I don’t know about you… but I’m a huge fan of spooky things! I find I can really let my imagination run wild when I’m drawing the macabre, eerie, and supernatural. In this activity, artists are guided step by step to draw their own mix ‘n match haunted house. This post includes a video tutorial, and photos for inspirations.
* Hey educators! Scroll below to purchase this ready-for-class instructional lesson.*
Materials:
This drawing can be created with a variety of art materials. Some suggestions include:
- Creating a shaded pencil drawing
- Drawing on black paper and adding pastel for color (I recommend using Canson XL Series Black Drawing Paper) #sponsored
- Drawing on paper with a pencil, then trace lines with sharpie and add color with a material of your choice.
- Rendering your haunted house digitally! Check out this list of FREE web-based drawing programs to use.
Student work examples:
My middle school art students recently completed this project. Prior to starting the drawing, my students explored the key characteristics of Gothic and Victorian architecture. I also introduced them to information about career opportunities in architecture.
They did a wonderful on this project! I was impressed with the engagement, attention to detail, and variety of solutions.
STEP ONE:
Choose a house style, or mix and match to create your own creative house. Houses are made up of basic shapes (squares, rectangles and triangles). Don’t worry about the lines being perfectly straight. Having some “wonky” lines adds a lot personality to your haunted house, and gives it that eerie mood.
STEP TWO:
Choose a door to add to your house. Get creative by adding your own details to your door, like a spider web in the corner, a detailed wood frame, lights, mailboxes, address numbers, wooden boards to keep visitors out, and more!
STEP THREE:
Add some windows to your house. There are so many creative styles you can choose from. Explore mix and matching, adding shutters, curtains, things in the windows (like a candle or a cat).
STEP FOUR:
This part is fun! Personalize your haunted house with some spooky objects to add detail. Get creative with the spaces IN your haunted house, AROUND your haunted house, and in the sky that surrounds your house.
STEP FIVE:
Add some texture to the surfaces in your haunted house. Some options include wood grain, brick, cobble stone, shattered glass, shingles, and textures found in nature (like grass).
LAST STEP:
Add color using an art medium of your choice! Here are two examples done with different art medium.
*Hey teachers!* Below is a recently added option to purchase this lesson- which features a full slideshow presentation with project goals, artist history connections… printable PDF drawing guides…. and a specific grading rubric. Once purchased, the presentation will be emailed to you promptly. This is also available on my TPT site 🙂 Click here to check it out.
Video tutorial:
Thanks for checking out this blog post. I would love to see your creations if you use these steps to create your own haunted house. Feel free to tag me on Instagram and possibly get featured in this site! Also, please follow Make a Mark Studios on Facebook to keep up with the latest posts! Thanks in advance!
-Stephanie Villiotis, creator of Make a Mark Studios
Like this lesson? Check out two similar lesson with architectural connections…
