Halloween Art Lesson - Draw a Haunted House

This Halloween art lesson is inspired by Friedensreich Hundertwasser. 

Halloween Art Lesson Objective: Students become acquainted with Hundertwasser’s art and architecture, then create a Hundertwasser-inspired haunted house in the spirit of Halloween.

National Core Arts Standards
Creating: #1, 2, 3
Presenting/Producing: #5
Responding: #7,9
Connecting: #11
http://www.nationalartsstandards.org/

Materials:
Faber-Castell Oil Pastels or Faber-Castell Beeswax Crayons
Pencil
Brush
Faber-Castell Black Watercolor paint
Faber-Castell 9×12 Watercolor Paper

Grade Level: 4th – 6th grade
Time Required: 2 45-min. class periods

“When we dream alone it is only a dream, but when many dream together, it is the beginning of a new reality.” —Hundertwasser 1928-2000

Friedensreich Hundertwasser, 1928-2000 was an Austrian artist and architect known for his imaginative expression with his use of bold colors, patterns, and organic shapes. Furthermore, as an architect, Hundertwasser disliked straight lines, opting to work outside the traditional rules of modern architecture, creating very decorative, dreamy and fanciful structures.
This lesson is offered in the spirit of Halloween fun! Search Hundertwasser, and share both his paintings and architecture with students. In addition, have them design a haunted house incorporating their favorite motifs as Hunderwasser would have.

1. The first step of the art project is giving students a copy of a line drawing of a basic Victorian-style house for reference.

2. Then, transform house by demonstrating how to replace straight lines with curvy lines, and adding Hundertwasser motifs such as onion domes, hidden faces, tiny windows, and colorful spirals. Add Halloween images.

3. Next, color the sky with swirling lines in an analogous color scheme. Color the rest of the art carefully, by leaving thin channels of no color around shapes. Use white for ghosts and spider webs as they will appear once the artwork is painted. Furthermore, uncolored areas will later become black with paint.

4. Finally, paint a black watercolor wash over the art. Make even, downward strokes. As a result, the oil pastel/crayon will resist the paint and will bead up. Let it dry.

Show us your student’s artwork on Facebook.