Tag Archives: Egypt

Egyptian Chalk Art: Glue Optional

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Michael's scarab

Here are some fine examples of our annual sixth grade Ancient Egyptian chalk art project. Click here to see more examples from last year.

Materials:

ancient egypt 3

 

ancient egypt portraits 2

Day 1-2

Our sixth grade students study ancient Egypt as part of their ancient civilizations social studies unit. They have a lot of pre-existing knowledge of Egypt. I build on this by showing photos of treasures from King Tut’s tomb, such as scarab jewelry and Tut’s golden sarcophagus. They had heard of the Book of the Dead – now they had the opportunity to look at all the figures in it draw one. We noticed all the figures were stylized: the head drawn in profile, with the eye looking straight ahead.

Students had the option of drawing ancient god/goddess, tomb artifact, or portrait. They (lightly) drew an image using pencil on black paper. Some kids found it easier to use white chalk for the sketch. Then they went over their lines with black oil pastel.

Day 2-3

The students colored in with chalk pastels, and tried to avoid coloring over the black oil pastel lines.

Minimize the mess: encourage kids to tap excess chalk onto newspaper instead of blowing it around.

Day 3

After coloring with chalk pastels, students went over the black lines one more time with oil pastel.

OPTIONAL FOR EARLY FINISHERS: ADD DETAIL WITH WHITE GLUE

I used to teach this as a white glue/chalk pastel project, and had lots of old examples for students to see and touch. A number of kids really liked the glue lines. After completing the project, some students asked if they could add glue lines OVER their artwork as a final step. Surprise! We found out their glue lines dried fairly dark even if they were applied over chalk.

ancient egypt faces

White glue hieroglyphics and outlines.

In the above portraits, one girl added white glue hieroglyphics as a final step. The other outlined her portrait in white glue.

I sprayed the completed chalk art with hairspray to keep the pastels from smearing.

If you do use white glue, don’t make the same mistake I did years ago….

Don’t let them dry on the tables! I tried this once. Some glue blogs seeped through the paper overnight. The next morning I found several artworks glued firmly to the table. I had to pry them off, and repair the rips 🙁  Live and learn!

Enjoy!

Parts of this lesson were adapted from the excellent Arts Attack curriculum.

Ancient Egypt Chalk Art for Sixth Grade (and Pinterest bonus!)

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Do you study ancient Egypt at your school? Here is a colorful, successful art project inspired by the art of ancient Egypt.

Materials:

  • black construction paper, 12″x18″
  • pencils with eraser tip
  • chalk pastels
  • black oil pastel
  • reference photos
  • hairspray or other fixative
  • newspaper to cover tables

We looked at images from King Tut’s tomb, old issues of National Geographic magazine (I think they cover Egypt every year!), and reviewed images of the Egyptian gods.

Students were instructed to select a subject and draw it on the black paper. Encourage students to 1) draw  LARGE (fill the sheet) and 2) don’t add too many tiny details.

I model drawing with an eraser: draw layout lines on the black paper only using the eraser.  If you mess up, just wipe away the rubbings and try again.

After students draw with pencil, they should go over their pencil lines with black oil pastel. Color in the portraits with chalk pastel. As a final step, retrace the oil pastel lines a second time.

Spray with hairspray or other fixative to prevent smearing (note: this will dull colors somewhat).

 

This art project is adapted from the Arts Attack curriculum. In addition to my reference photos and the Arts Attack drawing aids, I offered three step-by-step handouts from the library book How to Draw Egypt’s Sights and Symbols (ISBN 978-0823966820).

Pinterest bonus: here are some ancient Egyptian pins that I have collected for next year:

You can’t go wrong! Kids LOVE ancient Egypt. Enjoy!

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