Artsy Animals Around the

House

By

Sharon JeffusHow many words

that begin with “R”do you see in the

picture on the left?

Is this the natural habitat of a

rhinoceros?

This wonderful picture by Van Eyck shows us an early painting of a dog. This man and lady are married and living in the 1400’s. Can you see their reflection in the mirror behind them? Can you imagine if your mother and father dressed like this? How big is the dog? What color is the dog? Have you seen a dog that looks like this?

This little dog was called

“Nipper. The phonograph

beside him was invented by

Edison.

• The picture below is from the 1600’s by Jan Fyt, a Flemish artist. It is a picture of a big dog. You can tell his size by looking at the boy beside him. Could he be a Great Dane? Scale tells how big something is by putting something beside it that you know the size of.

Cats Around the House

• This beautiful picture of a little girl holding a cat is done by Mary Cassatt. Do you think the baby liked the cat?

• The young man on the right is surrounded by his pets.

• What animals do you see in this picture by Goya? This picture was painted long ago. Would you wear a suit like this young man today?

I love little kitty!

• I love little kitty,Her coat is so warm,And if I don't hurt her,She'll do me no harm.

So I'll not pull her tail,Or drag her away.Just kitty and I,Very gently we'll play.

She shall sit by my side,And I'll give her some food;And kitty will love me,Because I am good.

• Hogarth did this wonderful picture of two children and their pets. He painted in the early 1700’s. Do you think the cat is interested in the bird? Do you think he looks hungry?

• Your great, great grandmother might have dressed this way.

• The picture on the right is by Audubon. These are Carolina parakeets. How many birds do you see? What color is the body of the bird? What color is the head? Audubon loved to do pictures of birds and always put the birds in their natural habitat. Would a house be their natural habitat?

• This delightful picture by John Laszlo shows a child with a goldfish. I have a pet goldfish. What are your pets? Let’s draw them in your house.

Look at the animals around you.

• Drawing requires observation and practice. We have looked at paintings of cats, dogs, birds and fish that could be pets. We can also look at some photographs of animals around the house. When we draw this picture, remember you can be creative and add as many animals as you want.

Drawing using lines and shapesA vertical line stands

straight and tall. A horizontal line lies flat like it is sleeping and a diagonal line is slanted. See if you can pick out

shapes and lines in the following picture.

• First we are going to draw our lines for a bird cage, a fish bowl, and a mouse hole.

Draw the dog, cat, and mouse in the

house.

Draw your bird and fish

step by step.