Ted Harrison an artist of Canada is famous for his bright painting style to explain the beauty of the Yukon Territory. Thus, he left generations of artists and art lovers enthusiastic about his inimitable manner based on the contrast of thick lines and the methods of using the plane of space with bright blocks of color. By presenting Harrison’s art to children, it is possible to engage them in meaningful lessons while making it fun and creative at the same time activities that concern colors, shapes, or beauties of nature. Below are ten simple and entertaining art activities based on Ted Harrison’s work, which any child can produce by themselves.
You Can Also Read This Classic Children’s Books
- COLORFUL LANDSCAPE COLLAGE
Materials Needed:
- Construction paper (various colors)
- Scissors
- Glue
- Oil pastels or crayons
Instructions:
- Background: Begin with an 8 ½” X 11” blue construction paper as a background to the sky.
- Mountains and Trees: Trace two-dimensional shapes of mountains and trees using colored papers; brown, green, and other natural colors.
- Assembling: Paint the background in solid color and place and fix the various shapes to build a colorful landscape.
- Detailing: Finally, engage the use of the oil pastel crayons to complete Harrison–like aspects of the art such as some of the lines and the geometric patterns.
- SUNSET PAINTING
Materials Needed:
- White drawing paper
- Watercolor paints
- Paintbrushes
- Masking tape (optional)
Instructions:
- Background Preparation: Paint the sunset with watercolors on the paper to make it attractive.
- Silhouette: After that, when the paper is dry, one should draw black silhouettes of trees and mountains in the manner of Harrison as shown below.
- Detailing: Overlapping some of the shapes, put additional details like sharp edges and complex shapes painted in black color.
- DERIVING FOR HARRISON FIGURES AND PERFORMING THEM ON ANIMALS
Materials Needed:
- White drawing paper canvas
- Acrylic paints
- Paintbrushes
- Reference images of animals
Instructions:
- Sketching: Hupon: Draw a bird or a bear in Harrison’s manner where a hook represents the body, and circles and lines the head and legs.
- Coloring: The shapes are to be painted in bright and contrasting colors and the above shapes are painted appropriately.
- Detailing: It is also necessary to add geometric patterns and thick lines to the artwork.
- SEASONAL SCENE DRAWINGS
Materials Needed:
- Drawing paper
- Oil pastels or crayons
Instructions:
- Choose a Season: Select a season (like winter or summer) as inspiration.
- Sketching: Draw a landscape scene using Harrison’s style, focusing on bold shapes and vibrant colors that represent the chosen season.
- Coloring: Use oil pastels or crayons to fill in the drawing, emphasizing contrasting colors for impact.
- PAPER PLATE SUNCATCHERS
Materials Needed:
- Paper plates
- Tissue paper (various colors)
- Glue
- Scissors
Instructions:
- Cutting: Cut out the center of a paper plate to create a ring.
- Decorating: Tear or cut tissue paper into small pieces and glue them onto the ring to create a colorful pattern.
- Finishing Touches: Once dry, add bold lines and geometric shapes with markers to mimic Harrison’s style.
- ABSTRACT COLLAGE ART
Materials Needed:
- Construction paper (various colors)
- Scissors
- Glue
- Oil pastels or crayons
Instructions:
- Cutting Shapes: Cut out various shapes (squares, rectangles, triangles) from colored construction paper.
- Arranging: Arrange and glue the shapes onto a larger piece of paper to create an abstract composition.
- Detailing: Use oil pastels or crayons to add bold lines and patterns inspired by Harrison’s artwork.
- SEASONAL SCENE DRAWINGS
Materials Needed:
- Drawing paper
- Oil pastels or crayons
Instructions:
- Choose a Season: Create from some seasons like winter season or summer season.
- Sketching: Create a picture of a landscape according to Harrison following the format of painting the chosen season through the considerable shapes and bright tones of the work.
- Coloring: Fill the drawing using oil pastels or crayons by ensuring that you use contrasting colors that would somewhat create a sense of intensity.
- PAPER PLATE SUNCATCHERS
Materials Needed:
- Paper plates
- Tissue paper (various colors)
- Glue
- Scissors
Instructions:
- Cutting: Take a paper plate and using a pair of scissors, remove the circular center part to get a ring-shaped object.
- Decorating: For this craft, just take colored tissue paper, shred it into small pieces as possible, and then take a ring and glue the colored tissue paper on the ring to give a colorful pattern.
- Finishing Touches: Once the layer is sufficiently dry, go over it with markers in a manner that emulates Harrison’s style by drawing hefty lines and geometric shapes.
- ABSTRACT COLLAGE ART
Materials Needed:
- Construction paper (various colors)
- Scissors
- Glue
- Oil pastels or crayons
Instructions:
- Cutting Shapes: Various shapes like squares, rectangles, and triangles shapes needed to be made from different colorful construction papers.
- Arranging: Cut or fold several pieces of geometric shapes, you should also organize several pieces of geometric shapes and glue them together on a bigger piece of paper to achieve an abstract picture.
- Detailing: Then, you may use crayons with oil pastel, for drawing robust lines and patterns, based on Harrison’s creations.
- COLORFUL NATURE PRINTS
Materials Needed:
- Leaves or flowers
- White drawing paper
- Washable paints
- Paintbrushes
Instructions:
- Gathering Materials: Pick up leaves or flowers from a location outside the kitchen.
- Printing: Submerge the leaves and flowers in washable paints and put them on the paper to make floral prints.
- Enhancing: The suggestion is to use the paint markers for creating specific lines and patterns in the style of Harrison around the prints.
- GEOMETRIC SHAPES MOSAIC
Materials Needed:
- Cardboard or heavy paper
- Construction paper (various colors)
- Glue
- Scissors
Instructions:
- Cutting Shapes: Using square, triangular, and rectangular colorful foolscap papers, make paper cuttings in the form of geometric shapes.
- Arranging: Place and stick shapes firmly that are cut from the cardboard or paper to form a mosaic pattern.
- Detailing: For the lines, it is recommended that the client use markers or crayons so that it produces thick lines that reflect Harrison’s work and the details.
- COLORFUL SELF-PORTRAIT S
Materials Needed:
- White drawing paper
- Oil pastels or crayons
- Mirror (optional)
Instructions:
- Drawing: Create a self-portrait in the manner of bold lines and shapes, as Harrison does.
- Coloring: Insert very bright colors with the aid of oil pastels or crayons to color the portrait.
- Detailing: To enhance the artwork geometric patterns and bold outlines should be added.
- PATTERNED ANIMAL MASKS
Materials Needed:
- Paper plates
- Paints or markers
- Scissors
- Elastic string
Instructions:
- Cutting and Painting: To create the eye holes, fold the paper plate in a way that an area for the child’s face will fit inside the plates’ contour; Then, ask them to paint over the paper plates in bright, vivid colors reminiscent of Harrison’s art.
- Finishing: Tie the elastic strings to wear facemasks that children can put on.
CONCLUSION
By using Ted Harrison’s art pieces in the classroom, especially creating and showing these ten simple yet engaging projects, not only are children learning creative stimuli, but are also learning about color and shape and the wonders of nature. Both projects free the children up to use their thinking capabilities to come up with something of their own from Harrison’s colorful style. Regardless of whether the child is working on the collages of landscapes or painting animals in simplified sketches, such activities turn into wonderful play and an effective means of developing the children’s desire for art. Thus, by introducing the topic of art about Ted Harrison, children can learn about the work of a significant Canadian artist and develop their skills in expressing themselves through art at the same time.
Explore This Outdoor Activities For Kids
