Summer Art Camp Cartoon Portraits and Pop-Up Cards

Just concluded a Summer Art Camp focus on "Aquatic Creatures" and another on "Merfolk and fantasy creatures". By the end of the week, we were all pretty much done with the "fish/underwater" theme. Thus students in the older group got a cartoon portrait each, some continue drawing, and others made pop-up cards.








Several students in the younger group made multiple pop-up cards for different occasions.

Pop-Up Cards from Ninjas & Dragons Art Camp

We had a very talented group of students in our last Ninjas & Dragons Summer art Camp at the Cary Arts Center, so just wanted to share some of their original pop-up card designs.

Notice the little ninja hanging on a rope at the top of the card.

A second ninja faces against a Water Dragon.

Penguin ice castle.

More Ninja versus Dragon scenarios.

Ninja Pop-Up Card Step-by-step (well sort of)

Since got an upcoming summer camp on ninjas and dragons at the Art Center, decided to make a new pop-up card sample featuring a classic ninja and his Tengu master. The characters were sketched with a waterproof felt-tip pen, and the background card was penciled in.

Used some watercolor pencils dry to add a bit of color to the background card.

Felt a more defined outline was needed, so I used a pigment pen to go over all the background elements to make them stand out more clearly. Also colored in the characters.

Finally used some "Yes" paste to glue the characters to their pop-up tabs. Make sure their bottom edge line up flush against the the base of each tab for smooth operation when opening and closing the pop-up card.

Another view of the finished card.

Custom Birthday Pop-Up Card

Drawn with Sakura Pugma Sensei 06 pen, colored with Copic Sketch markers, and highlighted with Pentel Outline markers on colored card stock.  Pasted together with Yes glue.

More Custom Pop-Up Cards

 Test for a birthday card invitation.

By designing the front character with both arms raised high, it is a simple matter to wedge a bill or gift card behind his crown and securing it in front of both hands. Thus this pop-up card works well as a whimsical money holder.

A plentiful supply of colored card stock, a sharp precision knife, metal straight edge, and reliable glue make it quite easy to create custom pop-up cards for any occasion. This ninja was made to hold a check folded lengthwise over his shoulders to surprise the recipient as she opened her birthday card.

Pop-Up Holiday Cards

Merry Christmas and best wishes for 2013 dear readers, students, and parents!  Just giving you a glimpse of the Pop-Up Holiday Greeting Card samples making process.
1. Created a coloring template of 9 characters on a 8.5" X 11" sheet of card stock.
2. Used my favorite coloring tool (you could use crayons, colored pencils, or other markers) or you can even leave the characters in black and white, so that the recipient could have some fun coloring them.  I like using Copic Sketch markers and a Pentel silver outline pen for highlights.
3. Carefully cut the colored characters and affix them to the pop up tabs of a 6" X 9" colored card stock folded in half to yield a 6" X 4.5" card.  Glued a second card for extra support and to cover the void left by the pop-up tabs.
3. Rounded the card edges and they are ready for customizing and mailing them out.

For some of my templates that you could print and customize for your own use check this previous post.

Crayola Color Sticks Quick coloring Test

Got a box of 12 Crayola Color Sticks to try as a possible coloring tool for upcoming kids' art camps this summer.  While making a sample color chart on card stock, found these woodless colored pencils to be fairly opaque and stronger than crayons.  They are pretty hard, so they resist breakage well.  The pentagonal shape of their barrels can be used to lay down broad areas of color, and the corners can be used to draw linear strokes.  Despite lacking the precision and control of a well-sharpened conventional colored pencil, they can be used quite effectively for broad color applications and to quickly color some paper crafts like the pop-up castle prototype shown above.  Will add them to our classroom supply pool since I expect colored pencil fans will enjoy playing with them.

X-Mas Cut Out Characters for Pop-Up Card

Use stone wall pattern for cottage facade. Add a snow-covered roof with chimney for decoration. Perhaps park a sled with reindeer on the roof. Decorate with X-mas colors and some of the cut out characters below. Refer back to Pop-Up Castle project if needed.

Pop-Up Castle Templates and Samples

Print castle template on 8.5" X 11" card stock and fold in halves twice, so that the castle wall pattern ends up inside the folded card. With sharp scissors cut one or two pop-up tabs to add additional decorative elements or standing characters to your castle diorama.
Selection of characters and decorative elements for coloring, cutting, and pasting to your castle backgrounds. I would recommend using colored pencils or fine point markers for coloring such small elements. I used doubled side Scotch tape for ease of use and clean handling, but a glue stick or glue bottle might provide a stronger bond so long as you are careful.
Sample pop-up castle cards. Here is the front view of the same grouping. This is the top view and the 3/4 view of the most heavily decorated castle. This is the close up view of the Dragon and Knight castle. And finally a castle inspired by Harry Potter.Put together this finished sample with some Faber Castell Albrecht Durer watercolor pencils and some double sided tape. Crayola fine tip markers are also a good choice for coloring the character cut outs.

ARTSCool Cartoon Sketching Week-7 last day Photo Gallery

Thanks to all the students that took one of my cartooning classes this summer. Enjoy the rest of your school break and keep on sketching! Thanks to all the parents and grand parents that support the artistic development of their kids and grand kids. Please feel free to print and use any of the resources featured in this blog and on the list of sketching/coloring pages on the right. Additional recommended reading: Sachiko Umoto Illustration School books. Her simple and charming drawing style is quite easy to follow for budding artists of all ages. On the last day of class, the students completed their pop-up castles. Afterwards some of them made a mini comic, some experimented with oil pastels, and quite a few worked on a large underwater or outer space scene.
Really impressed with the creativity, discipline, and dedication displayed by the students that worked on their pop-up card project for the past two sessions. Once their first task was accomplished for the day, the students had the option of creating a mini comic or work on a large scale illustration to be eligible for the classroom prizes that included toys and art supplies.
Underwater scene colored with oil pastels.
This student chose to color her cartoon portrait with oil pastels. While another student used Prismacolor Art Stixs to color her own portrait.
Mini comic drawn with marker on ledger size card stock (11" x 17"). Five minutes before the class was over, our jury of interns chose the prize winners from our gallery wall and the completed pop-up castles. Thanks again Grace, Sarah, and Xylia for all your help this week! You were all great interns, and hope you consider returning for ARTScool 2012. With your discipline, initiative, and positive rapport with the kids, I am certain that you will prove again to be instrumental in creating a fun art experience and maintaining a safe environment for our students. Any instructor would be lucky to have you as part of his or her classroom support team next summer.

List of Direct Links to Activity and Coloring Sheets

Since we have reached well over 300 posts in this blog, I have added a list of direct links to posts featuring activity and coloring sheets samples and templates on the column to the right side of this layout. Hopefully this will make it easier for fellow teachers and parents to find and print art activity sheets for their kids without having to navigate throughout a ton of posts.
Now you can easily find coloring templates, pop-up card template, sheets of Artist Trading Cards (ATCs), and sketching sheets with partial drawings to complete.

Family Art Night Activity Sneak Preview - Pop-Up Card and Cut Out Templates Test run

I have prepared a few greeting card pop-up card templates with "Mother's Day" and "Happy Easter" themes along with a few options of cute cut outs that will actually pop-up when the cards are opened. Will have markers and foam stickers for further customization at an upcoming Family Art Night event at the Boys & Girls Club on the 13th of this month. For a quick test run, I used them on a recent art class for a High School group.
Trying out different coloring approaches.
Sample finished card.
Once students completed their first pop-up card and understood its simple mechanics, they started designing their own backgrounds. That's the main idea: get familiarized with the pop-up card creation process, and then let your imagination loose and create your own cards for different occasions.

Middle School Students Art Enrichment Lesson 1 with Goof-Proof Pop-Up Cards Project - Day 2

The students kept turning in their completed pop-up card projects.
Ninjas and Halloween characters team up together on this student project.
Coloring character cut out sheets with Crayola Super Tip markers. A handful of students skipped pool day to practice their drawing skills and complete their cards started on the previous day.
Completed Halloween Pop-Up card.
Coloring the Halloween Pop-Up Castle diorama with Crayola Twistable crayons.
Pop-Up Fairy Castle WIP.