Patterned Animals in Chalk Pastel

This is a fantastic project for exploring chalk pastels in a somewhat controlled way. 

I previously called this lesson "Reptile Relief" because we always used reptiles as our animal theme. But, each time I teach this lesson, I have so many students ask me if they can do a bird, or a fish or basically any animal other than a reptile. So now I keep it open choice- it just needs to be any animal/creature that has a pattern on it's body. 

See my previous posts about this project HERE and HERE.

I found the original lesson HERE.

So students get two sheets on black construction paper. They research a patterned animal using their laptops. On one sheet of paper they draw a simplified pattern- it can match their animal or not. On the second sheet, they sketch out a somewhat simplified drawing of their chosen animal. Make sure it's nice and big. Paint over all the lines using white tempera paint and a flat brush.

Once dry, they colour in all the sections using a minimum of two colours of chalk pastels blended together. The animal can match the background colours- then it will appear somewhat camouflaged. 

Or, it can contrast and therefore pop out a bit. 

Once finished, clean up any major chalk smudges with an eraser. Cut out the animal.

Using stacks of small cardboard squares, glue a stack here and there on the back of the animal and then glue this onto the background. This will give a cool low-relief effect.

Some finished Grade 7 - 9 artworks!