Cheetah Pastel Art!

Last year I worked at a school whose mascot was a Cheetah. I wanted to do a fun pastel art project and I thought celebrating our school mascot would be the perfect subject matter! I first practiced drawing a cheetah so I could break it down into manageable steps for my second graders. The students used their iPads to look up pictures of cheetahs so they could become familiar with the physical characteristics of the cheetah.

Then I approached the teaching using a directed drawing method. The students were able to transform and adjust their cheetah drawing however they chose. I then introduced the "fuzzy" paper.

"Fuzzy paper" is a velour paper that looks great with oil pastels. The material "grabs" the pastel allowing a wonderful textured appearance. I use black because it gives the pastel pieces a depth and value without having to add additional black pastel for shading. I taught the students how to transfer their drawing to the velour paper.

I then modeled using pastels on the velour paper. Check out the amazing work that my students produced!

I am so excited to try this project again this year with my new school's mascot, the bobcat! I am going to practice my bobcat drawing over the next few days so I am ready to teach the drawing when we get back to school. I will be sure to post pictures of our bobcats soon! For now please enjoy the art from my last year's second graders!

Here is a list of the supplies we used for the cheetah pastel pieces:
oil pastels
velour paper
white drawing paper
pencils
erasers
black markers
tape

If you have any questions about this project, please leave a comment! :) Happy Teaching!