George Rodrigue Inspired "Blue Dog" Art Lesson
FOLKLORE: the term "Folk" when added to something typically means traditions that are passed down from generation to generation. In art class we talk A LOT about FOLK ART. This is artwork, techniques and skills that have been passed down through the generations with artists receiving little or no formal training and typically reflects the artists cultural background and heritage. FOLKLORE pertains to stories passed down....myths, legends, fables that are related to a particular cultures history and heritage.
Interested in learning about LOUP-GAROU also called the ROUGAROU? Check out the folklore and history behind the myth HERE!
Creating your own BLUE DOG
Today we will be creating our own Blue Dogs inspired by Rodrigue's work. For this project you will need....
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STEP 1: DRAW your Blue Dog!On your paper, decide how big you want your dog to be. You can see, I chose to have my dog be LARGE and take up most of the paper. If you choose a small dog, that is perfectly fine, just know that you will have lots of room for details to go around your dog later :) REMEMBER....ALWAYS USE PENCIL FIRST :) |
STEP 3: Is your dog FLOATING?If you answer is "YES", then move on to STEP 4 If your answer is "NO" my dog is not floating, you need to give your dog some ground to stand on. Create a HORIZON LINE behind your dog. A HORIZON LINE is the line created by the sky meeting with the ground. This gives your artwork DEPTH and SPACE. |
STEP 4: Where is your DOG?
You can see in my first drawing, I created my dog to be a cool skateboarder. He is somewhere warm, where there are palm trees and he has to were sunglasses because the sun is sooooo warm and bright...sounds nice doesn't it?
In my second dog drawing, I created an "under the sea" pup with goggles and a snorkel. He is clearly searching for treasure and has found it...but there are some fishy friends lurking in the waters as well. Wherever your setting is, be sure to add LOTS OF DETAILS!!!!
STEP 5: TRACE your pencil lines with....
STEP 6: ADD some COLOR!!!
**If you are looking for containers to use your liquid watercolors in, I like to use an old ice cube tray or I picked up the convenient little tupperware containers pictured below ($0.80 for 8) at the Dollar Store.