Black Cats and Decorated Pumpkins

This week in art classes we decorated pumpkins. Our group generally celebrates All Saints Eve/Day more than Halloween, so we decorated "Fall" pumpkins and stayed away from the "icky" side of Halloween celebrations. (Daughter M's above.)

The pumpkins were donated to us from the B. family. Here is what we did:

You need:
Permanent markers
pumpkins, any size, washed (and wiped with a Clorox wipe, if desired)
washable markers
reference pictures (fall, leaves, curlicues, lettering)

Look at ideas for fall. Go over lettering and decorating ideas. Have references for students to refer to. Fall stickers, fall advertising and fall decorating catalogues are all good places to look for ideas, as well as on-line.

After talking about fall ideas, give each student a washable marker. Avoid black and yellow. One shows up too much, the other not enough. I told the kids they had to do fall designs so their parents could use these as decorations into November. I also required them to figure out a design on scrap paper or in washable marker on the pumpkin and have it OKed by me before drawing it on with permanent markers.

The washable markers can be freely used on the pumpkin and will wipe off with a damp rag after the permanent markers are on and dry. Draw right over them with the permanents when the design is ready to go. Care should be taken to not smear the permanent markers until they dry. This was not a problem, but I did mention it to them first. (If there is a smear or mistake, Mr. Clean Magic Erasers will somewhat take off the permanent markers.)

Emphasize simple designs with minimal detail. Show them how to use the marker to make a thicker, smoother design line with the side of the marker. Filling in some of the elements makes them stand out and improves the look of the project. You can see other pumpkin/marker projects I did if you look in the crafts, fall or art postings. There are several postings there.


I usually try to have a "quickie" project on hand for those who finish early. This little black cat project from my favorite art blog fit the bill for this week. http://www.artprojectsforkids.org/

You need:
black paper
sketch paper
pencils
Prismacolor colored pencils

We started with a directed drawing (I do it, then you do it...) of How to Draw a Cat. I did this with them on scrap paper before we started the pumpkins, so they could be ready to draw directly on the black paper when they finished their pumpkin. Be sure the eyes are large with half pupils as in the pictures above.

After drawing their cat on the black paper, they used white Prismacolor colored pencil to trace it heavily. Have them color in the "whites" of the eye with white colored pencil and then cover the white eye area over with yellow colored pencil. For older kids, a little brown or green could be added to the edges of the yellow layer for shading. That's it! A fun fall drawing project, and mini blending practice for Prismacolor pencils. I would think this project could be done successfully with colors or oil pastels too.

A note about black paper. This time I used black construction paper. I usually have black scrap booking paper on hand for these kinds of projects. Construction paper, especially black, will fade and not show up well. You will get a much nicer project if you use the "real" black paper.