Since Llamas and Alpacas are all the rage this year, I knew I wanted to feature them in an animal art unit. Our library did not have very many books about Llamas, so if you want to make a buck, you might consider illustrating something for ages 10-13.
To introduce the difference between Llamas and Alpacas, we watched youtube video by an alpaca farmer. The video has a curse word at the end, she says that llamas sometimes spit for the 'hell of it'. It was one of the few resources I could find with great images so I just muted it when she said that and asked a few questions of my students like: have you ever petted an alpaca or a llama? etc. If you did not want to use the video, you could show this site which has tons of facts and photos of Llamas.
For the actual art making, we did a few practice sketches in our sketchbook after decided if we wanted to draw an alpaca or a llama. Most kids agreed that alpacas are cuter than llamas. We lightly sketched our design on 18X6 watercolor paper and traced in sharpie. I always have my students color small details with crayons before we use watercolor paints. We used liquid watercolor for this project AND regular watercolor if they wanted it for the black and brown. I also showed them how to make tan and grey, using the lid of the watercolor set as a mixing tray.
Several of my students drew their llamas with buck-teeth. After doing a little research, we learned that they don't have front teeth on the top, it is the bottom teeth that jut forward. Just FYI.
To introduce the difference between Llamas and Alpacas, we watched youtube video by an alpaca farmer. The video has a curse word at the end, she says that llamas sometimes spit for the 'hell of it'. It was one of the few resources I could find with great images so I just muted it when she said that and asked a few questions of my students like: have you ever petted an alpaca or a llama? etc. If you did not want to use the video, you could show this site which has tons of facts and photos of Llamas.
For the actual art making, we did a few practice sketches in our sketchbook after decided if we wanted to draw an alpaca or a llama. Most kids agreed that alpacas are cuter than llamas. We lightly sketched our design on 18X6 watercolor paper and traced in sharpie. I always have my students color small details with crayons before we use watercolor paints. We used liquid watercolor for this project AND regular watercolor if they wanted it for the black and brown. I also showed them how to make tan and grey, using the lid of the watercolor set as a mixing tray.
Several of my students drew their llamas with buck-teeth. After doing a little research, we learned that they don't have front teeth on the top, it is the bottom teeth that jut forward. Just FYI.
We pretty much left everything on the table each day while we were painting.
Painting day!
Sargent paint storage containers for liquid watercolor.
Supplies:
18X6 Watercolor paper
8 pan prang watercolor sets
Paint brushes- a variety of sizes
Liquid Watercolors
Sargent 6 Ct. Paint storage tray
Water
Pencils
Sharpies
120 crayon sets
18X6 Watercolor paper
8 pan prang watercolor sets
Paint brushes- a variety of sizes
Liquid Watercolors
Sargent 6 Ct. Paint storage tray
Water
Pencils
Sharpies
120 crayon sets
Practice Sketches in Sketchbook
Since we didn't have a ton of images in books to use as reference, I created an 'inspiration' wall with some step-by-steps, and pinterest images. I also had a couple of fluffy mini alpacas for students to 'pet'.
IN progress, before paint, adding texture for fur. I showed them a few ways to add fur with a sharpie.
We had TONS of super hero llamas, but I really like this Beatles band.
A few links I referenced before starting this unit:
Standing Baby Alpaca--So soft, so cute!!
Douglas Toys Llama--I ordered him and had a contest to 'name' him
Art Projects for Kids How to Draw an Alpaca
MaryMaking Llamas with Peruvian Textiles.
Small Hands Big Art Llama Drawing project
Standing Baby Alpaca--So soft, so cute!!
Douglas Toys Llama--I ordered him and had a contest to 'name' him
Art Projects for Kids How to Draw an Alpaca
MaryMaking Llamas with Peruvian Textiles.
Small Hands Big Art Llama Drawing project
Caution: Your students will probably know this rhyme
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