College advice sometimes steers you away from holiday themes in art, fearing alienation. However, in my diverse classrooms, holiday projects, especially Christmas-themed ones, have sparked incredible creativity and engagement. It’s all about balance, using holidays as a vibrant backdrop to teach core art skills like shading, observational drawing, and color theory. My students thrive on holiday themes, eager to explore traditions, including those beyond their own. Of course, sensitivity is key. Always be prepared with alternative projects for students who might find certain holidays, particularly family-centric ones like Christmas, challenging. Creating a safe and inclusive space where every student feels seen and heard is paramount.
Speaking of engaging projects, let’s dive into one of my students’ absolute favorites: drawing festive Christmas bows with oil pastels!
Why This Gift Bow Art Project is a Winner
This project consistently amazes students, transforming initial doubts into proud exclamations of “Wow, I actually drew that!”. Those moments, witnessing their surprise and accomplishment, are why I teach. It’s incredibly rewarding to see students overcome perceived limitations and discover their artistic potential through learning How To Draw A Gift bow.
Art Supplies for Your Gift Bow Drawings
For vibrant gift bow drawings, here’s what you’ll need:
- Oil Pastels: Crayola oil pastels are my go-to. While Portfolio pastels are good, Crayola offers brighter colors and are generally more budget-friendly.
- Black Paper: Black paper makes the pastel colors truly pop! Canson black drawing paper is ideal, but black construction paper works well for tighter budgets.
- White Colored Pencils: White colored pencils are perfect for sketching the initial bow outlines. They are light enough to be easily covered by pastels and prevent students from getting bogged down with erasing.
Lesson Intro: Mastering Oil Pastel Techniques
Before diving into drawing gift bows, it’s crucial to familiarize students with oil pastel techniques. I begin with simple color blending exercises. Using a worksheet, I demonstrate layering, blending, and the effects of shading with black versus complementary colors. Understanding tints and shades is also key to creating depth in their gift bow drawings.
Step-by-Step: Drawing the Gift Bow Contour
Once students are comfortable with pastels, we move to drawing the gift bow contour. I’ve used two methods, adapting to different skill levels.
Method 1: Drawing from Life (More Challenging)
For a greater challenge, encourage students to draw bows from real life. Advise them to start with the center and expand outwards. Emphasize that each bow is unique, encouraging individuality and reducing pressure to create identical drawings.
Method 2: Grid Drawing (For Beginners)
For students who find freehand drawing intimidating, the grid drawing method is excellent. A gridded bow handout provides structure and support. Alternatively, providing photo references is a simpler approach for guided drawing.
Drawing the contour is often the most challenging part. I recall one class struggling so intensely that it led to frustration and tears. However, perseverance is key. The next day, after reassurance and slow, step-by-step demonstrations, they successfully mastered it. Demo each step slowly, whether under a document camera or on the board. If needed, dedicate extra time to this stage. Drawing one bow together as a class before individual attempts significantly boosts confidence before they move on to coloring their gift bow drawings.
Coloring Your Drawn Gift Bow
Just like contour drawing, I guide students through coloring, shading, and highlighting step by step. We practice together before they work independently. Coloring is usually the most enjoyable part, where their gift bow drawings truly come alive.
In terms of process, I prefer adding white highlights first. Then, I gently layer the main bow color over the white, blending them by re-layering white on top. Finally, shadow colors are added to create depth. Some prefer applying the bow color first, then highlights – both methods work, it’s a matter of preference!
The key to realistic shading and highlights is consistency. Instruct students to slant all shadows and highlights diagonally, ensuring they converge at the bow’s “triangle” tip. This simple tip dramatically improves the visual impact of their gift bow art.
Project Requirements for Stunning Gift Bow Art
After practice sessions, it’s time for the main project. Provide larger black paper and have students draw 3-4 bows independently. Encourage creativity with color choices, overlapping bows, and allowing them to extend off the paper edges.
My final, crucial tip: go big! Oil pastels are challenging for small details. Larger drawings make adding details and shading much easier. 12×18 inch black paper works perfectly for this.
Once completed, displaying these vibrant gift bow drawings in hallways is incredibly rewarding. Prepare for amazed students and staff!
Want to bring this engaging project to your classroom? Check out my resource on Teachers Pay Teachers, which includes a step-by-step PowerPoint and helpful handouts for oil pastel practice and bow drawing.
Happy Art Making!
