Learn how to draw 3D letters, just like the artist Robert Indiana. Stencils are advised when a student is trying this for the first time.
This project also has a connection to the artist Robert Indiana, as he made a career out of stacking L-O-V-E letters, both in print and in sculpture.
Try to get access to a heavy duty die cutter to help make chipboard templates. It will help students just focus on the idea of connecting a front and back letter. Drawing it on their own can come afterwards.
MATERIALS
- Drawing paper, square, 9″
- Letter stencils, about 3″ tall, L-O-V-E
- Ruler
- Pencil
- Black Marker
- Crayons or Pencil Crayons
DIRECTIONS
- PREP: Cut 9″ squares of drawing paper to go with the 3″ tall letters.
- Fold the paper in half both ways to make 4 equal squares. Or if students are old enough, have them measure with a ruler to get nice straight lines.
- Following the diagram, students first trace each chipboard letter in the center of a square.
- Next, they move the letter up and to the right a bit and trace again. And as true with all overlapping shapes, the front shape needs to have all the lines inside it erased.
- Connect all the corners.
- Repeat with all the remaining letters. The letter “O” is a bit of an exception as there are no corners, so only curved lines need to be drawn.
- When complete, trace the lines with a black marker.
- Color the letters and backgrounds. If students color with medium pressure on the letter fronts, and then press hard to make shadows on the sides, their block letters will look even more dimensional. My favorite was hearing the kids say “cool!” as their letters took shape.
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