Making Shark Art with Chalk Pastels

Hey everyone! One of my goals for the new school year is to include more art activities with the kids.

In our homeschool curriculum post for 2014-15, I mentioned one of the art curriculum products we’re using this year, so I’m sharing our experience with it today!

I received a copy of this ebook in exchange for this review. My opinions are my own and are not influenced by any other company. This post contains affiliate links, which help to support this site. Thank you!

Tricia from Hodgepodge, who has released several chalk pastel ebooks already, is offering a discount on her newest product: Sharks Chalk Pastel Art for All Ages – just in time for Shark Week!

 

We got the chance to try out the book this week and we loved it! Here’s a look at our very first ever in history chalk pastel art!

I have to admit: I was pretty intimidated by the thought of making “art”, because I’m not very artistic. But I don’t want the kids to inherit that and Tricia’s book is perfect for art newbies like us!

We grabbed a pack of Loew-Cornell Chalk Pastels and got to work!

Okay – so the first thing you’ll probably notice is that there are black smudges all over the paper. The kids were working with multiple colors and turning the pages, so they didn’t realize they were smudging the ENTIRE picture. Live and learn, right? Thank goodness we took Tricia’s advice and kept baby wipes handy!

Once we got the picture done, we used one of Tricia’s chalk pastel techniques called “fisting”. All you do is take the bottom of your closed fist and rub it against the colors to blend them.

That is the face of a boy who is happy to have chalk all over his hand. 🙂

See how the blending made the ocean look smoother? Much, much better. 🙂

So we ended up with three great pictures and three happy artists!

Here’s what I liked best about the book: The whole activity took only 20 minutes – and that included clean up! The ebook truly is for all ages. 🙂

If you’d like to see more of the book, be sure to stop by Hodgepodge to check out the Sharks Chalk Pastel Art for All Ages ebook!