Audubon Birds

Square 1 Art: A Project Inspired by Audubon's Birds

What is the Square 1 Art project? Why is it so important?

Square 1 Art is a program that replicates student art on a variety of keepsakes to raise funds for the arts programming in our school. 

Last year, Verdugo Woodlands raised enough money to fund this year's entire Art Rep program! It engages students in creating art that they can share with others. It nurtures each student's creativity, provides them with a sense of pride, engages parents and children, creates long-lasting memories, and helps sustain visual arts in the school. 

 

Every year, an art project is selected to help guide our students’ artmaking. This year, we have chosen to do a lesson on Audubon. 

 

You, the Art Reps, play a very important role in facilitating this program. You will provide help to students and your classroom teacher throughout this process. You will be the cheerleader, organizer, and administrator of the program in the class. In short, the success of the program in each class depends on your effort and dedication. So, in advance, we say thank you!

 

Not only is it a favorite project of our kids every year, it raises funds in the process. This is our single and most important fundraiser for the Arts at VW program and the money raised is earmarked specifically to go directly back to the arts curriculum. Our goal is 100% participation.

 

Every child gets a page of free stickers of his/her artwork, whether or not a purchase is made. 

8 - 2 Inch square stickers & 1 2.5 Inch square sticker

There are multiple products to choose from and order. Parents can order great gifts of their child’s work. They are perfect gifts for grandparents, family members and friends, delivered right in time for Christmas. 

 

*See more products at  https://shop.square1art.com

 

• Our goal is to ensure 100% participation in every class.
• We need to complete all the work by October 2nd. 
• Parents can then place and receive their orders in time for the holidays. 

We will go over the details of the programs and schedules during orientation.

    We sincerely thank you for your help and dedication!

Art Lesson

Audubon the Naturalist, a portrait by John Woodhouse Audubon and Victor Gifford Audubon 

The birth place of John James Audubon

John James Audubon was born in 1785 in what is now known as Haiti. His father was a wealthy French sea captain and sugar plantation owner. When he was 5, he was moved to Nantes, France, because of the Haitian Revolution. In France, he was raised by his step mother and found a love for music, nature, and drawing. 

The farmhouse at Mill Grove, outside Philadelphia

In 1803, at the age of 18, he left France for the United States in order to avoid conscription (the draft) for Emperor Napoleon’s army. He settled on a farm near Philadelphia, and it is here that he would hunt, study and draw birds, and eventually meet his wife, Lucy Bakewell. He also conducted the first bird banding experiment in North America, on Eastern Phoebes. By tying string to the birds’ legs, he could monitor them and noticed that they would return to the same nests year after year. 

A modern day photo of an Eastern Pheobe.

Eastern Pheobes in the wild, as depicted by John James Audubon.

He met a physician named Charles-Marie D’Orbigny, who taught him how to perfect his taxidermy skills and how to be more scientific with his research. This would later help him in opening his own nature museum as well as studying species that he was able to take home. To get up close to the birds, he’d kill them with a single fine shot. He’d then prop them up with wires and pose them in natural positions. For capturing onto the page, he’d use watercolors, pastels, and chalks for the feathers. There have been some disputes over whether some of his pictures were fraudulent and fabricated, meaning that he invented new species to impress potential buyers. 

A Zenaida Dove, collected by John James Audubon

When Audubon was not busy with business as a dry-goods seller*, he was able to perfect his hobby; drawing birds. In the 1820’s, decided to study in depth the AVIFAUNA (fancy word for the collective bird life or species of birds found in a particular region, habitat, or geological period). He’d travel with nothing except his gun, some artist’s materials, and an assistant. His travels included Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida and the keys, Texas, and as far west as the Yellowstone river.

A portrait of John James Audubon, 1826 By John Syme

By 1826, he traveled to the UK with his portfolio and was able to find a printer to print out his drawings. These pieces were very well received by the public, as it was the height of the Romantic Era, a time in art history where viewers prioritized intense emotion and the awe-inspiring power of nature rather than enlightenment. 

The very first print in the collection is of the Wild Turkey, and it is partly because of this species that the prints are so large. Audubon used paper this large to capture the details and size of each specimen. 

His collection of prints became known as “The Birds of America”, which consisted of 435 hand-colored, life-size prints of 497 bird species, made from engraved copper plates. They were very large compared to the paper you use today. (Our everyday paper measures to 8.5” x11”, while Audubon’s plates measure to 39” x 26”. Because of the size, his collection is called a “double elephant folio” and has been split into 4 volumes. The size and weight is so grand, that libraries that house them require 2 people to lift and handle them at once. 

A Roseate Spoonbill by J.J. Audubon

A plate of a Carolina Pigeon, also known as the Mourning Dove, by John James Audubon

Audubon’s works depict some extinct species, like the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker.

Carolina Parrots by John James Audubon

Audubon died in 1851, at the age of 65. This is the last known photo of him.

The Lesson

TK-2nd

3rd-6th

Supplies TK-2nd

• Square 1 paper

• Black marker

• Paint sticks

• Brown construction paper

• Small White paper

• Ink pads

• Scissors

• Glue stick

• Wet wipes

·             Supplies: 3-6^th

• Square 1 paper

• Paint sticks

• Thin tip black marker

• Paint markers

• Graphite paper

• White paper

• Pencil

• Scissors

• Glue Stick

 TK-2^nd Grade

1.      Pass out Square 1 paper. Please fill out the students’ names, teacher, grade and school for them before class. 1-2^nd grade may be able to complete this step.  Please check in with your teacher. 
   
   
   
2.      Color the Background. Pass out paint sticks. Have Students choose a light color for their background, like light blue, pink, or yellow. Have students color in the entire background with the color they choose. 
   
   
   
3.     Pass out construction paper bags, scissors and glue sticks: for TK-K you will have a long piece and a short piece of brown paper to create your branch with and a white piece of paper to create your bird. They will be pre-marked where the students should cut.  For 1-2^nd you will have a large piece and small piece of brown paper to create your branch with and a large and small piece of white paper to create the clouds and birds. 
   
   
   
4.      Creating the clouds (TK-K move on to step 5).  Have everyone takeout the large white piece of paper. Demonstrate how to cut out a cloud.  Then have the students cut out their clouds. They may choose to make one or two clouds. Once everyone has their clouds cut out, have students glue them to their paper. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. Making the tree branches.  Next, get out the large brown paper. TK-K will cut out the pre-marked branch. 1-2^nd will design and cut out their branch.  Remember to Demonstrate each step.  Have students glue their branches about 2/3^rd of the way down the page to allow room for the birds and smaller branches.  
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
6.      Adding the smaller branches. Have everyone get out their small brown paper.  TK and K will cut out their pre-marked paper to make 4 small branches. 1-2^nd will design and cut out their own small branches. Glue small branches to the larger branch.  
   
   
   
   
   
   
7.      Creating the fingerprint leaves/Flowers. Pass out the ink pads, 1 set per 4-6 students. Students will use their fingers to create leaves or flowers for their branches. Have everyone surround each small branch with fingerprint leaves/flowers.  
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
8.      Making the Birds.  Hand out the other color ink pads and take out the remaining white piece of paper. Have each student pick a color ink pad. Students may choose to share with each other. Teach students how to keep the inkpads clean. If they want to switch to a different color inkpad they need to clean their finger first. TK-K will make one bird.  1-2^ndwill make 2 birds. Have students cover their paper with fingerprints.  TK-K will cover the blank side of their paper, not the side with the oval it. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
9.      Cutting and gluing the birds. TK-K will cut out the oval on the other side of their paper. 1-2^nd will free cut one big and one small oval. Once everyone has cut out their birds, glue the birds just above the middle of the branch. Make sure to leave room to draw the legs.  
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
10.      Drawing the details. Pass out the black markers. Teach this step as a directed draw. Have them copy you step-by-step. See detailed steps below. If 1-2^nd grade want to add their own details that is okay. 
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
11.       Write your name.   Have students write their name and the year right below the branch with their black marker.  Make sure the name is away from the edges or it can get cut off in printing. 
    
    
    
12.      Final Step.  Collect square 1 paper and put them back in the class folder.  Return to the art closet. Congratulations you are all done!

3^rd-6^th Grade

1.    Pass out Square 1 paper. Have students fill out their name, teacher, grade and school.

2.      Creating the Background. Hand out paint sticks. Have students pick 2 colors to draw a simple pattern for their backgrounds. Show examples of simple patterns, (Sheet will be provided).  Create the background. 

3.      Drawing the parrot: As students finish their backgrounds have them come up individually and choose a parrot picture. Hand out graphite paper, white paper and thin black markers. Demonstrate how to use the carbon paper to transfer the image of the parrot.  Put the dark, shiny side of the carbon paper facing down onto the white paper. Then place the parrot picture on top the graphite paper. Trace the outline and details. Have students transfer their image. Students may choose to include small extra details like a piece of a branch.

4.      Outline the image. Have students use their thin black marker to outline the image. 

5.      Color in the image.  Students may choose to color the image realistically or use their imaginations. Use paint markers to color the image.  Students may use their own markers or colored pencils as well. 

6.      Cutting out the Image.  To make the parrot stand out from the background we are going to bubble cut around our image to create a white boarder.  Demonstrate this technique and then have the students cut out their birds. 

7.      Glue the parrot. Hand out glue sticks and glue parrots to the background. 

8.      Write your name.   Have students write their name and the year with their black marker.  Make sure the name is away from the edges or it can get cut off in printing. 

9.      Final Step.  Collect square 1 paper and put them back in the class folder.  Return to the art closet. Congratulations you are all done!