WINTER SILHOUETTES

Materials

• Craft sticks
• Glue
• Paint
• Paintbrush
• Black permanent marker

Directions

• Lay two craft sticks down horizontally, one above the other, with enough space between them to lay another stick.
• Place a line of glue on each of the craft sticks.
• Lay craft sticks vertically between the two horizontal sticks, each touching the next, to create a flat rectangle.
• Leave the sticks to dry.
• Once the glue is dry, paint your rectangle. Try using a variety of colours and gently blending them together to create a gradient on your craft sticks! We blended blue with white to make a wintery background.
• Allow your paint time to dry.
• Once it’s dry, use a black permanent marker to trace a silhouette on your rectangle. Think of things that you see outside during winter and draw their silhouettes. We drew a silhouette of a tree beside a house. Using either black paint or the permanent marker, fill in the interior of your silhouette.
• Find a place around your home to display your art!

Spark Creative Learning!

• What’s a silhouette? It’s the outline of something visible against a lighter background. Shadows are one example of a silhouette that we often see in our daily lives. Can you think of any structures (both natural and man-made) in our city that have unique and easily recognizable silhouettes?

• Explore colour theory as you paint your rectangle. What’s a warm colour? What’s a cool colour? Can you make a gradient out of warm colours, cool colours, or one that moves between both? 

• We used cool colours for our gradient because we were creating a winter scene! What are some warm colours you could use as the background to a summer scene? What are some unique silhouettes that make you think of summer fun in the sun?