An art lesson for kids teaching watercolors along with Latin American culture.

Students draw a llama in traditional Latin American garb, and explore the concept of perspective and warm and cool colors.

Grade Level: 2nd – 3rd grade
Time Required: 2 45-min. class periods

Vocabulary:

Perspective

Warm/Cool

Peruvian

Textiles

Transparent

Dabbing

Materials:

Faber-Castell Connector Paint Box

Faber-Castell 9x12 Watercolor Pad

Brushes – round and flat

Pencil

Faber-Castell Grip Writing EcoPencil

National Core Arts Standards:

Creating: #2, 3

Presenting/Producing: #5

Responding: #8, 9

Connecting: #11

Llamas and Other Latin American Camels by Zella Williams

This non-fiction selection offers clear and basic information on llamas and camels of Latin America. It’s written in an informative, lively style in English, with Spanish translation below. It also includes full page photos of the animals accompanied by fun facts. This book could be useful to include in a unit on Latin America.

In this lesson plan, students explore the effectiveness of dramatic perspective and use of intense warm and cool colors.

We begin with a simple drawing lesson of a llama.

Llamas seem to naturally have a lot of character; with head held high, big expressive eyes, a big round belly and fluffy little tail!

1. Begin a guided drawing lesson by demonstrating how to sketch an oval shape for the head, tilting at an angle. Draw a neck line that is connected to a larger egg shape for the llama’s body.

2. Next, using the shape for the head, sketch out the boxy muzzle and the long soft ears. Draw the eye. Fill in the curvy neck.

3. Continue with the outer line drawing of the llama’s big, barrel shaped body by using the large oval as a guide. Add a fluffy tail, and skinny legs with knobby knees in a standing or walking position. Finally, trace over the llama drawing in a black pencil, and add quick short strokes for hair along his neck and body line.

Pack up your llama!

Pack up your Llama with traditional and colorful Peruvian textiles and stylish Bohemian swag! Use warm and bright colors in patterns and solids, shades of red, pink, orange and yellow, with a dash of blue or green. Give him colorful yarn tassels on his ears and around his neck, and pom-pom decorations—the more the better!

Mountains

This llama is trotting along a steep, narrow trail very high up in the clouds against the backdrop of the dramatic Andes mountains. Position the llama’s head above the mountain range to achieve this perspective. The cold feeling is effectively expressed by using cool blues and greys in the background. Add a little black to your watercolor mix of blue sky, and a little blue to the grey mix for the mountains. When dry, use a soft round brush in a watery white paint, and create transparent clouds with a dabbing motion.