In this picture, your child explored:
-
The anatomy of a dragonfly
-
Pattern design and dot painting
-
Symmetry
THE DRAWING:
Dragonfly
Fun Facts About Dragonflies:
-
An interesting theory about the name “dragonfly” is found in the book, Folklore of the Dragonfly: A Linguistic Approach. The story is developed from an old Romanian Folktale. In the story, the Devil turned a beautiful horse ridden by St. George into a giant, flying insect. The Romanians called this giant insect the ‘Devil’s Horse.’ The Romanian word for ‘Devil’ was the same as their word for ‘dragon’ and in time the name evolved into ‘dragonfly.’
-
In spite of this sinister name, dragonflies are actually harmless to humans, and will neither sting nor bite.
-
Baby dragonflies are called nymphs. When they are born, they have a small “spear” on the top of their head which they use to catch small fish.
-
Dragonflies spend the majority of their lives in the larva stage. This stage can last anywhere from three weeks to five years, depending on the species. (Incidentally, there are currently 2,874 known species of dragonflies, 447 of can be found in the U.S.) The adult stage, when the dragonfly has wings, only lasts a few weeks.
-
Each dragonfly eye contains up to 30,000 lenses; the position of these huge eyes give them 360 degree vision. 80% of the dragonfly’s brain is devoted to sight, but they still do not see details clearly.
-
Dragonflies are one of the fastest insects, with speeds approaching 30 mph. Their four wings allow them to fly forwards, backwards, and side-to-side.
-
The smallest known dragonfly is the Pigmy Dragonfly (Nannophya pygmaea), found in eastern Asia. It is 0.6 inches long and has a wing span of just 0.8 inches!
-
The largest known dragonfly is found in northeastern Australia; it is the Giant Petaltail (Petalura ingentissima ) which has a wingspan of 6.3 inches.
-
The largest dragon fossil has a wingspan of 2 ½ feet!
To read more about dragonflies, visit:
Study these dragonfly images with your child, and ask him to point out different examples of pattern and texture in their bodies and wings.
Eastern Pondhawk Dragonfly
Aeshna Juncea
Sympestrum - Darter Dragonfly
Yellow-Striped Hunter Dragonfly
THE MEDIUM:
Using Acrylics and Dot Art
Acrylic paint is readily available at most craft stores. Paint quality ranges from expensive artist acrylics to inexpensive sets suitable for children. Acrylic paint is fun to use to experiment with layers and patterns because it dries very quickly. For some acrylic paint techniques to try with your kids, check out these acrylic experiments from Crayola.
If your child was in KidzArt during the spring session, you may remember our exploration of pointillism or stippling, creating shadow and texture in art using tiny dots. Lighter shades are achieved using fewer dots farther away from each other; darker shades are created using lots of dots, close together. (For a simple exercise of this difficult-to-perfect technique, have your child draw a simple shape, such as a square. Practice dark to light shading from one side of the object to the other.)
Our project this week was a less subtle version of pointillism: dot art. We used dots of acrylic paint to create our drawing, texture, and pattern.
Ask Your Child …
-
To explain the symmetry in his picture
-
To describe the pattern used to create the dragonfly’s body.
-
How she used dots to create texture and form.
-
To point out realistic & imaginary elements in his picture.