Here’s a seasonal art idea that is easy to do with your kids. If you don’t like to focus on the creepy side of Halloween you can see this lesson applied to one of the more creative characters and less scary over on Hip Homeschool Moms. You could also apply this idea to less realistic looking monsters ( as below) or more whimsical seasonal creatures like jack-o-lanterns and scarecrows as well.

Of course be realistic with your children, keep it about process and NOT product and make it fun. For small kids you might want to add googley eyes to their scribble, cut it out and post it to seasonal paper. With elementary aged children focus on shape and color with just a touch of shading; with middle school and high school work specifically on shading and creating features.

What you will need to make Scribble Monster Art:

• Pencil
• White Paper
• Prismacolor Premier Colored Pencils, 24 Pack, Assorted Colors

Optional: Felt Tip Ink Pen, Black ( if desired to emphasize lines), Choice for Background- Watercolor or Paper, Scissors, Watered Down Glue & Paintbrush (if being mounted)

Scribble Art Tutorial

1. Start with making a simple loose scribble. You can be slightly purposeful but most of the time, in my experience, art just happens. Try to go with it and see what comes out. Turn the scribble every which way until you “see something” in your scribble. It may be horns or eyes or a funny nose. Perhaps it’s a beak, shell of a snail, teeth like an alligator or some other defining characteristic. Use that as your starting point.

2. Add a few needed lines and define features you see. Emphasize your initial features.  This is often the eyes and nose. Once you add those it’s usually easy to see where you want to proceed. Add more lines where you need to. It’s okay to erase a few lines too. But do leave the majority of scribbles because that’s part of what makes this project interesting to look at.

3. Keep going, don’t quit. Press on through this project. Keep adding color and emphasis where you want it. It does take practice to get good at so don’t be discouraged.

Tip: Use colored pencils to add color and shading. Color darker in areas near the lines and fade out in center for round features- like cheeks, noses or even bellies.  Here’s an example:

Create roundness and depth with circles that are not colored in or only lightly colored in.

This gives the highlighted effect where the light would be reflecting off the nearest part of the object. You can also shade closer to the lines of different sections to add depth. Maybe for your “monster” add teeth, horns or some other feature that makes it unique and defines it.

Keep this about process.

And as I said before with kids let them explore it themselves. You may be surprised what they come up with that you can add to your child’s art portfolio for variety.

 Scribble Art Witch:

My daughter, 20, had fun doing this project with us too and created a witch from her rather purposeful scribble.

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