Art Sub Plans for Middle and High School, 12 One-Page Drawing Projects, No Prep Art Lessons for a Sub Tub and Early Finishers

Out sick tomorrow? One page per student and your art class draws all period. These no prep art sub plans for middle and high school work as emergency sub plans, an art sub tub or art early finishers: 12 one-page drawing projects, each with a photo-style picture for every step and a finished example. Every project teaches one real art skill, like one-point perspective, value and shading, proportion, contour line or symmetry, in 45 to 60 minutes with pencil, paper and colored pencils: no paint, no tech, no videos or links. Print and go for a planned absence, a sick day, or a substitute teacher who has never taught art.

Perfect For

• Emergency sub plans: a sick day, a family emergency, a last-minute meeting
• A planned absence of one day or several: a new project each day
• Your art sub tub or sub binder, ready before you need it
• Early finishers in any art class
• A substitute who does not know art: students work alone from the page

How It Works

1. Pick any project. They work in any order, on any day.
2. Fill in the three lines on the note to the substitute: today’s project, where the supplies are, and where finished work goes.
3. Copy the project page (one per student, or one per table to share) and have white paper ready. Four projects also use a template page.
4. Students follow the numbered steps and pictures on their own. Anyone who finishes early does the “Make it your own” extension, then a reflection slip.
5. The sub collects the drawings and slips and fills in the completion checklist. The rubric works for every project.

The 12 Drawing Projects

• One-Point Perspective Hallway: linear perspective and the vanishing point, about 50 minutes
• 3D Block-Letter Name: form, depth and shading, about 50 minutes
• Blind Contour Portraits: observation and contour line, about 45 minutes (partner work)
• Grid Enlargement Drawing: proportion and scale, about 50 minutes (template page)
• Tessellation Tile: repeating pattern and shape, about 55 minutes (template page, scissors and tape)
• Shaded Sphere and Cast Shadow: value, light and shadow, about 45 minutes (template page)
• Impossible Shapes: illusion and geometric drawing, about 50 minutes
• City Skyline at Sunset: color gradient and silhouette, about 45 minutes
• Symmetry Creature: bilateral symmetry and invented form, about 50 minutes
• Six-Panel Comic Strip: visual storytelling and sequence, about 60 minutes (template page)
• Shoe Contour Drawing: observational drawing and detail, about 50 minutes (each student’s own shoe)
• My Dream Room From Above: plan view, scale and design, about 55 minutes

What’s Inside: 23 Pages

• A note to the substitute with fill-in lines, a project index (skill, time, supplies, template and page number for each project) and a supplies checklist for you
• 12 one-page student project pages: the art skill, the time, the supplies, a large finished example, 5 or 6 numbered steps each with a photo-style picture, a tips line, and a “Make it your own” extension that stretches the project to a 90-minute block
• 4 template pages: grid enlargement source picture and big grid, tessellation starter squares, value scale and sphere, six-panel comic strip
• A grading rubric that fits any project (4 criteria, 4 levels, scored out of 16) and a completion checklist for the sub
• Student reflection slips, 4 per page

Here is a quick look at the pack: