How to create a geometric constellation creature artwork

Welcome! This blog post features a guided tutorial of how to create geometric constellation creature artwork!

This mixed media art project helps artists to build skills using the element of art LINE to create geometric SHAPES. Additionally, artists explore how COLOR can be used to create a dark spacey background contrasting with bright, glowing stars!

**HEY EDUCATORS! SCROLL BELOW FOR A READY-FOR-THE-CLASSROOM LESSON OF THIS PROJECT!**

Materials list: 

This composition can be done with a range of art materials. Here is a basic materials list that produces the design seen in this tutorial:

• Liquid watercolor (I love these by Dick Blick!). The colors used in this tutorial include black, blue, violet and magenta.
• Watercolor paper
• Copy paper
• Pencils
• Tape
• Watercolor and/or watercolor brushes
• Water cup
• White colored pencils (Prismacolor brand works best!)
• White acrylic paint or a white paint pen
• White oil pastels
• *optional* If you wish to create planets, I love to use this Fiskars circle paper punch #amazonassociate

STEP ONE:

Begin painting the spacey background.

Distribute a few drops of black, blue, violet and magenta liquid watercolor into a palette.

Paint in circular brushstrokes to create a radial gradient that blends from black(outside) to blue to violet and finally to pink(inside).

STEP TWO:

Allow the first layer of liquid watercolor to dry fully.

Once dry, add another coat of liquid watercolor. The goal is to make the spacey background very dark so that it contrasts with the white details.

See the image to note the difference from layer 1 to layer 2.

STEP THREE:

Plan your geometric constellation creature on another sheet of paper. Begin by drawing or tracing the outline of a creature of your choice.

STEP FOUR:

Break down the creature into geometric shapes. Geometric shapes are rigid, straight edged shapes, unlike organic shapes which are free flowing and curvy.

If your creature is symmetrical, you may want to consider drawing a line the middle and arrange the geometric shapes so they mirror one another.

*TIP* Avoid making shapes that are too large or too small.

STEP FIVE:

Continue creating geometric shapes to fill the entire outline.

Consider how straight lines can be used to replace curved lines, such as those seen here on the trunk of the elephant.

STEP SIX:

Once you are done planning your geometric creature, it is time to transfer the drawing onto the space background.

FLIP the paper over and add a layer of white oil pastel onto the back side.

STEP SEVEN:

Tape it to your finished and dry space background with the drawing facing up.

STEP EIGHT:

Trace over all the lines to transfer them onto the space background.

*TIP* Using a colored pencil helps you to see which lines you’ve already gone over, as seen here with the red colored pencil.

STEP NINE:

Remove the drawing to reveal the transferred image!

STEP TEN:

Use a white colored pencil or white china marker to trace over all the transferred oil pastel lines.

STEP ELEVEN:

Use white paint or a white paint pen to draw the stars where the lines meet.

STEP TWELVE:

Explore techniques to make the stars look like they are glowing, such as fading out white around the star center.

STEP THIRTEEN:

Splatter some white paint to create some more stars in the spacey sky.

STEP FOURTEEN:

*Optional, but cool!* Use some colorful watercolor paper to punch out or cut some paper circles. These can be used to add planets around the space!

STEP FIFTEEN:

Add any final creative touches you’d like and voila!… you have a finalized geometric constellation creature artwork!

My beginning middle school students completed this project in about 1 week (five 45 minute class periods). They were excited to choose their own creature for the constellation. It was great to see them use a variety of media and experiment with how it all comes together in the end. I loved all the creative solutions they rendered.

See this image to check out some of the finished results…