Armadillo Desert 4...entire desert scene come to life. Use a small round paintbrush and black tempera paint mixed with a little water to outline everything in your drawing. Scratching

Armadillo desertSCRATCH ART, LINE & PATTERN

TIME REQUIRED: Two sessions @ 50 minutes

D E E P S P A C E S P A R K L E & T H E S P A R K L E R S C L U B !2

I love the high contrast illustrations in the book

Armadillo Ray by John Beifuss and Peggy

Turley. In the

story, a

curious

armadillo

named Ray is

quizzing all

his desert

animal

friends about

why the

moon changes shape each night. The scientific

answer is shared at the end of the book, which

allows for a wonderful science connection.

This lesson features SCRATCH ART, which is a

super engaging technique for kids. You can

use this lesson to reinforce types of lines by

encouraging your students to scratch a variety

of lines and patterns into their wet paint.

ABOUT ARMADILLOS Armadillo is Spanish for “little armored one”

which is the perfect description of the leathery

shell that protects this mammal. They are

excellent at digging for both food and to build

shelters. Some armadillo species are small,

about the size of a

chipmunk, while

giant armadillos

can weigh 100 lbs!

WHAT YOU’LL NEED:

12” x 18” white sulphite

paper

Black oil pastel

Liquid tempera paint

Medium round paintbrush

Small round paintbrush

Armadillo desert


DRAW THE ARMADILLO Start your armadillo by using a black oil pastel to

draw a slightly curved, horizontal line about a

third of the way up from the bottom of your 12” x

18” white sulphite paper.

Draw an upside-down “U” on the line. This is the

armadillo’s body.

Add a flat, sideways “U” for the head. Add an

eye and curved mouth. Draw a large ear on the

head. Draw an ear behind the front ear that is

only partially showing. Add a skinny, pointed tail.

Add a front and back foot. The feet are two lines

down for the leg, then a zig-zag foot. Add the

other two feet to complete your armadillo.

DRAW THE BACKGROUND Add a curved path under the armadillo and tall

cacti behind the

armadillo. Use

OVERLAPPING to

make the

armadillo appear

to be in front of

the background.

Add a horizon line

and wavy lines for

the mountains in

the distance.

Drawing the Armadillo

Armadillo Drawing Guide on Page 7


THE FIRST COAT OF PAINT Paint the armadillo and background with

liquid tempera paint. Leave the sky

unpainted for now.

Don’t do any scratching into your paint yet.

That’s going to be the next step.

Right now, you are giving your

painting a coat of color that will

later be revealed by the scratch

art, so make sure you do a

great job covering all of the

areas!

Give your paint a few

minutes to dry.

Painting the Desert Scene


SCRATCH ART Next comes the fun scratch art part of the

project!

Select one part of your scene, such as a cactus,

the armadillo, path, etc and paint that part

again. It works best to choose a different paint

color than the color you are painting over. This

allows for more CONTRAST when the scratching

happens.

While the paint is still wet, turn your brush over

and scratch LINES or SHAPES to create

PATTERNS into the wet paint.

Repeat with each area of your painting that time

allows for.

If desired, paint the sky black and scratch stars

and a moon into the wet paint to reveal the

white paper underneath.

OUTLINING WITH BLACK The final step of this lesson really makes the

entire desert scene come to life.

Use a small round paintbrush and black

tempera paint mixed with a little water to

outline everything in your drawing.

Scratching Patterns


Armadillo Gallery


Armadillo D R A W I N G G U I D E

6

Start your armadillo by drawing a slightly curved, horizontal line about a third of the way up from the bottom of the paper.

4

21

3

5

Draw an upside-down “U” on the line. This is the armadillo’s body.

Add a flat, sideways “U” for the head. Add an eye and curved mouth.

Draw a large ear on the head. Draw an ear behind the front ear that is only partially showing. Add a skinny, pointed tail.

Add a front and back foot. The feet are two lines down for the leg and then a zig-zag foot.

Draw a second foot at the front and back of the armadillo.

ANIMAL ART B U N D L E


Arm

adi

llo

deser

t H

A N

D O

U T

ANIM

AL

ART

B

U N

D L

E


CREATING Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work — Brainstorm approaches for design

problem

Organize and develop artistic ideas and work — Explore and invent art-making

techniques-care for materials while art-making—Document and describe environments

Refine and complete artistic work—Revise artwork in progress through insights gained

from peers and discussion

Presenting/producing Analyze, interpret and select artistic work for presentation— Analyze how past, present

and emerging technologies have impacted preservation and presentations of artwork

Develop and refine artistic work for presentation — Analyze the various considerations for

presenting and protecting work in all settings and forms

Convey meaning through the presentation of artistic work — Compare and contrast

purposes of art museums, etc. and the types of personal experiences they provide

Responding Perceive and analyze artistic work- Compare responses to artwork after experiencing the

medium Interpret intent and meaning in artistic work — Interpret art by referring to contextual info

and analyzing relevant subject matter, characteristics and media

Apply criteria to evaluate artistic work— Apply one set of criteria to evaluate more than

one work of art

Connecting Synthesize and relate knowledge and personal experiences to make art- Create works of

art that reflect community cultural traditions

Relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural and historical context to deepen understanding- Through observation, infer information about time, place and culture in

which a work of art was created

NATIONAL CORE ARTS STANDARDS-fourth grade

X

X

X

X

X

X


CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.4.1 Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information.

After students finish their art, you can have them fill out the artist statement worksheet (located in

Teacher Aids). This information leads them to reflect on the process of art making while forming an

opinion about their own work based on the processes used, materials used, inspirations, etc.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.4.1 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or

speaking.

You can communicate to students that using conventions of standard English grammar when writing

their answers to the artist statement worksheet should be emphasized. This is a wonderful way to

help students see cross curricular connections between subjects!

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.4.2 Paraphrase portions of a text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats,

including visually, quantitatively, and orally.

After reading the book Armadillo Ray, students can be asked to answer questions orally based on

the visuals in the book. Ask them questions based on the illustrations that would involve

paraphrasing what they see, based on the elements of art and principles of design. Example: What

colors did the illustrator use? How did that contribute to what was happening in the book?

Common core standards for ARMADILLO desert

I CAN STATEMENTS FOR ARMADILLO desert

• Today I will learn about LINE and SPACE so that I CAN use OVERLAPPING in my desert scene,

giving everything the appearance of being behind the armadillo.

• Today I will learn about CONTRAST so that I CAN choose COLORS for my second coat of paint

that stand out against the first coat.

• Today I will learn about SCRATCH ART so that I CAN use LINES to create PATTERNS and

TEXTURE as I scratch away at my wet paint.


ASSESSMENT CHECKLIST

Student Name:

Did the student create a desert scene using overlapping lines and shapes to create the look of space?

Did the student use different colors in both paint layers so that their scratched off areas contrast against the top layer of paint?

Did the student use lines to create patterns while scratching their paint to add variety to their artwork?

Main Ideas from:

ARMADILLO DESERT

Armadillo Desert 4...entire desert scene come to life. Use a small round paintbrush and black tempera paint mixed with a little water to outline everything in your drawing. Scratching

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