Monsters drawn with the 'wrong' hand
#v16483
This art project is about making room, in a good way, for the imperfect and letting the students draw fabulous monsters with the opposite hand than they normally use. Colour in the monsters with watercolours and glue the finished artworks in a collective folding book for display.
The idea was developed by teacher, blogger and visual artist Tatjana Knudsen.
The idea was developed by teacher, blogger and visual artist Tatjana Knudsen.
How to do it Download the templates/recipes
1 In Mozart’s opera 'Don Giovanni', waiter Leporello kept a tally of Don Juan’s lovers. There were a lot! He had to make a system for registering them all. So he created a book with zigzag folds. This folding book technique forms part of the inspiration for this project and can be a beautiful and different way of showing the students’ work.
2 Draw a monster on the paper with the other hand from the one you normally write with. Use a hard pencil. Remember to add the eyes, mouth and hair – let your monster fill most of the paper.
3 Draw the monster with a black alcohol-based marker to prevent the watercolour paints from running outside of the lines.
4 Paint the monster with liquid watercolours. Allow the watercolours to dry slightly before continuing to work.
5 You can also paint around the monster with the liquid watercolours. Choose a complementary colour to match the shade of your monster. Avoid painting right to the edges. Leave it to dry completely.
6 Draw in details with a thin marker: stripes, dots or open/closed circles.
7 If you wish, you can stick the finished monster drawings into folding books made from thick cardstock or cardboard. Score the folds with a bone folder and a ruler on both sides so that you can fold in a zigzag – e.g. 4 sides that can then be seen from both sides.
8 It’s a good idea to refresh the students' knowledge of colour theory – especially complementary/contrasting colours, so that the monster and background are not created in the same colour scale.
Also go exploring in
