Animals In Art

This unit was assigned on May 4, 2020.

Artists have been painting animals from the beginning! Some of the very first paintings ever made are pictures of animals! Prehistoric artists made paintings of bison, lions, horses and other animals on cave walls.

Lascaux Caves, France

Artists have been painting, drawing, and sculpting animals ever since! Some artists have painted animals realistically (like you would see in a photo).  ​

Lizard Head by Robert Jew

American Flamingo by John James Audubon

Some artists paint abstract animals with lots of colors and in mixed-up ways! ​

How will you make animal art?

Activities:

• Learn about PAWS Pet Shelter and read the story behind some of their rescue cats.  Support the shelter and create a pet portrait of a cat in need of a home. You can find the cat pictures and stories here.
• Artist Pablo Picasso is know for his abstract artwork! Follow the demo video to create your own abstract animal in his style!
• Artist Carli Davidson worked with pets in shelters to create her books Shake Cats  and Shake Dogs.  Check out her website to see her work: http://www.carlidavidson.com/ You can also watch the video Shake Cats on YouTube.
• Artist Salvador Dali was known for his crazy mixed-up artwork! Check out Switch Zoo and create a crazy animal.  Draw a picture of your crazy animal! Where would it live?
• Draw a picture of your pet or animals you see outside! You might have to draw fast to catch the details before they move!
• ​Check out how this sea lion at Mystic Aquarium has learned to paint! Check out the video on Facebook here.
• Use your fingerprint to create animals by pressing your finger into ink or paint and drawing details on top!
• Use a brown paper bag and crayons to make your own cave-painting art like the Lascaux Caves! Cut out a plain section of the bag and draw with crayons or markers or paint.  Think about sticking to earth-colors (red, brown, black etc) as prehistoric artists didn’t have the paint colors that we do!  When your art is dry, crumple the bag to give it the texture of the cave wall!
• How much do you know about animals? Take this quiz to find out: https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/games/quizzes/quiz-whiz-animals/?cmpid=org=ngp::mc=crm-email::src=ngp::cmp=editorial::add=FFG_Special_20200428&rid=9E82FCF96630D7256B14C30347C651FB
• Create an animal sculpture using recycled materials around your home! Cardboard tubes are a great place to start!