This project was actually done in the fall, but I was having some technical issues with my website. I think I have that all worked out now and wanted to share more details about this project.

I initially thought I would only teach this to the advanced group. However, after trying out an adapted way of teaching this to the younger groups, I decided to do it with all classes. I am so glad I did. Some of my favorites were done by the youngest artists. Age range was 4-12.

For the older students, I handed out black and white photographs of portraits of Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth. The broke these complex images into simple shapes before drawing. For the younger groups, I did a directed drawing of each on the white board. We all drew in pencil and then outlined in Sharpie, some used fine tip, some extra-fine tip, some a combination.

To add color, we mainly used watercolor. Very small shapes and patterns were colored with colored pencils or Tombow markers. Adding those final details made all the difference. This project did take a long time and was challenging, but I am so pleased with how they turned out.