Halloween is my favorite holiday and it is a great opportunity to experiment and get creative in your elementary classroom so in this blog post, I will provide you with a simple yet effective art lesson to get students exploring art making mediums and making a Monochromatic artwork with simple strategies to create an art project featuring a Jack-O-Lantern. Read on to find the steps for creating and the full art lesson and downloadable PDF lesson plan and worksheets.
Materials and Hook for the Art Lesson
For this art lesson, you will need two art mediums and a piece of paper. First, you need Oil Pastels OR Wax Crayons and Watercolor paints OR Tempera Paint Cakes. As well, you will need Orange paper.
Begin the lesson with hooking your students on the lesson. You can click here and follow the full video art lesson and create an example to show your students or you can start off with a classroom discussion and ask them a question: “What symbol or characters do you relate to Halloween?” Record all their answers on chart paper or on the board or have them do a Quick Draw on scrap paper or a post-it note for 2 minutes and have them come up and add it to the board/paper to increase engagement in your classroom and student interest.
Next, you can explain you will be creating an artwork of Jack O’ Lantern that will explore creating value and a Monochromatic color scheme!
Step 1: Draw the first parts of the pumpkin
Start the artwork by drawing with a black oil pastel, an oval with two curving lines on either side to start the pumpkin. Model drawing it large or show them the full video art lesson that you can watch by clicking here.
Step 2: Add another curve on each side.
Add a curving line on either side to complete the pumpkin shape.
Step 3: Add facial details and shading
Draw a choice face carving or other pumpkin carving design with the black oil pastel onto the pumpkin. Add a spooky stem and dark shadows below the pumpkin. Hold the pastel on its side to add a dark shadow around the whole jack o’lantern.
Step 4: Paint the Jack O’ Lantern and Background
Finally, draw grass with lines on the ground and smooth out all of the black oil pastel lines with finger.
Paint the background and add shading to the pumpkin with black watercolor paints. Add white paint to the carvings and dots or drips around the artwork while it is still wet to create texture and visual interest in the artwork.
Watch the FULL Art Lesson and Get the FREE Downloadable Lesson Plan & Worksheets
If you would like to watch a full video art lesson to learn how to make this art lesson or have access to it to show your students AND the Downloadable Lesson Plan, Step-By-Step handout, Rubric and reflection (in PDF format), then make sure you click here or the image below and you can grab the full art lesson FOR FREE!
Want more FREE Art Lessons to help you Plan your Year?
Look no further! I believe in providing art lessons to help educators and homeschool families plan their year efficiently with art lessons that teach the curriculum and engage students with interesting content and art techniques. You can find all my free art lessons in one, easy to access spot and they’re all organized by seasons/times of the school year, and by holidays. Find the resources by clicking here.
