Swinging snakes

Made by Bart, 12 years old

You need:

1. white drawing sheet A4 size
2. colour pencils
3. chalk pastels
4. hairspray

Snakes swing themselves around branches of trees. In order not to fall, the snake has to swing alternately front and back along the branches. This is easy to be shown with a vacuum cleaner hose and a couple chair legs. Children draw three trunks with some branches. Around the trunks and branches they draw three or more snakes. Be careful with the principle of going for along and back along. The snakes have to be coloured firmly to highlight the contrast with the trees. Colour the trees. Colour the background with chalk pastel and fix the work with hairspray.

Ow ow ... owls!

Made by Elaine, 12 years old

You need:

1. white drawing sheet A4 size
2. black markers in different sizes
3. yellow or orange marker
4. liquid watercolour
5. brushes
6. black construction paper
7. photographs of owls

Discuss with the children characteristics from owls and look at some photographs. Owls have large forward-facing eyes and ear-holes, a hawk-like beak, a flat face, and usually a conspicuous circle of feathers - a facial disc - around each eye. Although owls have binocluar vision, their large eyes are fixed in their sockets, as with other birds, and they must turn their entire head to change views.

Owls are far-sighted, and are unable to see anything clearly within a few inches of their eyes. Their far vision, particularly in low light, is exceptionally good. Owls cannot turn their heads completely backwards. They can turn their head 135 degrees in either direction; they can thus look behind their own shoulders, with a total 270 degree field of view.

Some owls have have ear-tufts on the sides of the head. Those ear-tufts are made of feathers and indicate the status: a grown-up, strong healthy owl with a large territory has large ear-tufts. Young, weak, sick or old owls have smaller ear-tufts. Most owls have a mixture of brown, black, white, and gray feathers. These colours provide camouflage, and so the owls can easily hide.

Made by Charmaine, 11 years old

Children sketch an owl on a branch with pencil, considering the characteristics from owls we talked about before. After this, patterns have to be made in the body parts of the owl, with different sizes of black markers. By making different patterns, those body parts must be recognized. Only the eyes and the beak may be coloured yellow or orange, the rest is black or white.

When finished, the background has to be painted with yellow liquid watercolour. Don't touch the black marker lines if you didn't use a waterproof one, because the black ink will run out then. Stay away about a half centimeter from your drawing. Finally paste the artwork on black construction paper.

Owls, made by children of grade 5

Owl in moonlight

You need:

1. white drawing paper A4 size
2. oil pastel
3. blue ink
4. brush
5. dish with water
6. scouring pad

See the moon shining through the trees... and in the moonlight everything looks blue.

Children scetch a winter tree, so there will be no leaves. Show them that the branches at the end always be thinner. Scetch a moon between the branches. Draw a cat or an owl on one of those branches.

The tree has to be coloured with blue oil pastel. Color difference can be made by pressing harder or softer, or by using a little black or white through that blue for the feathers. Colour the owl or cat blue too. Use black to draw eyes, ears and beak. The moon is white-yellow and becomes darker yellow to the outside.

When colouring is ready, everything has to be outlined with white oil pastel; even the smallest branches have to be outlined. This is a difficult chore, because you barely see the white and you run the risk that the white crayon will get blue (scrape it then!).

The background will be painted with ink, water and a scouring pad (watch your clothes!). The white lines will resist the ink. Put undiluted blue ink on a dish and dip the soft side of the scouring pad in it. Stamp with the pad along the outer edges of the drawing. Add water to the ink when you're nearer at the moon. The blue will be lighter then. Make a great light blue circle around the moon.

Spider web

You need:

1. white drawing paper from 20 by 20 cm
2. oil pastel crayons
3. black paint
4. brushes
5. toothpicks
6. coloured construction paper

In fall you will find beautiful spider webs in the garden and around the school. Especially when the morning dew is glistening on the wires in the sun, a web seems a work of art. In this lesson the students scretch a spider web with a spider, after they first have looked carefully at those webs. How is the web built? How many basic threads do you see? What does a spider look like? How many legs has he? How do they look? Colour a drawing sheet with oilpastels. Choose autumn colours, like orange, yellow and brown. Paint the entire sheet black and let it dry.

Scratch a spider web with a toothpick. Of course you may add the spider! Paste the artwork on a coloured background.

A spider and his web

In fall you will find beautiful spider webs in the garden and around the school. Especially when the morning dew is glistening on the wires in the sun, a web seems a work of art. In this lesson the students draw a spider web with a spider, after they first have looked carefully at those webs. How is the web built? How many basic threads do you see? What does a spider look like? How many legs has he? How do they look?

You need:

1. white drawing sheet A4 size cut lengthwise
2. crayons
3. water paint
4. brushes
5. jar with water
6. black finepointed marker or white pencil
7. coloured paper

Draw at the top of a half sheet a web with a white crayon (be sure the point is sharp). One of the base threads have to be drawin in the middle, because the spider will hang out there. Draw a spider with black crayon and connect him with the web by drawing the middle white base thread down. Paint the whole sheet with water paint in a colour you like. Use lots of water. Crayonlines will resist the paint. Let the work and see the dewdrops on the web! Glue the work on a coloured background. Draw the web further on the background, with black fineliner or white pencil.

Cats like Rosina Wachtmeister

Rosina Wachtmeister (1939, Austria)

Wachtmeister (1939) is an Austrian artist who is specialised in making collages with various. She uses often gold or silver metal paper in her work. The early work of Rosina Wachtmeister are sculptured puppets. She used these puppets in her own puppet theatre.

In 1974 Rosina Wachtmeister moved with her husband to Capena, near Rome. She gets inspired from daily things: the silence of Capena, the sun, her cats and music.

We look at some paintings from Wachtmeister and we name the distinctive characteristics:

1. she uses silver in every paiting
2. faces are divided into colour patches
3. she uses often warm colours
4. backgrounds are decorated cheerfully
5. figures are outlined with black or coloured lines
6. eyes are very expressive because of those (black or coloured) lines

You need:

1. white drawing paper A3 size
2. tempera in different colours, including silver
3. brushes
4. newspapers
5. jars with water
6. tissues to clean and dry the brushes

Students draw with pencil a quick sketch from one or more cats on their sheets and start painting right away, considering the characteristics of the style of Wachtmeister: silver paint, big eyes, warm colours, divided faces etc. Outlining the figures has to be done also with tempera and a thin brush. This has to be the last chore, of course. So you get a good separation between the foreground and background and you can remove some stains. If the paintings are dry, we stick them on a matching background sheet. And of course we sign our work, just like Wachtmeister, with a black signature!

Deep in the ocean

You need:

1. white drawing paper A4 size
2. watercolour paint
3. brushes
4. white crayons
5. salt

There is more then fish in the ocean! Make a wordtree with the students with various ocean animals, except fish! Show photos of ocean animals and discuss them.
Students draw an ocean animal using a white crayon on a white sheet. Details should also be drawn with the crayon. The animals have to be painted with watercolour paint and a small brush. You may touch de lines, but do not cross them. When ready, paint the background with a large brush, watercolour paint and lots of water. Try different colors blue or green (by adding water) and make sure they mix up a bit - wet on wet technique. Sprinkle salt on the background while it is still wet. The salt will absorb water and it gives a nice effect. When the drawing is completely dry, you can wipe the salt with a clean hand.

My collection from the sea

Made by a student of grade 6

You need:

1. white drawingpaper A4 size
2. aquarel pencils or watercolour paint
3. brushes and water
4. black paper
5. scissors and glue
6. black fine marker

After summer holiday it's fun to draw what you've found on the beach: shells, starfish, crabs etc. Divide a white sheet in four strips of 7 cm. Draw horizon lines in those strips. Draw several things you may have found on the beach and sketch as lightly as possible. Colour the shells with watercolour paint or aquarel pencils, trying to make shades by diluting the colours more or less. Paint the beach yellow/gold and the air light blue. When dry, outline the shells and horizon with a black fine marker. Cut the four strips and glue them with 1 cm between them on a black piece of paper.

Seahorse

You need:

1. white drawing sheet A4 format
2. watercolour paint
3. white crayon
4. brushes
5. salt

Show various photos of seahorses and discuss the characteristics of these remarkable animals. Children draw a seahorse with a white crayon on a white sheet. Details should also be drawn with the white crayon. The seahorse has to be painted with watercolour paint and a small brush. You may touch de lines, but do not cross them.

When ready, paint the background with a large brush, watercolour paint and lots of water. Try different colours blue or green (by adding water) and make sure they mix up a bit - wet on wet technique. Sprinkle salt on the background while it is still wet. The salt will absorb water and it gives a nice effect. When the drawing is completely dry, you can wipe the salt with a clean hand.

Funny fishes

You need:

1. white drawing paper (A4 format)
2. water paint
3. black marker

Divide the sheet in nine rectangles from 10 to 7 cm. Draw a fish or shell on a small piece of cardboard that fits in the rectangle. Cut out the fish or shell, this is your template. Outline that mall in all rectangles.

Choose three colours to paint the figures. You may make patterns in them. Paint the backgrounds with the same three colours and make patterns if you want. Outline everything (fishes, patters and rectangles) with a black marker.

Crazy monkey's

You need:

1. white drawing sheets
2. colour pencils
3. scissors and glue
4. green or yellow sheets for background

We always have to laugh about monkey's; maybe because they look so much like us!

In this lesson we're going to draw monkey's and add some extra funny details. Look at monkey photographs first. What do they look like - lenth of arms and legs, size of the head, eyes, nose etc. CHildren draw a frame on their sheet about 2 cm from the sides. The instruction is: draw a hanging monkey with two or three funny details. Examples: an Ipod, clothes, or jewellery . Draw your monkey as big as possible, but stay within the frame. Next: draw a jungle background, with climbing plants, tree trunks, big leaves and exotic fruit. Vervolgens wordt een oerwoudachtige achtergrond getekend: slingerplanten, grote varens, takken, boomstammen, grote bladeren, vruchten. Some of those leaves or branches may stick out of the frame. Colour the drawing with natural colours. Make sure the complete sheet is coloured, there will be no more white! Cut out the drawing (watch for the outsticking details) and glue it on a green or yellow sheet.

Comic strip language

You need:

1. white drawing paper from 10 by 10 centimetres
2. white drawing paper from 30 by 30 centimetres
3. tempera paint
4. felt pens
5. black markers
6. brushes

Comic strip drawers use a special way to reproduce sounds. They realise a special effect with letters or words. We call this an onomatopeia or sound-imitation.

There is always a black frame around the comic strip pictures. Sometimes you'll see the a part of the drawing outside of the frame. Ask sour students to take their favourite comic strips. Look for examples of sound-imitations and talk about them: SPLASH (falling water), TOINK (someone who bumps his head). Those sound-imitations are often combined with a movement or direction. You can notice this if you look at the shape or direction of the letters, or even at the letters themselves. Often you'll see matching symbols around a word, like litte stars for someone who bumped his head or drops of water around the word SPLASH. Students design a comic strip picture with a sound. They have to draw a concept first on the little sheet. When finished and satisfied with the concept, students take a bigger sheet from 30 with 30 centimentres. On this sheet they have to draw a frame (use a ruler!) about 1 centimetre from the sides. Outside this frame the drawing has to remain white, like in comic strips. After this children have to enlarge their concept. If it is to difficult, they can draw a grid on their sheet first (squares from 3 by 3 centimetres). Drawing and words have to be coloured with feltpens. The background and other great parts can be painted with tempera. Tell children to choose bright colours, so don't mix to much. At last outline all lines with a black marker.

Beautiful butterflies

You need:

1. white drawing paper
2. tempera
3. brushes
4. glue and scissors
5. coloured paper for background

Paint with a small brush white tempera to create . Niet te kleine vakken maken, dat is lastig inkleuren later. Door het mengen van kleuren en wit worden de vakken gevuld. Vertel de kinderen dat ze de verf niet verdunnen, om felle kleuren te krijgen. Ook na het spoelen van de kwast moet deze goed worden drooggemaakt in een papieren doekje. Vouw een tweede tekenvel dubbel en teken tegen de vouw aan een of meer halve vlinders. Knip deze uit. Verf ze in dezelfde kleuren als de achtergrond, maar blijf daarbij een halve centimeter van de rand af zodat je een wit randje overhoudt. Trek met witte verf dunne lijntjes rondom het lijf van de vlinder en de versieringen als de verf voldoende aangedroogd is. Plak de gekleurde achtergrond op een groter vel wit papier. Plak dan de vlinders op, waarbij je ook over de witte rand kunt gaan. Doe alleen lijm achter het lijf, zodat de vlinders iets van het pier gaan afstaan voor een ruimtelijke effect.

Animal silhouette

You need:

1. white drawing sheet, A3
2. tempera and brushes
3. pictures of animal furs and side views of the corresponding animals
4. black construction paper
5. scissors and glue

For this task the children search the internet for photos of animal fur. The photographs have to be printed in colour. Then they paint the fur as accurately as possible on the white sheet. While drying, children can look for pictures of the animal from which they just painted the fur. This picture has to be a side view.

Print the animal and use a copier to enlarge it. The animal picture must fit on the painting of the fur.

Put the picture of the animal on black paper and tape it down. Then cut exactly along the outer lines of the image, while cutting the black paper also. Glue the silhouette on the painting.

Proud as a peacock

Made by students of grade 5

You need:

1. photographs from peacocks
2. peacock feathers
3. white drawing sheet
4. wasco crayons
5. watercolour paint
6. blue or green construction paper

Male peacocks are notable for their long tail, consisting of long feathers, with eyes at the end. Look at photo's of peacocks and try to get some peacock feathers in your classroom. How do you recognize a peacock? What does his body look like? And his head? What has he got on his head? Loot at the feathers and discuss the features. What does the eye in the feather look like? What colours do you see?

Children draw a rough pencil sketch of the body and the head of the peacock. It won't be necessary to draw each individual feather, this can be done while colouring.

Colour the peacock wih oilpastel crayons. When ready, paint the whole sheet with light blue watercolour paint. Oil pastel will resist. Finally glue the drawing on a blue or green sheet.

Ocean animals

You need

1. white drawing paper A4 format
2. blue markers
3. coloured paper for background

After a class discussion about animals in the ocean (and there are much more than just fish!), children draw an animal of their choice. The animal is drawn largely and has to be kept white (of course there may be in eyes etc.). After this the background has to be filled with lines in different patterns. Use only blue feltpens or markers, to support the ocean effect.

Cow's day

You need:

1. white drawing sheet A3 size
2. construction paper for background
3. tempera paint or oilpastels

When the cows are back in the meadows in spring, we should draw them! We look at photographs and paintings of cows. Using the website ‘how to draw a cow’ , children draw a cow in the meadow. Of course with a typical Dutch cloudy sky. Colour the drawing with oilpastels or tempera paint. Tell the kids that the meadow shouldn't be a simple green rectangle. They should use different colours. And: grass is growing up!

Strange birds

Made by students of grade 5

You need:

1. white drawing sheet A4 size
2. tempera paint
3. brushes
4. construction paper for background

The children draw a strange bird, according to their own imagination. Immediately to work with tempera and brushes!