Tiger in The Jungle Inspired By Henri Rousseau

I'm working on developing several Animal Themed art projects for my Art Camp this Summer.  I have always thought a Rousseau inspired project would be fun so I decided to give it a try.  

Rousseau's Paintings are very dreamlike and primitive.  He painted several jungle scenes even though he never traveled outside of France.  He wasn't formally trained in art and simply taught himself how to paint.  I'll show the students a few examples and then we'll do a directed drawing of the Tiger in pencil on Watercolor Paper.  It's pretty simple if you break it up into simple shapes:  a circle for the face, rounded triangles for the ears, triangle for the nose, etc...

Below is a video of the step by step drawing:

https://youtu.be/GtPtyB9yy_U

We'll discuss what parts of the tiger are white and what parts are orange, also the stripes down the forehead, across the cheeks and across the chest.

They'll outline their final drawing with black sharpie and then using just the orange, paint the outside of the ears, the face and chest, leaving the appropriate areas white.  I am going to have them paint along with me - I'll demonstrate and then they can do theirs.  I'm not trying to have them copy me, just that they understand how to work with the watercolor.

 After the orange is dry they can go in with black paint on a fine tip brush and go over the stripes with a ziggy zaggy brushstroke.  While they are waiting for the orange to dry we'll cut some leaves and flowers out of tissue paper.  The eyes and nose are yellow with a drop of orange put in while it's still wet.  If they get it too orange I'll show them how to squeeze the water out of a brush and use it to remove excess color.  Now they have practiced a watercolor wash, wet into wet, and removing excess pigment.

The final step is to use a glue stick and tissue paper to surround their tiger with jungle foliage.  A fierce and fun mixed media project!

Mother's Day Watercolor Cards

I think this is a cute project for Mother's Day!  

The students trace their hand on watercolor paper and then paint their Mother's portrait in watercolor to match her hair and eye color.

It's simple, but also a special keepsake for Mom.

Students can add a message to Mom in the area around the painting and of course sign and date their masterpiece.  

I found the idea on Pinterest and added the poem.  

I created a few examples so my students could see the different hair styles and hair and eye colors.

No Sew Lion Fleece Pillow

Continuing with my March is Wild theme I decided to finally try and make a Lion Pillow using fleece and tying the edges into knots for the Mane.  

I have seen the fleece blankets using the knot tying technique and also a lion pillow using this technique, but I hadn't tried it yet.

I created a pattern with brown kraft paper using 2 half circles.  The larger one is to cut the yellow and brown fleece on a fold, and the other is to center on top of the cut fleece and use to cut the strips around the fleece.  I unfolded the yellow and brown cut fleece circles and put the yellow on top of the brown just like the pillow would be.  Then I placed the smaller circle on half and cut the strips to the pattern about one inch wide.  When I finished the first half I moved the pattern to the other half and cut the rest of the strips.  Try and cut the two layers together so they are identical.

Next I tied the yellow and brown strips together with a simple knot around the edges.  When they are all tied except for about 4-5 stuff the pillow with fiberfill.  Then finish tying the knots.

Now you can use the pattern I made to cut the felt face.  I used dark brown, light brown and white.  I used black yarn for the whiskers, folding it a few times and tying a knot in the center. Any color combo will work - I thought about using bright pink or blue etc... with the yellow too.

I used fabric tack to glue the nose on first, then the whiskers, then the muzzle over the whiskers, the tip of the nose, the mouth and finally the big googly eyes.

Now your lion is ready to be a cuddly friend.

I have updated this project a little bit, using another method to cut and tie the edges and adhesive felt 

For more info go to this link:

http://kathy-angelnik.blogspot.com/2016/06/emoji-face-no-sew-pillow_28.html

Painted Pachyderms

I am going to do a Wild Animal Theme for my March lessons and I think the painted elephants in India are wonderful.  

 I have a card from India with an elephant made out of recycled paper that I used for my inspiration.

The silver circle in the middle of his forehead is a brad so the head and ears move.

I'm going to show the students photos of the elephants that are painted for celebrations and festivals in India.

 The students can choose any color for their elephant.  

They'll trace the shapes onto card stock and then using a brad connect the ears and head to the body.

They can draw their designs with pencil and then outline them with metallic markers.

Colored pencils will be used to 'paint' their elephants.

After coloring the elephant they can choose some ribbon to put bracelets around the feet of the elephant and some yarn for the tail.

Here is the pattern for the elephant:

A fun and educational mixed media project!

String Art Hearts

I've been seeing String Art popping up everywhere and decided to try doing an art project with the kids using a heart shape for February.  

I went to a home improvement store and they had long 1" X 4" pine boards.  I asked a very nice employee to cut my board into 4" lengths.

Next I created a heart pattern and put dots about every 1/4" for the nails.  Here is the pattern:

Cut out a heart and tack it to the center of the wood square with a nail.  Then go around the heart with the nails.   Hammer the nails into the wood carefully, leaving about 1/2" above the board to wind the string around.

Now the board is ready for the kids to paint whatever acrylic color they choose.

Once dry they will choose a coordinating skein of embroidery floss.

First tie one end of the floss to a nail and then wind the string around each nail towards the outside all the way around to create a border.

Now they can choose how to criss cross back and forth across the heart to create an interesting pattern.  

They may choose to randomly wind the string across, or do a layered pattern on the diagonal.  

This is up to them.  

When they are finished simply tie the end of the string in a knot around another nail.

A fun project that will look great on the wall or on a shelf!

Luv Birds Art Project

These "Luv Birds" are made out of 3 - 4" gourds.  I've had these gourds for about a year and have been trying to decide what to make with them.  I came up with the bird design because they look like a bird shape to me, with the stem of the gourd as the beak.  They are kind of silly and fun - perfect for a kids art project.

I painted the entire gourd except for the stem with pearlized paint - but any acrylic paint would work. 

I used Crayola Model Magic orange air dry clay for the feet - just shape two small rounded triangles and put them right next to each other.  Press the gourd onto them sideways so that they will stand up on their own.  Usually the clay will just stick to the gourd, but you can also glue them on.

Clip the stem with scissors to the desired length and paint the beak.

Once the gourd is dry trace or draw a heart shape onto each side of the gourd for wings.  I used a fine point brush for the heart outline, then I used a toothpick dipped into paint to create all the dots which create patterns/flowers on and around the 'heart wings'.  Just have fun and play with different colors.  Go slow and allow the designs to dry before moving on to another color or the other wing.

I used a sharpie to create the eyes and then contrasting feathers were glued on for the tails.

Wouldn't they make a fun valentine for someone special?  They make me smile!

No Sew Sock Owls

I have always loved owls - but lately so does everyone else!  They are everywhere!  

This is a fun project I came up with for several of my art classes...

I found a multi pack of bright socks at Target - you could use earth tones but I chose to go with totally unrealistic colors.  You cut the heel off of the socks...

Here are the shapes to cut out of felt that will coordinate with the socks...

Template at the bottom of the post.

Cut the feet on a fold and you can add buttons for the center of the eye.  I glued the wings at the top.

Now put some beans or rice in the bottom of the sock to create a base for the owl to stand up on his own.  Then add fiberfill until the owl is rounded and plump - leaving about an inch at the top unstuffed.

Using fabric tack or hot glue fasten the eyes and beak onto the sock about an inch below the top.  Now fold the 2 top corner edges under just a little and put a drop of glue to hold them together for the ear tufts.

Next pull the back top edge of the sock over the front and glue it over the very top of the eyes.

To finish glue the ear tufts further across the top and you may want to put some fray stop on the exposed sock edges.  Glue the wings and the feet onto the owl and you're done!

What a Hoot!

PDF of the Patterns: