Chinese New Year - of the Rat, 2020. Adult Art Class student display, 2/3/20

Chinese New Year of the Rat - 2020

We worked from reference pictures of the decorative designs created each year. This year's celebrations began on Saturday January 25 and continue for about fifteen days.

Exercises included practicing a Rat drawn in a few calligraphy strokes. We had cut a sheet of paper into quarters. Color a piece all red, (crayon). Now turn it red side down against a clean quarter sheet. Draw a rat on the back using a good bit of pressure with a number 2 pencil - or use a colored pencil. You have to draw firmly and directly. No futzing and sketching. You should have a kind of carbon copy on that clean sheet. Decorate as you wish.

We did simple papercuts too. Color a quarter sheet red. Cut out a rat figure so that you have a nice papercut and you have the background piece as a papercut. Arrange your quarter sheet creations onto a full sheet and attach. We used masking tape turned into double stick tape just by forming a short section of tape into a loop - sticky side out