Blue Dog inspired by George Rodrigue

I am a few weeks behind on posting lessons.  However, here is last weeks lesson.  It turned into a 2 week project, which for some, allowed them to be attentive to the detail, neatness, and composition of the entire piece.  For others, meaning my little ones of course, it was too much detail and they were ready to start something else!

This "Blue Dog" was inspired by a famous artist named George Rodrigue.  I didnt tell the students the name of the artwork or the name of the artist.  Instead, I asked them to come back the following week with both the names and I would award them a prize.  I was amazed at how many kids actually came back with the answer!  I am so proud of them for taking the time to look it up.  I think its very important to be knowledgeable about other artists and their work. 

So we first started the project by tracing some precut templates I made of the white nose area.  I always encourage my older kids to free hand their work, but the nose was tricky for them.  Next, we traced the pre cut circles for the eyes.  They all drew in the nose and mouth on their own. 

Next we taped 2 lines of contact paper in a cross pattern on our paper.  This gave the effect of the window in the background of the Blue Dog. 

After it was all taped up we were ready to go to work.  The students painted the nose and eyes with black acrylic paint.  They then colored their background with either greens and blue in a camouflage pattern.  Some students thought outside the box and colored it in different effects, but I loved it!

The last step:  we peeled off the contact paper to reveal our Blue Dog!

Here are the results: