Friday, May 9, 2008

Create Your Own Cassatt-Inspired Portrait

Mary Cassatt became famous for her paintings of family life. She focused on women and children. What better Mother’s Day gift than a hand-drawn portrait of you and your mom, inspired by Mary Cassatt?

Supplies Needed:

Sheet of white paper (use heavy sketch paper if you use pastels)
Pastels or Crayons
Pencil with eraser
Plastic page protector
Construction paper
Glue stick

Begin by choosing a scene. Do you want to draw your mom playing with you in the park? Helping you with your homework? Maybe you and your mom went apple picking last fall. Or maybe you’ve been helping her tend the garden. If you need help deciding on a subject, have another adult help you choose a photograph to inspire you.

Gather your materials and begin sketching. If you have pastels, use them to color in your picture. Be careful with pastels because they smear. You can use this to your advantage by blending colors with a tissue. However, if your hand wipes across your picture you will have a bit of a mess. If you don’t have pastels or don’t wish to use them, crayons will do just fine. Don’t forget to sign your name!

When your drawing is perfect and colored in, slide it into a plastic page protector.

Now you can cut a paper frame out of construction paper and use a glue stick to attach it to the page protector.

When you give your mom her gift, tell her that you got your inspiration from Mary Cassatt. She will be very impressed!

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