How Much Can A Koala Bear?

After a guided drawing lesson to draw our koala, we used water colour pencil, being sure to use short broken lines drawn in the same direction that the fur grows, to create a furry look for our koalas.  We were also careful to leave patches of white fur on the chest and ears to create contrast.

Students had a completely free range with colour - some went with natural greys, browns and black while others really lashed out! Thanks to Emma and Estelle for sharing their very individual Koala pictures here!

We used the same broken line technique to apply colour to the background, referring to the colour wheel to select colours that we knew would blend well together. Finally we brushed over all our line work with fine brushes and clean water. We were careful to apply our brushwork in the same direction that we drew our lines to dissolve the colour into watercolour while retaining the line work which gives the koala his furry appearance.

More Australian Native Animals

Kangaroo - Charlotte K (Year 2)

Emu - Tia C (Year 2)

Turtle - Mayah K (Year 5)

Platypus - Estelle T-F (Year 3)

Koala - Murray L (Year 2)

Cassowary - Oscar N (Year 2)

Platypus - Makedde C

Koala - Toby G (Year 2)

Echidna - Jay PO (Year 2)

Wallaby - Kyla R (Year 4)

More Australian native animals, drawn and painted using some traditional Australian Aboriginal designs and techniques. Click here to view details of how we created these great pictures.

Australian Native Animals

Emu

Turtle - April K (Year 5)

Turtle - Jakobe C (Prep)

My Hand - Abby K (Year 4)

Crocodile - Kiefer C (Year 2)

Platypus - Sascha B (Prep)

Crocodile - Kira R  (Year 5)

Kangaroo - Alex A S (Year 2)

Platypus - Bronte B (Year 3)

Indigenous Australian art is rich in tradition, texture and earth colors. Often depicting stories from the Dreamtime, the art style incorporates the use of many media and techniques including dot and x-ray painting, rock and bark painting, sculpture and fibre arts to name just a few.
This week we've explored just a small part of this rich culture, looking at examples of paintings of native Australian animals by indigenous artists using the dot and x-ray techniques.

After discussing color, texture and pattern, we used white color sticks on colored paper to first draw our animals in outline. We then thought about where we thought the internal organs of the animal might be, and drew them in with lots of pattern. It is important that our lines are drawn very firmly.
From there we considered the background patterns of our pictures, using flowing lines to divide the background into interesting shapes.

We then added more color in linear pattern or  solid blocks of color. I didn't restrict the student's use of color at all, but did talk to them about the effectiveness of a limited color palette.

Finally, students used the ends of paint brushes dipped in white acrylic to carefully apply dots of white along the major lines of their backgrounds and, if they chose, around their animals.