This lesson is inspired by Henri Rousseau's painting, Surprised! Storm in the Forest. I love this lesson for many reasons... First, the results are always great. Second, it is a great directed drawing lesson for first graders.... they all draw the same steps to complete a whole tiger, but they have no assistance, and feel proud and great at the end! Which results in my favorite reason I love this project... It is a creative confidence boost! You know they're proud when they work so hard to make it look fabulous!
Pencil first... We draw a tiger based on Ed Emberley. U-shape head, long nose... then I showed them how to draw the tiger looking like he is crouching, ready to pounce. To do that we draw 2 paws, (large potatoes) at the bottom of the page, Draw the body from paw, all the way around to other paw. Then hind legs on each side, tail... voila!
Draw the green grass and branches hiding the tiger direct with green markers.
Color in the leaves with crayon.
Outline and color in the tiger!
I would like to add... I do not think there is anything wrong with a directed drawing lesson for young elementary students. They have no strategies of how to draw unless they follow steps a few times. Once they understand how to look at something and break it down into simple shapes... And realizing there are millions of ways to draw something, they will have the tools and confidence to do it without directions. I always say, "YES" when a student wants to draw something differently. A project like this, they usually are not changing much, they want it to look similar. They drew 100% of their tiger by themselves, which for some, was a huge accomplishment!
Wonderful ! ! !
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