Ask Holly: Drawing Pumpkins 101

Booze and Halloween candy seem to have been the coping mechanism for many parents in our area post-Hurricane Sandy. Teaching your kids to draw and explore beyond the crayon and marker is a great way to keep them occupied and screen-free for hours. Perhaps even an ounce of prevention for any snow day that Mother Nature,who is clearly pissed at us, throws our way.

I have taught kids ages 6-11 this easy method for drawing pumpkins. It teaches perspective, color, and how to use oil pastels. Drawing on brown kraft paper gives the finished art work a fun very frame-able background as well.

Materials:

• Brown kraft paper, brown paper grocery bags or pastel paper
• Oil pastels*, crayons or colored pencils
• A pencil with an eraser

*Always look for good pastels made by reputible companies such as Faber -Castell. You really get what you pay for and cheaper pastels are more difficult for children to work with.

Steps One-Four: 

1. With an orange oil pastel or pencil, draw a large oval in the middle of the paper. No need to make it perfect bumpy is better.
2. Now draw the two other sides, almost like drawing a heart shape around your oval. Make sure for perspective that they  start higher at the top and end end lower than the middle oval.
3. Add the stem showing them how the bottom of the stem grows into the pumpkin. Draw two more sides and the back of the pumpkin.
4. Draw through the stem and erase the  line through the stem.

Steps Five-Eight: Shade and Highlight

5. Color the pumpkin using the lighter colors of pastel first and them adding in the darker shades.
6. Now add the lines using a black pastel.
7. Add color to the stem and use your fingers to blend and rub the colors together.
8. Add a base shadow and a little green tendril and you have a masterpiece ready to frame!

 Art 101 questions? Just Ask Holly in comments.

Supplies available at Jerry’s Artist Outlet.