Creepy and Cute Portraits

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by Andrea Mulder-Slater

This is a small excerpt of a full KinderArt Club lesson plan. Members have access to the full lesson plan, complete with step-by-step instructions and supporting materials.

In this lesson, students will explore Tim Burton’s whimsical and spooky style as they create portraits featuring oversized eyes, thin necks, and wild hair.

Using rough pencil lines, blending stumps, and bold, dark outlines, kids will learn how to use exaggeration and imperfection to make creepy and cute characters.

What You Need:

  • Grey construction paper (9″ x 12)
  • Pencils
  • Blending stumps (or cotton swabs)
  • Black markers (Sharpies)
  • White pencils

Optional: Black poster paper or 12″x 16″ black construction paper, scissors and glue for frames

What You Do:

After introducing students to the artwork of Tim Burton, discuss what makes his characters look so unique. (Big, round, expressive eyes, Slightly exaggerated features, Messy, sketchy lines, Spooky, whimsical style).

Then, they can begin drawing using a pencil. The softer the better (HB to 4B is perfect)

Have them start with two large round (or oval eyes), followed by a simple nose and mouth (with or without teeth). Eyebrows can be added as well.

Encourage students to work very loose, moving their hands constantly as they draw so their lines are nice and messy.

A head shape can be drawn next, followed by a long, skinny neck.

Hair, ears and shoulders can then be added.

A blending stump is useful for creating shading in a drawing. It is a tightly wound roll of paper, with one or both ends pointed. It is a tool you will use a LOT when teaching drawing, so it’s worth the investment to buy a box of them.

If you don’t have these available for your students, you can use cotton swabs, tissues or fingers instead.

Using a blending stump, students can smudge all of their pencil lines.

Students will then use a white pencil to color the whites of the eyes and to add highlights to the teeth (if any).

After that, a black Sharpie marker can be used to outline all the lines, and to add pupils to the eyes and details to the hair. At this point students can add more pencil lines, and clothing details.

A black frame made from larger construction paper or poster paper, completes the picture. Here we used white pencils to add details to a spooky frame.

Grades 6-7

Grades 6-7

Join Us

You can find our full 16 page lesson plan (complete with portrait features, drawing guides and more) inside our exclusive membership site, The KinderArt Club.