LaPaz Home Learning

Here is an art project we did which was a lot of fun and turned out very nicely so I wanted to share directions for it in case anyone else wanted to do it also.

I saw some of this Mexican folk art in a local art shop and really loved the look of it, but not the price(!!!!!). I then recalled I saw some directions for making a kid’s version in a book called Dynamic Art Projects for Children by Denise Logan (a fabulous book, btw).
Dynamic Art Projects for Children: Includes Step-by-step Instructions And Photographs

I then modified the directions to use the materials we had on hand.

Here is the final product,which are a pair of large lizards, mimicking the style of colorful Mexican tin folk art, but using much simpler, child-friendly methods. This project is great for older kids. Superboy was able to do his on his own, but JBug and I worked together on hers, as it was just a bit complex for her to do independently.

Here is what you’ll need:

• large flat cardboard(we used double-thick)
• heavy-duty aluminum foil OR
• thin metal sheets like these (what we used)
• paint pens (if using aluminum foil, you could use sharpies in a pinch but the paint pens are much brighter)
• tape (masking and scotch)
• white printer paper
• card stock or tag-board (we used black)
• scissors
• box cutter or exacto knife
• kid’s paint brush(like from a watercolor set)

Ok, lets get started!

First make a body pattern. Tape two pieces of computer paper end to end. Draw a large S from top corner to opposite bottom corner. Thicken the shape up, adding a head at one end and an extra wide spot in the middle so it looks like a fat snake, like this:

Now, working on top of the cardboard, place two metal sheets taped together (or a length of aluminum  foil) under the pattern and trace around the pattern so it leaves an impression on the metal. Remove the pattern and use the back end of the kids paint brush to draw/press designs and patterns into the metal all over the lizard. (Save your pattern, you will need it later).

Next use your paint pens (or sharpies if using aluminum foil) to decorate the lizard, using your impressed patterns as a guide:

Can you see the impressions in the metal? This adds a lot of texture to the finished piece, so work with it!

The bright colors of the paint pens show up great on the black metal. Sharpies on aluminum work also, but give a different, shiny-metallic look.

Really go wild here, use your imagination and add tons of color and wild patterns, dots and stripes, the more the better! The paint pens dry fairly quickly, but turn you work as you go so you don’t smudge the wet paint. It should end up looking something like this:

Now take out that paper body pattern again. Cut it out and lay it on a flat sheet of cardboard. Tape it down, trace around it and cut out the cardboard body using a box blade or exacto knife:

You should end up with a cardboard body that looks just like your painted metal:

Cut out some pieces of cardboard the same shape and size as your lizard’s eyes:

and tape them to the cardboard body in the appropriate spot. This will make the eyes really stand out.

Now cut out your metal painting, making sure to leave a half inch or so all the way around.You will need this half-inch border to wrap around your cardboard to attach the metal sheets.

Place the metal on top of the cardboard body and wrap the edges around. In order to wrap smoothly, you will need to clip the border on inside curves:

Outside curves can just be folded and lapped over:

It should look like this on the back when you are done:

Now tape down all of the edges:

You may need to touch up where the cardboard shows through the slits on inside curves. Just use black paint pen or sharpie and it will not show.

At this point you should have a brightly-colored, solid-looking, metal-covered snake.

If you like, you could stop here and just leave it as a snake. We added legs to make them into lizards. Here’s how to do that:

Sketch out a pattern for legs on white paper.Make sure to make them longer than you want in order to leave room for attaching them to the back of the body:

We folded our paper in half and cut out both legs at once, but you could do them separately.

Trace the pattern onto  cardstock or tag-board(we used black) and cut the legs out:

Wrap the legs in metal using the same method as the body.We left the feet unwrapped to make life easier.

Rearrange the legs around the body how ever you like and tape them firmly to the back.

Use the back end of the kid’s brush to press patterns in the metal.

Then paint as you did the body:

Let the paint dry and you are done! Hang them on the wall!Enjoy!

Hope you liked the tutorial. If there is any part you can’t understand let me know and I will try to clarify!