Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Hip Hippo-Ray




1st - Jenna

Kinder - Izzy


Kinder - Kate


1st - Kate


1st - Reese



1st - Liam


1st - Addison


2nd - Lilly


1st - Ella


4th - Sierra


My Experiment

On Halloween the Los Angeles Zoo received quite a surprise, a baby hippo (despite the fact that mama was on birth control). There are some very cute videos of the two online. I have always wanted to do a hippo lesson, so this was the perfect opportunity. I found this wonderfully detailed illustration by Lori Anzalone for inspiration for my Whimsical Animal Art classes. The kids (mostly 1st graders) followed a direct line drawing lesson from the white board. I think the size and shape of the hippo lends itself well to vastly different interpretations, particularly with this being a "whimsical" art class. So bring on the lumps, bumps and wrinkles! They then shaded their hippos with pastels and charcoal. Background boards were divided into 3 spaces: sky, swamp grass, and water. White oil pastel was added first on the bottom layer to create water highlights. They then painted this space with watercolor. Layer 2 was created with sponges and acrylics and last watercolor African sunsets. The children cut out grass from extra sponge painted sheet for the hippos to peak out from. We thought they still needed a little more whimsy, so they drew flowers to cut out and put in their ears. All collage elements were cut and glued to their backgrounds.
Each one could be the star of a children's book. Nice job kids!

4 comments:

  1. These are great! Did your 4th graders draw the hippos themselves?

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Jacquelien! The children followed a line drawing lesson.

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  2. These are really neat... and now I know that hippos can be on birth control :)

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