Owl Drawings

Submitted by: Michele Briggs, visual art teacher at
Biloela State Primary School in central Queensland Australia

Level: Year 3 - 6

Background:

The Owl Drawing lesson was inspired by the Animals in Art Lesson by Patti Caiola. However, I had just been to see the animated film, Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole so I decided to use the posters from the movie as part of the examples of owls. A tie-in to science would be if you covered the habitat and habits of owls.

Materials needed:

Drawing Paper and visual diary or Sketchbooks for work up sketches, HB and 2B Drawing Pencils, and Kneaded Rubber Erasers

Preparation:
Students Viewed the posters for Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole and we discussed what the animators needed to do to be able to create the images. (That is they needed to study and be able to draw the owls and all the details.) We then looked at the patterns in the feathers and discussed the shapes and proportions of the different owls.

I then demonstrated how to draw the eyes with the radiating pattern around the eyes. The focus was on the patterns seen in the feathers and creating tone to create depth. We went on to where the beak was and the general shape of the head and body.

Students did their work-up drawings in their scrap books / sketchbooks. I then demonstrated how to draw trees and a background. Students then chose the type of owl they were interested in and drew their own owls. The students drew the eyes first after sketching the contour lines for their owls.

Resources

Posters

Great Grey Owl Family Bird

16 Awesome Owls Poster