APRIL PP. 2-33 - Arts & Activities Magazine

Allie V.Kendall S.Wes C.Kingly Kaninesby Laura LaskerRoyal dogs? Why not! Many of them have a pedigree anyway,so why not flaunt it? Dogs with attitude hold uptheir crowned heads proudly.Passing out photographs of dogs clipped from thenumerous pet catalogs received in the mail caused a buzz ofexcitement amongst my fourth-graders. Many of them recognizedtheir own pets.After discussing the variety of dogs and their characteristics—longhair, short hair, stand-up ears, floppy ears, bushy tails,sleek tails—each student selected a dog to draw. Next, I passedout reproductions of royal portraits. We observed and discussedthe variety of crowns that came in all shapes and sizes.We started our “Kingly Kanine” portraits by first drawinga crown at the top of our 12" x 18" paper. Outlines of rubies,emeralds or diamonds graced each one. Once the crownswere carefully drawn, each dog head was fitted into thecrown, followed by the torso. Hind legs were added, followedby paws and tails. Some artists added a velvet cushion44 april 2007 ❘ www.artsandactivities.com

Dogs with a royal attitude holdtheir crowned heads high.Casey C.LEARNING OBJECTIVESUpper-elementary students will ...• observe characteristics of man’s best friend and identifybasic shapes.• learn to paint textures to depict the look of fur.• use their imagination to paint a whimsical dog, and design afancy collar and jeweled crown.• practice working from a photograph.Daniel S.• 12" x 18" whitedrawing paper• Pencils• Tempera paints, includinggold for the crownsMATERIALS• Metallic paper for the jewelsin collars and crowns• Photos of dogs frompet catalogs, magazines orbrought in from homefor the pampered pooch to lounge on.All pencil lines were outlined with black paint and a tinybrush. Each dog photo was attached to the back of the paintingwith a paperclip and allowed to dry until the next class.We needed the dog photo to try and mix the exact colorof fur for each dog. Multicultural paints provided a wonderfulvariety of dog-fur shades in tones of beige, olive, bronze,mahogany, peach, tan and terra cotta. Darker shades ofpaint were applied first, followed by an over-painting of highlightsto give the fur texture.Crowns were painted with gold or silver paint, and backgroundcolors were custom mixed to find original newshades. The ending flourish was metallic paper cut intoshapes of precious stones to bejewel each crown.Woof woof ... hail to the king!■Laura Lasker is an art teacher at Bethlehem ElementarySchool in Bethlehem, Connecticut.www.artsandactivities.com ❘ april 2007 45