Keith Haring “Action Figures”
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| I found my inspiration for this lesson at Deep Space Sparkle. It’s the end of the school year, and while this project looks fantastic on regular white paper, I needed to go a step further to really grab my 6th graders’ attention! So, I created my sample on aluminum foil with colorful Sharpies. The result…. my students said this was their favorite art project this year! |
Materials:
- Cardboard or tag board (We used file folders – opened, cut on the fold and trimmed to a rectangle.)
- White paper the same size as your cardboard
- Heavy duty aluminum foil, slightly larger than your cardboard
- Tape (any kind)
- Pencil
- Sharpies (or other permanent markers), in a variety of colors
Directions:
1. On your paper, draw 3 or more large stick figures in action poses.
2. Draw an outline around your stick figures to create some “Keith Haring-like” people.
3. Cover your cardboard with aluminum foil, taping the foil to the back.
4. Now tape your drawing to the front, on top of the foil.
5. Trace over your drawing with pencil, leaving an impression in the foil.
6. Carefully remove your drawing.
7. Next, use a black Sharpie to outline your figures on the foil.
8. Fill in the figures with solid, bright colors. Sharpies come in a wide array of colors and are perfect for this project since they won’t bead up on the foil like water-based markers will.
9. Finally, use colorful Sharpies to add “echo lines” around each figure, varying the colors, thickness and types of lines. Keep adding more echo lines until you’ve filled in all of the negative space around your figures!
Great project to illustrate the work of Keith Haring.
I love the colors and patterns
wow, the foil really brings new life to the keith haring figure lesson – i will try this too. thanks for sharing!
I love this idea! Your site has inspired me to do more art projects with my son and to teach him about great artists and their work (as a person with a B.A. in art history, I'm ashamed I didn't think of that sooner). Thank you so much for sharing!!
How cool are those?
Just curious if you used tooling foil for this project? Or regular cooking aluminum foil? Love the look!
Just regular old heavy weight aluminum foil!
Hi!
What kind of markers did you give your kids for the colors? More sharpies? Thanks!
Yes, Caroline, we used Sharpies for the whole project. I updated my instructions to be more clear about that. Thanks so much for asking!
Hi! Great post. The artwork featured was created by my son years ago in Canada when he was about 12. We still have it. If you would like his details to give him credit for the original work, I will be happy to supply them.
Kind regards,
Lisa
Hello, Lisa. Thank you for reaching out. The artwork featured at the top of this post is my “teacher sample” that I created myself for teaching this lesson. The other three images were created by my 6th graders.