Students will learn about using grids to plan out proportions and symmetry as they create a step-by-step drawing of a nutcracker.
By Julie Moses [Julie is a homeschooling art teacher who runs Miss Julie’s Art School in La Quinta, CA.]
What You Need:
- paper
- pencil
- black Sharpie® marker
- markers
- crayons
- metallic markers
- scissors
- Christmas wrapping paper
What You Do:
Start by folding your paper in half lengthwise. Then fold it into thirds, like you would fold a letter. You should end up with six boxes.
Draw (in pencil) a rainbow shape in the middle of the top two boxes. Leave room at the top of the page for the decoration on top of the hat. The ends of the rainbow should stop at the fold of the first third of the paper.
Draw a horizontal line to close up the rainbow shape. Then draw two more horizontal lines in the rainbow – one close to the bottom creating a thin shape and the second farther away creating a wider shape. In the top part of the hat, draw a decoration. It could be a poinsettia like mine, a snowflake, a Christmas tree, star, or whatever you want.
Draw a rectangle on the bottom of the hat just inside the second third of the paper.
Add a small circle in the middle of the box for the nose. On either side of the nose add a half circle and then draw a circle inside of those. For the mustache, draw a sideways ‘s’ just under the nose on each side. Close these shapes up with a happy face curve.
Draw a smaller rectangle under the nose that is halfway inside the face and halfway outside the face. Draw vertical lines to make the teeth.
Draw a long ‘V’ shape from the teeth to make the beard. From the corners of the face draw lines that slant in toward the center of the paper and then draw horizontal line to close up this shape. On the bottom of this shape draw a large ‘W’ to make the jacket bottom.
For the arms make a waterfall curve coming out from the left side of the head where the hat and the face meet. The waterfall should end just before the fold that separates the second and the final third of the paper. At the end of the waterfall, draw an oval, then draw a slanted line back up to meet the bottom of the face.
Repeat on the right side. Draw a horizontal line on each side of the arms at the bottom of the face. This will become the hair. Draw a rectangle behind the beard for the shirt.
Draw in the jacket and buttons. The button can be made with a series of backwards ‘5s’ on the left and regular fives on the right. Add texture to the hair and beard with wavy lines and add edging to bottom of the jacket. Outline pencil lines with black sharpie marker. Then color with whatever medium you like most. We used marker, crayon and a bit of metallic marker. If you have room on your paper you can add in the legs of the nutcracker. Add in background of your choice or cut him out and glue him to brightly colored wrapping paper.
