Surrealist Spirit Animals Handout

VOCABULARY
Oil pastels: These have a soft, buttery consistency and intense colors. They are dense
and fill the grain of paper and are slightly more difficult to blend than soft pastels, but do
not require a fixative. They may be spread across the work surface by thinning with
turpentine.
Identity: condition or character as to who a person or what a thing is; the qualities,
beliefs, etc., that distinguish or identify a person or thing
Symbol: a drawing, shape, or object that represents an idea, object, or amount of
something.
Surrealism: a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for
its visual artworks and writings. By using fantasy and dream imagery, artists produced
creative works that exposed their inner minds in eccentric, symbolic ways through visual
means.
Distortion: is the alteration of the original shape (or other characteristic) of something,
such as an object, image, sound or waveform.

TECHNIQUES
Blend: combining colors to create a gradual transition from one to the other
Heavy Pressure Blend: using heavy pressure to combine colors to create a gradual
transition from one to the other
Sgraffitio: scratching through a surface to reveal a lower layer of color
Crosshatch: used to create tonal or shading effects by drawing lines crossing at 90
degrees.

EXAMPLES
Vladmir Kush
African Sonata

Salvador Dali
The Elephants
DIRECTIONS FOR THE PROJECT:
1. Consider and choose an animal that you identify with the most.
a. EX: I like sloths because they are always smiling and I enjoy smiling a lot.
2. Think of one characteristic/interest describing yourself that would not be used to
describe your chosen animal.
a. EX: I am an artist (Other examples could be that youre athletic, have long
hair, enjoy playing the piano).
3. Sketch out how you will distort your animal using that trait on the black paper.
a. EX: I could draw a sloth painting at an easel or a sloth sketching in a
sketchbook.
4. Using at least 2 different oil pastel techniques, finish your painting.

IF YOU FINISH EARLY:

1. Did you use at least two of the oil pastel techniques?
2. Did you draw a background? Did you fill in the entire page?
3. Write one high (good event) from today, one low (not so good event) from today,
and one hah (funny occurrence) from today in your sketchbook.
4. Sketch
5. Find another student who is finished with their project and try drawing their face
without looking down at your paper. Then, give them the piece of paper to finish
their own self-portrait.