How To Draw and Paint Bats
Lesson Plan on Painting and Drawing Positive and Negative Bat Shapes
To begin this exercise, ask your students to perform a Google Search of Images to locate different shaped bats. Choose bat images that are clear. Make sure the shapes look like they will be easy and fun to draw. Here are some examples of appropriately shaped bat images to use as resource material: Bat Image from IStock Photos and Bat Image from Lovliest Village
When each student has saved a bat into a file on the computer ask them to
- resize the image so that the shape takes up the largest area of an A4 page
- print the image
- cut out the shape
You can now teach them how to use this shape as a stencil. Ways to use the stencil could be
- to sponge over it with dry paint leaving the shape blank and the background sponged as a dark colour
- scrape across the bat shape with coloured pencils laid on their side so that the background is coloured with hatching and the inside of the bat is blank
- print the bat shape on to heavier card and cut out the bat so that the shape can be traced around
Now that your stencils have been created the students can have fun. Refresh their memories about positive and negative shape. Ask the students to set the scene for Halloween by creating bat images to hang in the class room.
Once traced or stenciled on to the page:
- have the students paint the background black - this will create their blank bat character
- repeat coating the page with black paint twice
- once the two coats of black have dried use a purple oil pastel (or dark) and softly scrape it across the black painted surface. Because the paint will have left ridges where the brushes have brushed across the page, the purple will only 'take' in patches and this will create and textured surface
- stick golden star stickers in a scattered manner around the bats
Now you have a fantastic back ground and a blank bat. This was a painting exercise and now you will turn to a more structured drawing segment to the lesson. Teach the students about mixed media and show them some examples of how artists have used mixed media to achieve variety in their work.
For the drawing section:
- have the students draw the face onto the bat
- invite them to exaggerate the facial features of the bat
- once the lines for the characteristics of the bat have been drawn on to the shape ask them to rescue the outlines with a black tipped felt pen
- tell them to mix a variety of browns greys and blacks to cross hatch the furry surface of the bat
- they could go a little crazy and use purples reds and blues - if so show them the work of the Blue Riders
No matter whether the students have chosen realistic colours or gone with a crazy approach:
- ask them to focus attention on the original picture of the bat that has been chosen for reference
- tell them to shade the wings and fur and try to make it look like it would feel if it were touched. This is called Texture
The value of this lesson is that in a fun way you have engaged the students in a drawing exercise and at the same time taught them about Elements of Design and Positive and Negative Shape.
The class room will look fantastic when you hang these bats from fishing line around the ceiling of the classroom. Or you could stick them to the windows amongst your other Halloween decorations.
Biology students could glue them into their illustration books or scan and save them into their electronic journals. Theatre students could even cut eyes into the heavier cardboard bats and use them as bat masks.
If you would like to learn how to make an online jigsaw from the images you make read Online Jigsaw Theatre Invitations
