Jean Dubuffet painted “The Cow with a Subtile Nose” in 1954, and you can get a pretty close imitation with a good old crayon and watercolor resist.

I do recommend that you have your students use a light color for the cow, and a dark watercolor to get the most contrast for their wrinkles.

MATERIALS

Copy paper (Believe it or not, I’ve found just thin copy paper to work best as it makes the most distinct wrinkles.)
Black Sharpie marker
Crayons
Liquid watercolor paint, dark color is best*

DIRECTIONS

To draw the cow, first start with a large square with rounded corners. Older students may be able to follow the placement on the paper.
The feet and udder are added below.
A neck is extended from the body and a long head is added. Ears are drawn on the side.
Eyes and nose are added to the face.
The tail is drawn on the back. Lastly parts of the rectangle are erased so it looks more like a cow body.
The drawing is traced with a black Sharpie, and colored very heavily with crayon. Solid crayon (no white paper showing) is important to make the wrinkles.
The paper is crumpled up, opened up and smoothed. Repeat 3 times.
Dark watercolor paint is generously spread over the entire painting.
Rub a paper towel over the entire picture to smooth. Moooove to a drying rack and enjoy!