This scratchy-looking technique is called “sgraffito”, and it works well with drawing something like a turkey with all it’s lines and feathers.1. I made a simple line drawing of a turkey for the students (that you can download here) as they are a rather unusual and complex shape. Have the students trace the lines with a black Sharpie marker to thicken the lines.
2. The turkeys are to be colored in with oil pastels. Important: this layer needs to be thick and it really helps to use some very soft oil pastels like the Portfolio brand. I’m not sure that the less expensive ones will work very well as they tend to be harder and not as easy to get really good coverage with.
3. With a black pastel, the entire picture is colored over, pressing hard to cover as much of the color as possible.
4. With a wooden stylus or other sharp object like an embroidery needle, scratch away the black pastel to reveal the color underneath. Encourage the students to think about and change the direction of the scratching often to give their shapes more separation and dimension.
Posts
16 comments:
Are oil pastels similar in consistancy to reg. wax crayola crayons? Would they work for this art project? And would you use reg. construction paper? It might have said what type of paper and I don't remember. Sorry! We just discovered your site from a weblist and enjoyed drawing a cat yesterday! I hs 4 kids, and the 3 youngest did the project. They're in 5th and 2nd grades. Thanks!
Sorry - crayons just don't leave enough color on the paper to let you make layers, which is how this look is created. Also, any paper will work, but I recommend a cover stock that won't wrinkle easily with all the coloring.
Kathy,
I just want to say thanks for posting all these wonderful art projects. I just found your site a few days ago and have been so excited to do more art projects with my children.
They love doing art projects but, until now, I've felt overwhelmed trying to find things that are simple enough (and teach an art principle).
So thanks!!!
We are enjoying your art projects so much! My husband teaches first grade and has never been the crafty sort. He's even starting to use some of the ideas. Thanks!
Love your blog! I teach junior high but I still learn new things here!
I just tagged you over at my blog :)
Cat
Thank you for your art projects. I am using them with my children, and we love them. Hopefully, we can get some higher quality materials in the next couple of week. For right now, though, we are using what we have. I posted a few of our latest projects on my blog if you are interested in seeing how they turned out. http://mhhomeschooling.blogspot.com/
Thanks again!
I will be trying this method out in my classes this week(our subject is a horse though). Working on my sample tonight, I used an unfolded paper clip and I am enjoying the results very much.
this is a great blog. i love some of these simple projects. its great to see such a diverse grouping of project. check out my art blog sometime: http://www.beardedbunnyblog.blogspot.com
Kathy-Thank you so much for sharing all of your wonderful projects! I just awarded you with an award over at one of my blogs-
Creative and Curious Kids!
http://raisingcreativeandcuriouskids.blogspot.com
I also wrote a little review of your awesome blog!
Take Care!
Jen
My class of 5th graders did this project last Friday and it was a hit! It was like a mystery being solved as they scratched off the black layer! Next time I will definitely put a newspaper underneath the pictures since it was a bit messy with all of that black scratched off pastel on the desk. Oh, well, at least the desks are freshly scrubbed now!
Again, another wonderful success in a one room schoolhouse with k-8. The kindergarten kids had no trouble with this and the older students really let their imaginations fly. Portfolio are my most favorite oil pastels and worked perfectly. Everyone was SO proud of their turkeys! Michelle Finn
I just found your site and love it! Thanks for sharing these wonderful projects. You have a great list of books that you recommend. Do you also have a list of products you prefer? You mentioned the ArtStix's in the snowman posting. What about watercolor paints? Do you have a recommendation? In my limited experience I have already discovered that all watercolors are not created equal ;)
~Dana @ Our Sunny Side
Thanks Dana,
I do believe that having good-quality supplies makes all the difference in the world. For watercolors, I really like the Dick Blick liquid sets, and the Dick Blick student quality colored pencils. The Portfolio brand of oil pastels are my favorite. Also, make a point of getting real art paper and not just any office paper. Good luck!
We used this technique for our Christmas trees! It was really messy and those bits of oil pastels that stuck to feet bottoms got dragged all over the carpet. Bummer! Ours didn't turn out as clear after scratching off the black though...
http://unschoolme.blogspot.com/2008/12/december-art-gallery.html
Thanks Amida,
I know about the mess. Maybe I should add a warning about that. My school janitor probably hates me buy now. I'm guessing that if your images didn't show up that well, they may not have been colored in really heavily. You have to have a solid layer on the bottom to really show up under the black. Hope that info helps.
Even though this is not the first time I see a turkey on your blog, I think it is such a wonderful design.
Scratch Art Drawing is awesome!
Post a Comment