Da Little Arts School - Year of the Dog Collage Portrait by Mom and Ewan

Posted by May February 01, 2018

Da Little Arts School - Year of the Dog Collage Portrait by Mom and Ewan

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When I first enrolled Faye for Art classes at Da Little Arts School, I really only had her in mind. Ewan had a lot on his plate at that time - Wushu, Piano, Football and Swimming - and I didn't want to tie him down any further with more classes. Faye, on the other hand, had nothing. So when she requested to do Art, I obliged.

I planned to spend quality time with my son when Faye goes for her class. An hour of mommy and son date on a weekly basis sounds superb! Yet, my first-born wanted in.

"Huh? You want to do Art? Since when do you like Art? Don't do it lah Ewan. You already have so many other classes!" I lamented.

He insisted and we let him go for a one day trial before committing him for it. He was stuck after that trial class with Teacher Lala.

Ewan was five when he started and was supposed to be enrolled into the Little Crafters class, planned for children aged four to six. This course takes full advantage of children’s fascination of what interest them to explore and expand their artistic abilities beyond the basic level. Children learn to combine shapes and lines to form their pictures from symbolic to representation form.

However, there were no available class during the time Faye was supposed to go for her Book Explorers programme [Read: Art Classes at Da Little Arts School - Book Explorers]. With that, we let Ewan try out the Master Artists class meant for six years and above.

At Master Artists, children are taught advanced art techniques that include painting on canvas, moulding and weaving clay, constructing collage and making paper mache. They are also introduced to art history and culture, art terminology, 2D and 3D drawing. I do find it way too advanced for Ewan who is still doodling a lot but what a good exposure to build mental skills, abstract thought and pattern recognition way before he is actually ready for it.

I sat in his last art project just to bring you an insight of what the Master Artists programme is all about.

We created a Collage Portrait of a Dog! It's a beautiful artistic piece which I wasn't sure if my son was able to fulfil but he did - in his own artistic way. It was a very fun piece we put together as mother and child. I'd like to take this opportunity to go through a step-by-step tutorial on how you can make this piece together at home - as a Chinese New Year centrepiece to usher in the Year of the Dog!

STEP 1

PREPARE PENCILS, PAINT AND PAPER

STEP 2

PENCIL IN THE PICTURE OF YOUR DOG

STEP 3

USE BLACK PAINT TO TRACE THE DOG YOU DREW

STEP 4

CREATE PATTERNS ON TWO LARGE SHEETS OF WHITE PAPER

MONOCHROME AND COLOUR

STEP 5

DECIDE THE COLOUR OF YOUR DOG'S EYES AND LAY OUT OIL PAINTS

SORT OUT THREE TO FOUR SHADES OF THE SAME FAMILY

STEP 6

CHOOSE THE COLOUR OF YOUR DOG'S EYES AND
COLOUR IN THE DARKEST SHADE ON THE OUTER PART OF THE EYE

STEP 7

DRAW SHORT VERTICAL LINES USING THE SAME OIL PAINT COLOUR TOWARDS THE EYE PUPIL

STEP 8

COLOUR IN THE NEXT SHADE IN CIRCULAR MOTION

STEP 9

DRAW SHORT VERTICAL LINES USING THE SAME OIL PAINT COLOUR

STEP 10

CONTINUE THE SEQUENCE UNTIL YOU FILL THE WHOLE EYE

USE A WHITE OIL PAINT TO FILL IN THE EMPTY PARTS

STEP 11

PAINT THE EYE PUPIL BLACK

STEP 12

TEAR UP THE MONOCHROME AND COLOURED PATTERNED SHEETS IN TRIANGLES

STEP 13

FIND THE CENTER OF THE BACKING PAPER AND PASTE THE TRIANGLES AROUND IT

STEP 14

CUT OUT THE EYES AND NOSE OF THE DOG

STEP 15

PASTE ON THE NEWLY COLLAGED SHEET

STEP 16

PAINT IN THE DOG'S CHEEKS WITH BLACK PAINT

STEP 17

RUB GLUE ALL OVER THE DOG'S EYES TO MAKE IT SHINE

And with that, you are done with your collage portrait! Feel free to rework the art piece with your favourite animal, person or object. Whatever it may be, I look forward to seeing your creation!

We found a lot of fun in this artwork because we put aside time to bond. That mother and child time spent over art was extremely enjoyable. We incorporated a lot of freeform art in our pieces, splashing and rolling paint out. While mine is symmetrical and planned, Ewan's artwork is free-spirited, red-eyed and impressionistic.

Nobody said eyes need to be as round as a ball.

Thank you Teacher La La for always giving Ewan full autonomy in his artwork, guiding him patiently with the steps required to make this one such a framable art piece.