Owl Art Project

Every year our school participates in a fundraiser called Original Art Work. Teachers have to think of a quick and easy project, because this of course never happens at a good time. This time it was report card time. Anyways, I decided to do these owls. My students enjoyed the project and I loved that even though it was a directed drawing, everyone's owl came out different.



Directions for this project:

Materials: sharpies, crayons, watercolors, water cups, white cardstock or construction paper, black construction paper, and a work mat (I just use a larger sheet of construction paper).

Before we started this project I cut the white paper down, so that there would be a border around the edges once it was mounted on the black paper. I then provided students with a work mat, a sharpie, and a sheet of white cardstock. Students followed along as I showed them how to draw the owl. I've included a picture to show the steps.

Once students were done drawing the owl I had them color the picture. If students color too dark then the paint will not take as well. On the other hand, sometimes the dark coloring makes the picture more vibrant and the paint isn't really necessary. Either way, I make sure that the students have colored everything in (no white). I encouraged them to use the colors of the basic watercolor set. 

After students finished coloring their pictures I had them go over them with watercolors. I reminded them not to use too much water; to make sure everything was painted; and to keep their brush strokes going back and forth in the same direction. 

The paint dried pretty quickly and I was able to mount them onto the black paper that same afternoon. My students had written their names on the back of their papers, so I had to make sure that I wrote their names again on the back of the black paper. I put the papers under a stack of books for the evening to make sure they were flattened and secure (be careful that they don't stick together). 

Our classroom owls are now finished and ready to go home. I wish I could keep them and hang them up in the classroom, but oh well! I hope their families will enjoy them even if they don't purchase any of the products from the fundraiser.