Urban Animals - Art Gallery of Alberta

The Alberta Foundation for the Arts Travelling Exhibition Program
Charcoal Cave Drawings K-6, continued
Procedure:
1. Give the student some background information on Cave Art by reading the background
information provided in the ed kit or doing internet searches on “Lascaux Caves France”. Or,
you can check out books at the library that have pictures for the student to reference.
2. Prepare Drawing Surface: Use brown paper grocery bags for the drawing surface. Make one
cut down the side of the bag and cut off the bottom, to make the largest drawing surface. Use
the inside of the bag because it will not have advertising printed on it. Flatten out the bag into a
drawing surface. Tear off some of the straight edges of the bag so that it will look natural. Now,
wrinkle up the bag into a big ball, unfold it and flatten with your hand to create the ridges that
might be found on a cave wall.
3. Drawing with Charcoal: Have students put on smocks to protect clothing from charcoal dust.
(NOTE: The charcoal creates “dust” so remind the students not to blow it off the paper as they
work. They can carry the paper to a wastebasket to shake off the dust.) Ask the students to
draw some of the animals that they observed on the cave walls at Lascaux, France. They can
start by drawing the outline of the animal, mimicking the textures of the drawings that they saw.
Then, fill in all or just part of the body. Use thick lines, thin lines, drag the side of the chalk to
make rough texture on the bumpy paper surface, or use fingertips to blend the charcoal into a
smooth texture. Practice blending the different colours together.
4. Completion: When students are satisfied with their drawing, ask them to describe it. Ask what
techniques they used (thick or thin lines, blending or rough textures) to achieve the effects that
they wanted. Then take the paper to a well ventilated location and apply fixative or hair spray to
keep the charcoal or chalk from smudging too much.
Materials:
a variety of types of charcoal (brown, black and white)
brown paper grocery bags
photos of cave art in library books, OR from the internet
moist paper towels
spray fixative
smocks, aprons or old shirts
kids.inmatlock.com/origins/cave-painting.php
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479
youraga.ca