Below you’ll find an easy tutorial for a solar eclipse art project that creates an amazing outer space kind of look. It’s what chalk pastels were made for!

Solar Eclipse Chalk Art Drawing

A solar eclipse art project that was made with the help of a step by step tutorial.

There’s nothing like a total solar eclipse topic to take advantage of how art and science can overlap. The image the eclipse is going to create is pretty fascinating, and students can get some first hand knowledge about it when they create their own eclipse drawing on their paper.

To review, a total solar eclipse will take place at the Moon’s ascending node on Monday, April 8, 2024, visible across North America and dubbed the Great North American Eclipse by some of the media.

This art project will let students create an imitation of what that eclipse looks like … and give them some great shading practice too. As great as crayons are, which most of my projects rely on, they just don’t give students a chance to make really soft, pretty gradations.

Nope, it turns out that those dusty chalk pastels do that job really well. I know, I inherited a lot of them back in my classroom days, and tried to find ways to use them, and ended up with only a few projects where they were indispensable, and this was one of them.

So, given that we here in the US will not see another total solar eclipse until 2044, why not make the most of it? You can download my PDF tutorial below, and I’ve shared an example of how the project can be diagrammed on a classroom board too. I believe that back in the day I made it “Eclipse Week” and did the project with just about every grade level.

Classroom Instruction Display

Student Solar Eclipse Art Gallery

Made with oil pastels
Chalk and oil pastel combo
Green Acres Academy, Arlington, WA
1st grade, Green Acres Academy
1st grade, Green Acres Academy
1st grade, Green Acres Academy

Kimberly K.’s students, mostly 1st grade

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A preview of the step by step solar eclipse art project, available as a free download.

Materials

Note: All below are Amazon affiliate links.

BLACK CARD STOCK PAPER

100 Sheets Black Cardstock 8.5 x 11 Thick Paper, Goefun 80lb Card Stock Printer Paper for Halloween, Invitations, Scrapbooking, Crafts, DIY Cards

CHALK PASTELS

HA SHI Soft Chalk Pastels, 48 colors with additional 2pcs, Non Toxic Art Supplies, Drawing Media for Artist Stick Pastel for Professional, Kids.

Old yogurt cup (or similar) for tracing
Scrap card stock paper (for circle)
Pencil
Masking tape
Scissors

Directions

Time needed: 45 minutes

Draw a Solar Eclipse

Trace a circle to make a template. Add a roll of masking tape to the back.
Stick circle to center of black paper. Color half with yellow chalk pastel.
Blend in chalk with fingers.
Color with red pastel chalk on the other side.
Blend the colors with your fingers.
Make a white ring with white chalk pastel.
Blend with your fingers.
Add another thin band of white around the circle for emphasis.
Remove the taped circle and enjoy your eclipse art!

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Great, then use the download button below to get your free Eclipse tutorial.

And thanks for wanting to bring more step-by-step, no-prep art lessons to your classroom!

OPEN ECLIPSE TUTORIAL