206 Audubon Birds

Students began their study of American Art by looking at the work of John James Audubon. Audubon was determined to catalogue all of the birds in North America as explorers traveled west. Students practiced drawing their own birds by looking at them upside down. This challenged them to draw the shapes they saw on the bird, rather than rely on their existing ideas of what birds look like. After some practice, students created a larger version. They then outlined the birds and completed their artwork using watercolors.