Dubuffet Cow Drawing
Students will learn to draw a cow inspired by the bold, expressive style of artist Jean Dubuffet. They will explore texture by coloring and then crumpling their paper, before adding a watercolor wash that settles into the wrinkles and creates an interesting, aged effect. This project introduces several Elements of Art, including line, shape, color, and texture. Students will discover how simple lines and shapes can create an expressive animal drawing, and how combining different art materials and techniques can add depth and visual interest to their finished artwork.
Teaching Tools
Dubuffet Cow Video
Dubuffet Cow Video Short
Dubuffet Cow Google Slides
Dubuffet Cow PDF Tutorial
Dubuffet Brings Paris to Life
Step by Step Instruction
Time needed: 45 minutes
Draw a Dubuffet Cow
- Draw a large rectangle with rounded corners.
- Draw the tall and skinny head.
- Add the eyes, nose, horns and forehead line.
- Connect the head to the body. Add two legs.
- Erase the gray lines. Add the other legs, udder and tail.
- Trace with a permanent black marker and color. Be sure to color the horns and eyes with a white crayon too, if you want them to stay white when you spread paint in the final step.
- Gently roll and sqeeze the drawing in one direction to make wrinkles. Open and do the same in the other direction. Work carefully so your drawing does not tear.
- Brush black watercolor paint over all of your drawing. Work in sections, brush until the wrinkles start to flatten, and then continue until the painting is all done.
- Dab with a paper towel, when finished, to speed up the drying and remove any extra paint that is sitting on the crayon color.
Materials
Pencils
Ticonderoga Wood-Cased Pencils, #2 HB Soft *Affiliate link
