RIC-6584 Exploring Visual Art (Upper)

Chinese dragon
DURATION
Three lessons
TASK
Draw a symmetrical image of a dragon’s face and complete it
using bright colour combinations.
Materials
✓✓ reference pictures of Chinese
dragons
✓✓ litho paper
✓✓ black permanent markers
✓✓ lead pencils
Lesson 2
1. Once satisfied with their image, the students trace over the halfface
with black permanent marker. They then flip the page over and
trace the other side which should now be clearly visible through the
paper.
2. Unfold the paper to see the complete symmetrical image.
3. Colour using warm or cool colour combinations for the larger
sections of the face (warm: red, orange, yellow, pink; cool: blue,
green, purple) and warm colours for the eyebrows, beard, mouth
and nose. Students can use oil pastels or water-soluble crayons,
which will need to be painted with water. This medium allows
students to blend colours together.
Lesson 3
Carefully cut out the Chinese dragon’s face and glue onto black
card for display.
Evaluation
TIPS FOR DRAWING
Arts ideas Arts skills and processes Arts responses Arts in society
• Develops ideas from
reference materials.
✓✓
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• Creates a
symmetrical image.
• Combines colours
to achieve a specific
effect.
erasers
water soluble crayons or
oil pastels
brushes
water and containers
LESSON 1
1. Gather as many images as possible from books, the internet,
clip art etc. of different Chinese dragons. Students will use
these reference pictures to create their own drawing of a Chinese
dragon’s face. Discuss the features of a Chinese dragon’s face
(cat-like eyes, moustache, flame-like eyebrows, horns, teeth,
colours, patterning etc.).
2. To achieve the symmetrical aspect, students will fold their paper
in half and draw only half of a Chinese dragon’s face. Ensure that
the dragon’s mouth and nose are drawn on the fold line so that
the image is doubled once the paper is folded out. (Otherwise, the
students will have two separate halves of a face at either end of
the page.)
• Responds to images
by making another
artwork.
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scissors
glue
black card
When drawing the face
of any animal, follow
these simple steps:
• Sketch a light
horizontal line to
show the centre of
the face. (It should
run between the
ears and eyes and
through the middle
of the nose.)
• Sketch a line to
show eyes, nose and
mouth position.
• Sketch the head
shape and add
the eyes, nose and
mouth details.
©R.I.C. Publications
Low Resolution Images
Display Copy
• Add highlights
or shading where
shadows fall.
• Add fur, feathers
etc.
• Recognises that
artworks have
different purposes
and meanings in
different cultures.
18 Exploring visual arts www.ricpublications.com.au