Scenes from a fairy tale

Hansel and Gretel, made by students of grade 6

You need:

1. piece of linoleum of 15 by 15 cm
2. drawing sheets A4 size
3. lino knives
4. block printing ink
5. flat piece of glass
6. linoleum roller
7. lino press
8. white paper A2 size
9. scissors
10. glue

I got the idea for this lesson from Artlessons from Belgium. This is a group assignment for four students.
Every group of students chooses a fairytale that has to be represented in images. They discuss the most important parts and each students cuts one scene out of linoleum. After printing the scenes, they paste them in the right order to create a fairytale cartoon. Use letter stamps to print the name of the story above.

I chose to let all students print their part of the fairytale four times. The best print is for yourself. Each student gets one print of the other three group members, so every student has his own cartoon.

The princess on the pea

The emperor's new clothes

 

The Emperor's underwear, by students of grade 3

You need:

1. drawing sheet A4 size
2. colour pencils

The Emperor's New Clothes is a fairytale by Hans Christian Andersen, first published in 1837 in Andersen's Fairy Tales Told for Children.

The story is about an emperor, who cares for nothing but his appearance and attire, hires two tailors who promise him the finest suit of clothes from a fabric invisible to anyone who is unfit for his position or 'just hopelessly stupid'. The emperor cannot see the cloth himself, but pretends that he can for fear of appearing unfit for his position. When the swindlers report that the suit is finished, they mime dressing him. Then the emperor marches in procession before his people. A child in the crowd calls out that the emperor is wearing nothing at all and the cry is taken up by others. The emperor cringes, suspecting the assertion is true, but holds himself up proudly and continues the procession.

Read the fairytale. Tell students they have to draw the emperor. The emporor , who is recognizable by his crown, is almost nude. The only cloth he wears is beautiful underwear. Colour the drawing with colour pencils.  

Fairy tale comic

Hansel and Gretel

You need:

1. white drawing sheet A5 size
2. pencil
3. markers or colour pencils
4. fine black marker

The goal for this lesson is to convert a famous fairy tale into a comic. Students may draw only four pictures, so they should think very carefully about the most important scenes in the story. The story should be obvious from just those four pictures!

Divide the sheet into four sections. Draw four scenes and use speech bubbles if you want to. Colour the drawings with markers or colour pencils. Outline them with a fine black marker. You can choose to colour the drawings completely, but also a black and white strip with a single accent colour is nice.

All artworks are made by students of grade 6

Puss in boots?

You need:

1. drawing sheet A4 size
2. pencil
3. ruler
4. indian ink
5. brush
6. saucer
7. dip pen

Master Cat or The Booted Cat commonly known as Puss in Boots, is a French literary fairy tale about a cat who uses trickery and deceit to gain power, wealth, and the hand of a princess in marriage for his penniless and low-born master. The tale was published in 1697 by Charles Perrault as part of his collection Mother Goose's Tales.

How would it be if the animal you like most, wears boots? What kind of boots would he wear - rain boots, cowboy boots, thigh boots, high-heeled boots?

Draw a frame at 1 cm from the edges with a pencil. Sketch the contours of an animal in boots with pencil. Make sure the boots stand out well. Trace the pencil lines with a dip pen and indian ink. Draw details and a simple background.

The colouring has to be done with indian ink too. Put a few drops of ink on a plate and dilute it with water. More water will give a ligth grey, a little water will give dark grey. Finally, fill the page edge with a pattern or a shade of gray.

Both artworks are made by students of grade 6

Rapunzel

Made by a student of grade 1

You need:

1. drawing sheet A4 size
2. fine black marker, waterproof
3. watercolour paint
4. brushes
5. jar with water
6. wool
7. cutter
8. cutting mat
9. scissors
10. magazine
11. glue

Rapunzel is a German fairy tale in the collection assembled by the Brothers Grimm, and first published in 1812. The Grimm Brothers' story is an adaptation of the fairy tale Persinette by Charlotte-Rose de Caumont, originally published in 1698.
In the tale, an enchantress separates Rapunzel from her parents and puts her away in a room at the top of a tower in a remote part of a forest. The tower has no door or stairs and only a window. The enchantress would climb Rapunzel's long braid of golden hair to visit her. The enchatress would call out to Rapunzel saying: "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair, so that I may climb the golden stair". One day a prince hears Rapunzel's beautiful singing voice and wants to meet her. He secretly observes how the enchantress is able to visit Rapunzel in the tower. The prince climbs in the tower, meets Rapunzel and they fall in love. The wicked enchantress attempts to separate them, but eventually they reunite, and live happily ever after.
After telling the fairy tale, students start to make Rapunzel's braid of wool threads. Then they draw a tower with a top hatch, using a waterproof fine black marker. Colour it with waterpaint colour. Cut the sides of the hatch (teacher has to do this!!) and fold them. Cut a picture of a woman of girl out of a magazine and paste it on a piece of paper. Paste the braid on the head. Paste the piece of paper behind the hatch, looking carefully to get the woman's head in the middle of it and hanging the braid through the hatch.

Made by students of grade 1

The princess and the pea

You need:

1. coloured construction paper
2. fabrics
3. a pea
4. glue
5. scissors
6. scraps of construction paper, including gold and silver
7. markers and/or colour pencils

Read the fairy tale 'The princess and the pea' of Hans Christian Andersen. Discuus after this what a princess bed would look like. The students make the bed of the princess in this story. The bed has to be made of stripes of paper. At the bottom of the bed is a real pea, of course. Cut strips of fabrics for the matrasses (use special scissors for fabrics) and make a princess on top of this whole pile. Maybe the bed has even curtains or a little golden crown?

Made by students of grade 1

Fairy tale caste

Made by students of grade 4

You need:

1. white drawing sheet A4 size
2. indian ink
3. dip pen
4. watercolour paint
5. brushes
6. jar with water

See some pictures of castles and talk about the several parts: battlements, high thick walls, drawbridge, towers, schietgaten, portcullis etc. Talk about the location of a castle: often a high point, so oversee the area. Show that many castles were surrounded by a moat and discuss why this was.

Students draw their castle directly with indian ink on ther sheet. Add details like shutters, torches or flags. Draw the background, the surrounding of the castle. Colour the drawing with watercolour paint. The combination of indian ink and watercolour paint will give a perfect aged feeling.