drawing Day, and I’ve shared that below.

Viscosity describes itself as a “modern art generator”. The term generator may give a mistaken impression. While Viscosity allows you to generate a creation with ease, it also provides tools that can be used skillfully to great effect. Skill, of course, requires learning and practice. Full size versions of the art work below can be seen in Viscosity’s gallery. Each of these pieces involved considerable effort and no small measure of skill.

“Desert Rose” by Ahmed and “Arctic Seagul” by LOL

“Revolutions” by fra

Viscosity’s interface has been well designed, and its tools are easy to learn and use. For a great overview and demonstration, I highly recommend Molly McDonald’s 5-minute screencast at DemoGirl.com. Viscosity has made it easy to download your creations in .png format. Once downloaded, you can print a hard copy, convert the file format, and share your work in any way you choose. Each piece of art, of course, has its own URL so that it can be viewed by anyone anywhere.