Activity Sheet 1: Dinosaurs - How to draw a Dinosaur

Lesson Idea and Outline

Students will design their own dinosaur character which can be developed for a Story Book or Cartoon Strip.

Overview

Students will be introduced to concept development of an idea developing into a successful end product on a selected theme: dinosaurs. Students will research, collect samples and analyse how artists have tackled the same topic.

Students will introduced to character development to develop various animations and the humanising their character.

Students will produce a series of illustrations for a storybook or cartoon which can be hardcopy or electronic in final output for a selected children's audience.

Students will be asked to research a variety of childrens books and magazines which utilise the dinosaur theme in writing and illustration

Objectives

Students will

work individually and in groups to be able to devise procedures and processes for collecting and collating and researching material.
be able to develop skills in interpreting ideas and styles in stories for a selected children's audience.
be able to develop communication skills, interaction with peers, reading, writing and presentation.
explore and idea and develop a drawing style to suit an audience, in this case, a child audience.
increase their knowledge and skills in 2d drawing media (including electronic ) used in illustration

Time required

Time required Time: 6 periods X 50 minutes. This includes discussion , research, collating samples, evaluating ,designing characters, layout , storyline and story boarding, producing and presenting end products.

Resources required

Resources required Specialist Resource

Materials and Equipment Computer Lab or access to computer and the Internet
Scanner for scanning in images- drawings, photos, paintings of pets.
Storage:Floppy, zip or harddisk for saving work.
Software: Word processing program – keying in data after research
Natural media drawing program: eg. Painter Classic desktop publishing program – design and layout of heading, text and images theme photo editing program for cropping of photos and presentation and finishing.
Collection of Reference books :Dinosaurs children's books and magazines

Materials and Equipment

Sketch books for trialling, problem solving, designing, layout, storyboarding, refining and finishing processes
Writing materials
Work book for problem solving, designing and organisation
Sketch Paper
Lead pencils
Erasers
Colour Pencils
Poster, gouache paint
Water jars
Watercolour paint brushes
Ink pens
Waterproof ink
Towelling

Procedures:

A: Preparation and Design

Students are to look through several books and copy their favourite dinosaur shapes and forms.

For each dinosaur drawn a brief analysis of the design elements and style should be made.

Drawing Dinosaurs

dino_circles

drawing circle structure of dinosaur

brachiosaurus_circles

brachiosaurus circle structure

1. Draw a circle in pencil where you think the head should be.

2. Now draw a larger circle where you think the fattest part of his body should be.

3. Draw another, smaller circle where you thin the front legs join the body.

4. And a larger one where the back legs join the body.

5. Use this circle structure to draw a spinosaurus or a tyrannosaurus

spinosaurus_circle

spinosaurus circle structure

tyrannosaurus_circle

tyrannosaurus rex circle structure

B: Adding colour, texture, pattern and character to dinosaurs

Look at the examples below referencing each stylistic characteristic. After this design your own using the same or changing stylistic characteristics.

Also take note of the character's "humanised" emotions. Students are to identify the human qualities and emotions and atttempt to enrich their drawings with these characteristics.

Hopeless and Granny Dinosaur illustrated by David Anstey

dina_dragon

Dina Dragon illustrated by Rebecca Elgar

derek dinosaur

Derek the Dinosaur illustrated by Kerry Argent

Ginky monster

Ginky the monster illustrated by Maxie Chambliss

Binky monster

Binky the monster illustrated by Maxie Chambliss

tyrannosaurus draw

Ilustration from The Usborne Young Cartoonist: How to draw dinosaurs pg46

pterodactyl draw

Ilustration from The Usborne Young Cartoonist: How to draw dinosaurs pg46

diplodocus draw

Ilustration from The Usborne Young Cartoonist: How to draw dinosaurs pg46

C: Setting and Plot

Draw up some examples of setting and storyboard your dinosaur character for a cartoon strip or story.

Here is an approach from Kevin Clark's Stomposaurus (Computer Arts Magazine, February 2000) showing the development of the character and the setting separately. He has used a natural media program called Painter by Metacreations to create his images.

stomposaurus character

Stomposaurus character development illustrated by Kevin Clark

stomposaurus setting

Stomposaurus setting development illustrated by Kevin Clark

Here is a finished cartoon strip from The Usborne Young Caroonist.
Note the following:

speech bubbles
different sized frames making the strip more interesting
sound effects make the strip more fun
bright colours
humour

cartoon strip using the dinosaur as main character

Extensions

Arts

Art: Student work in groups of four to construct a Papier Mache Dinosaur based on their research.

Graphics: Dinosaur logos and badges for "Dinosaur Week" or Ecology related week.

Science

Students research various types of dinosaurs See the science dinosaur lesson ideas.

References

This Thematic set of lessons on Dinosaurs was developed by primary teachers. A special thanks to Keryn and Colin Smith for their class notes.

Chirinin H., Quinn, K: First Impression Dinosaurs, Watermill Press,Mahwah, NJ, 1990

Hall, H., Dinosaurs Theme Packs for Lower Primary, RIC Publications 1980

Jurassic Park Trace and Colour, Budget Books, 1993

Osband, G., Allen J.,The Dinosaur Fun Book, Scholastic Publications, London, 1986

Razzi J., Fun with Dinosaurs, Scholastic Inc, Sydney,1987

Tatchell J., The Usborne Young Cartoonist, Usborne Publising, London, 1987