Animals in a Border Grade 5
Supplies: pencil, eraser, sketch paper (sketchbooks or clean backs of recycled paper), white drawing paper, 9″ x 9″ and 9″ x 12’~ straightedge, colored pencils, crayons, colored and black Sharpie permanent markers, photographs of animals (calendar pies, wildlife magazines, choosing photos that fit with your unit of study-jungle, rain forest, pets, endangered species), examples of animal drawings and paintings from realistic to stylized to cartoony.
Suggested artists: Albrecht Durer, M.C. Escher, aborigine, Mexican, and African folk art, children’s book illustrators-Lois Ehlert, Eric Carle, David Weisner; The Eleventh Hour (art with borders) by Graeme Base, The Peaceable Kingdom by Alice and Martin Provensen, Animal Shapes by Brian Wild smith
More teacher resources
WORKSHEET & Sample PDF Activity
Sample PDF Activity
Preparation: Several days before you begin the project, allow students to choose one or more photographs from which to sketch. If you allow them to take the work home, make sure they bring it and the photos back before you introduce the lesson.
Motivation: Show the class several examples of animals drawn by artists and illustrators. Ask students to describe the differences they see in styles. Is one style better than another? Does art have to hang on a wall in a museum or appear in a book to make it ART? How about the art of groups like the aborigines of Australia? What does their art mean to them? What is there to like about it? [This conversation should help students understand that there are many approaches to art and prepare them to experiment bravely! Don’t expect 100% cooperation here, but if a couple of students are getting good results, their work may motivate others.]
Assignment: 1) Use the straightedge to rule off a 1″ border around the paper, then draw a stylized animal using one of your sketches as a starting point. This may mean simplifying, cartooning, leaving out some details while adding others, using color creatively. [Show examples from books above and others with stylized illustrations. Find examples of animals in aborigine, Mexican, Native American, and African art]. 2) Design the border to complement the animal. (Have examples of borders available for ideas.) 3) Your choice of media-crayons, colored pencils, markers, or a combination.
This is page 21 from GGA550 Art Infusion.
