Art Attack Activities

If you're bored with drawing flat pictures, it's time you made a 3D Picture Box! You will need:     

Shoe Box Pen Paint Cardbaord Box Card Scissors

First, find find yourself an old shoe box.

Draw around the box (not the lid) onto a large piece of paper and think of a theme for your 3D Picture Box.

You need to create your design within the rectangle you drew.

The design needs to be in three layers, the background, the middle and the foreground. In this one, the cacti, sign and skull are in the foreground, the mountain scene and road is in the middle, and the background has the sky with birds in the distance.

Copy the background of your design onto the back of the box.

Now copy the middle part of the design onto a piece of card. It has to be the same size as the inside of the box, all the way around.

Trim away excess card carefully with scissors.

Now draw the foreground part of your design onto the box lid. It's OK if you go into the frame a little, but try not to go too far into it!

Cut away the excess card, so that you can see inside your 3D Picture Box!

Next, paint the background design that you drew on the inside of the box.

Then paint the middle section, let it dry and secure it in place in the middle of the box.

Finally, paint lid of the box, and pop it in place. Finished!

There are lots of possibilities for 3D Picture Boxes using this technique. How about a day at the races?

Or what about an underwater scene, like this? Try it yourself!

© The Media Merchants Television Company Limited 2009. Privacy Policy Terms and Conditions HIT Entertainment Limited Registered in England No: 2341947 Registered Office: Maple House, 149 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 7NF United Kingdom.

Here's an Art Attack for a still life with a difference! You will need: 

Tissue paper

  

Cling film PVA glue Scissors

First choose an object for a still life, like this bottle, and cover it completely in cling film.

Take care to press the cling film into all the nooks and crannies of whichever object you've chosen.

Next, mix up some PVA glue with water, and paste on some small, torn up pieces of tissue paper.

Using different shades of tissue paper gives a more interesting effect.

The idea is to do three or four layers, each going right down to the bottom oe the object.

When the tissue paper and PVA glue has dried, insert a pair of scissors at the bottom, and cut the cast off, as neatly as you can...

...then carefully prise the object away from the cast.

Next, paste on more tissue paper and PVA glue along the seam, to join it up.

When the seam is covered, leave it to dry. When it has dried, you'll have something that looks like this!

You can produce other objects in this way, and arrange them on a plate to produce a 3D still life!

If you like, you can glue them down onto a paper plate - like this - and cover the plate in tissue paper toO! This one is a sort of "bathroom accessories" still life.

Or how about this? The more objects you add, the more spectacular it looks! Do remember to ask for permission before you start pasting tissue paper on objects around the house! Try it yourself!

© The Media Merchants Television Company Limited 2009. Privacy Policy Terms and Conditions HIT Entertainment Limited Registered in England No: 2341947 Registered Office: Maple House, 149 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 7NF United Kingdom.

Need some acrylic paint, but haven't got any? Check out this Art Attack! You will need:  

Poster paint PVA glue

Acrylic paint is really versatile and is used a lot on Art Attack. It's great for painting paper mache models, and can even be used to paint fabric and cloth, because when it dries, it becomes waterproof.

If you haven't got any acrylic paint, you can make your own by adding PVA glue to ordinary poster paint.

Give it a mix, and get painting!

The paint goes really thick, just like acrylic, and it will dry waterproof! Try it yourself!

© The Media Merchants Television Company Limited 2009. Privacy Policy Terms and Conditions HIT Entertainment Limited Registered in England No: 2341947 Registered Office: Maple House, 149 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 7NF United Kingdom.

Be inspired by nature's own patterns... the ones on animals! It's amazing just how many animal patterns there are, and you can use them in your own Art Attacks too. You will need:   

coloured paper coloured felt felt tips

What's this pattern then? Black streaks on white paper. And what does it remind you of? You guessed it - a zebra!

What about this one? Black streaks again - but this time on orange paper. What do you think? Of course, a tiger. A very recognisable pattern.

Black spots on white this time. Look familiar? That's right - it's a Dalmatian!

And if you make the spots and blobs bigger, what do you get? Bit more tricky this time... ...a cow!

It doesn't matter what you use to create your patterns either. Black pieces of felt on yellow isn't the only option. Consider brown felt tip on yellow paper, or a pencil crayon. What's this one then? Any idea? Yes - they all belong to a giraffe.

So just take a look at lots of animals, and be inspired. Here are just a few examples of some other animals you could copy the patterns from.

...and when you've been inspired, you can use them for lots of Art Attacks. How about wrapping paper, picture frames, or book covers?

You could even use fabric paint to create tiger T-shirts, or how about patches on jeans using acrylic paint. Maybe even old strips of material to create these... Neil's underpants ?! Experiment! Try it yourself!

Here's a way to give your cartoon characters crazy hairstyles! You will need:    

Paper Permanent pen Ink or watery poster paint Drinking straw

Draw a simple cartoon face. It doesn't need to be anything special. In fact, the simpler - the better! You must make sure that you use a permanent pen for this.

Next you'll need ink or watery poster paint, and a thick drinking straw.

Carefully blob some ink or watery poster paint onto the hairline of the cartoon face.

Take a deep breath and blow through the drinking straw. Blow the ink to create the hairstyle.

You can do whatever style you like. How about blowing the ink to one side, to make it look like the hairstyle has been caught by a strong wind.

You can use different coloured inks, too. How's this for a blonde bombshell?

How about a granny's purple rinse?

Or a multi-coloured punk?

And you can even do beards and moustaches by starting upside down...

...and turning round when you've finished.

When you're happy with the hairstyle, just leave it to dry.

You can use the technique for animals too - how about a horse's mane?

Or a birds wing?

Or how about on an alien? Try it yourself.

Here's a great way to make a really cool looking bookmark. You will need:    

a pencil a piece of cereal box card a black pen paint/pencils/felt tips



a book to test with

First, use a pencil to draw a big, backwards S shape on the piece of cereal box card. Then draw an oval shape for the head at the top end. Fatten up both sides of the S, going from the head towards the tail, getting thinner as you go along.

Now use a black pen to go over the outline. It doesn’t need to be perfect at this stage. Draw two eyes on the top of the head, and add a mouth.

To turn this into a real bookworm, you need to draw a "saddle" in the middle, and add some lines above and below it just as you can see here.

Now cut it out, remembering to be very careful with your scissors. You should end up with something that looks like this.

To make your bookworm grip the pages, you need to snip half-way up the pencil guideline on your bookmark’s face, as you can see here. Be very careful not to go all the way across and cut the head off completely!

Now it’s time to colour in. You can use anything you like - paint, pencils, or felt tips. Use pink to make the bookmark look like a real worm

After all your colouring in, you'll have something that looks like this.

Finally, test it out in a book. Simply find your page, pop it in, and position it so your bookworm’s head is hooked over the front. Try it yourself!

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Here's something you can make for that special someone on Valentine's Day, or just to show someone how you feel.

You will need:     

Scissors Silver Pen Thin Card Pencil Cup or Mug

You'll need a piece of thick paper or thin card. Red or pink is the best colour for this, but you could always use white and colour it in if you like.

Fold the card in half...

...then use a cup or mug to draw a semicircle in the top corner.

The semicircle should just be touching the top and left edges of the card.

Now draw a line down from the semicircle to the bottom of the card, like this.

Cut out the shape and you should have two identical pieces of card.

Put the two shapes on top of each other and use the scissors again to make a cut, about two thirds of the way up both of the shapes.

Next, use a silver pen and write along the top of one of pieces "only you can mend"!

Along the top of the other piece, write "my broken heart".

Pop both pieces into an envelope and send it off to your valentine! Then, truly only they can mend your broken heart. Don't give them any instructions, so then you'll know that if they take the time to figure it out, they must like you! Try it yourself!

Need a rubber to correct a picture or sketch done in pencil? Use your loaf! You will need: 

Slice of fresh bread

If ever you're working in pencil, need to rub something out but can't find a rubber...

...just grab a slice of fresh bread! Tear off a small piece and roll it into a ball...

...then use it just like a rubber. Try it yourself!

Have a bit of fun - create your own cartoon character. But where do you start? How about with this great Art Attack! You will need:   

paper pen tracing paper

Cartoon characters always have a lot of character! But how do you decide which character you want? First take a blank piece of paper, and experiment with facial features, starting with the eyes. There are lots of different types - as you can see from all these ones that Neil’s done here.

How about different noses too? What about a cute button nose, or a long straight nose, or a turned up snooty nose, a crooked nose, two little nostrils or maybe a splodge nose? Again, lots of different types of noses!

And what about mouths? A smiley mouth, goofy mouth, a cheesy smiley mouth, an evil mouth, a wide mouth, or even a very narrow mouth - just experiment!

You don’t have to do these styles. You can do any you like, and mix and match them. And that’s where tracing paper comes in. Using the tracing paper, select your preferred facial features. There are loads of different possibilities!

You can use the tracing paper to create your character’s body. Select a face, and add on a body.

When you’ve got your character, trace a few more of the same character, and experiment colouring them in. Your very own cartoon character. All you need to do is experiment!

You can easily create a whole gang of these characters by using the same features, but changing them a bit. If you want to create a girl version of a character, place some tracing paper over your finished drawing. To create a girl, make the features slightly smaller this time, using long eyelashes and larger lips.

To create a younger character, use your original again, trace the features, but this time, make them more rounded, adding cheeky freckles and a baseball cap.

To create a dopey character, again trace from the original, but maybe give it droopy eyelids, a huge lower lip, a big toady body, long arms, and webbed feet.

You can create as many cartoon characters as you like, each slightly different, but all looking as if they’re part of the same ‘family’. Try it yourself!

Find out how to turn shapes into faces, with a bit of imagination! You will need: 

paper



pens

Take a look at this. What do you see? They’re not a load of weird shaped vegetables. They're just some scribbled shapes. But believe it or not, they can all be turned into cartoon faces!

Create any weird shape you like - this is a kind of pear shape. The idea is to make a face out of this shape, by giving it a bit of character. You can see here that the pear shape now has a long nose on it, some glasses, and a mouth! Just make it all up as you go along.

The one on the top right looks a bit like a pumpkin. Simply draw whatever the shape reminds you of. In this case, a baby!

How about the one on the bottom left? A cool singing dude! Just make it up as you go along.

Finally, what about the one on the bottom right? A long faced traffic warden! It's good fun. Draw any shape, and then turn it into a cartoon person. Try it yourself!

This Art Attack will show you a great way of creating a stone carving effect without the stone! You will need:   

Rubber / eraser Charcoal Paper

First you'll need a piece of charcoal. Using it on its side, colour in a rough rectangle in the middle of the paper. The idea is to make the edges uneven, because this represents a stone slab. You'll get a good stone effect with charcoal.

Then take a rubber and carve out your initial in the middle of the charcoal, using the rubber.

You'll probably have to go over it a couple of times with the rubber. Try to make sure that the edges are a little uneven because it all adds to that chiselled effect.

Blow away any bits of dust or rubber.

Finally, using a small, sharp edge of charcoal, pick out the edge of one side of the letter. This gives it a 3D effect!

Now go around the stone shape too, and it'll end up looking like a heavy stone slab with a carved out letter!

This technique also works really well with other designs. How about this fossilised fish?

Or this cave wall painting, carved into a block of stone with a highlight at the top. Try it yourself!

Do you find drawing a landscape hard? Here's an easy way to do it - but don't tell anyone you've been cheating! You will need: 

Paper

 

Pen Wax Crayons

Start off by drawing a wavy line about three quarters of the way up the paper, like this.

Next, draw another wavy line, directly underneath.

Then draw a third!

And a fourth. Make the lines further apart as you go further down the page.

Next, continue some of the wavy lines so they join up with the lines underneath them.

Join up some of the lines in the foreground in the same way.

Now the picture starts to come to life! Add in some detail like bushes and tree. Remember, the further away they are the smaller and less detailed they need to be!.

Add some parallel lines to create fields.

Create hedges in the background, to make some fields for cattle to graze in.

Add a farmhouse too, if you want to. It's best to put it in the middle of the picture.

If you've drawn a farmhouse, you'll also need a road - snaking over the hills toward the farmhouse. Just draw two lines that go in the same direction. You can even add a little stream - just make sure you add a few small squiggly lines so you can tell that it's water! Once you've drawn out the whole landscape, just colour it all in. You can use anything you like for this - felt tips, wax crayons, pastels - whatever! Just make sure that the further away the fields are, the lighter shade of green they should be. Try it yourself!

Use the frame to make you focus on what it is that you want to draw. Try it yourself! You will need: 

Pencil

 

Paper Felt tips

Lightly sketch a picture on paper using pencil.

Use felt tip pens to colour in different sections of the drawing. Instead of colouring in with blocks of colour, use words.

Pick a word that's got something to do with what you're drawing. Keep going over and over until you've covered the whole section.

Change colour and words as often as you like...

...just make the words smaller if you don't have a lot of room.

The picture will soon start to take shape...

...and when you've finished, just rub out the pencil guidelines. It should look something like this.

Here's a parrot coloured using the same technique...

...here's a panda, done using white pencil on black paper...

...a tiger...

...and Mr Neil Buchanan himself! Try it yourself!

Why not design a logo for yourself that's distinct and easily recognised? You will need:   

paper pens felt tips

Take a quick look at these company logos. When you're a jetsetting multimillionaire, and you own your own company, you need a logo that's distinct and easily recognisable. If you design one for yourself, you can put it on your doors, books, walls anywhere you like!

As it’s your logo, why not start where a lot of logo designers start... with your initials? Here are Neil’s - but they look a bit boring.

How about thickening the letters up? Or joining the letters together - a lot of logo designers do this. Neil's N and B are back to back. You can add a bit of shadow on the bottom as well.

You can get inspiration for your designs in a lot of ways. Here’s another good trick that a lot of graphic designers use - draw some shapes in pencil, and then use them as a guide to put your initials inside.

Here, Neil has drawn his chunky initials, but he's kept them within the cube shape. He has sent each letter down the cube to give it the 3D effect.

What about a triangle? Neil has kept it simple this time, with normal letters, but kept them inside the triangle. He's not drawn outside the lines!

What about circles? Here, you can see that Neil wasn’t too happy with the B, so he’s had another go. You can draw the letters any way you want, following the shape of the circle.

Instead of a large B, Neil has chosen to do a small one - and he’s put the tail outside the circle.

To make his logo really special, Neil is adding in some shadow to make it more chunky. For the B, Neil makes the top a bit longer, and gives the bottom a tail as well.

The idea is to do it all in rough first, and when you’re happy, neaten it up, and colour it in. And there you have it!

You can experiment with different colours and add bits on too. This is Neil’s final logo with stripes too. Have fun trying different things out! How about an explosion around your logo, or even a splat! Try it yourself!

Here's a really easy trick to put a border onto any of your drawings. You will need:  

Paper Colours for your picture

Find a picture that you'd like to put a border around.

You'll need a piece of paper that's exactly the same size as the paper the picture is on.

Fold the paper in half, as accurately as possible.

Place it in the middle, again as accurately as you can!

Draw around it in pencil, lightly at first.

And there you have it! Now you can go over it in pen and decorate the inside.

If you want a deeper border you can fold the paper in half again and draw around that in the middle. Try it yourself!

Here's a really easy abstract Art Attack! You will need:    

Paper Permanent black pen or marker Paint Paintbrush

Take a permanent black felt tip pen and use curls to draw facial features. Here's a pair of eyes...

...and a nose...

...a pair of lips...

...and a chin.

The rule is that everything has to be curly.

The great thing about this technique is that you don't know how the picture will turn out! They're great fun to do.

You can take the picture a stage further by brushing watered down paint over the face you drew - but avoiding the eyes. The permanent black ink shouldn't run.

Here's another idea...

...and another - a face drawn from the side this time.

And you don't have to do faces! Here's a pig...

Why not have a go at making pictures from curled up strips of paper? You will need:  

coloured paper a paintbrush

Take a piece of coloured paper or thin card, and cut a thin strip that’s about 1cm wide.

Then take a paintbrush, and tightly roll the strip around the handle, from one end to the other.

Once you’ve rolled it all up, remove the paintbrush and let the curled paper spring out. You now have a tightly curled spiral of paper.

You can repeat this technique with different colours of paper, and different lengths. Here you can see a very short piece of rolled up purple paper.

Using a longer strip this time, you get a large white spiral. This technique is called "quilling".

Here's a blue strip of paper. Instead of being rolled all the way to the end, it's been stopped about half-way. The result is a strip that’s straight, with a small curl at one end.

Another technique is to curl both ends of the strip. Just go to the other end, and start rolling it back on itself around a paintbrush.

So now you that you can curl the paper, it's very easy to start making pictures with it! Here's a flower, for example. Just put all your curls in the place you want, and then glue them to the paper. Try it yourself!

A strange way to make your pictures weird and wonky! You will need:    

Spoon Pen Paint or felt tips Paper

Ever looked in the back of a spoon and noticed how all your facial features are distorted? The reflection makes a great picture - so just hold still and draw what you see.

Start with the shape of the face - all distorted and wobbly.

Add in some hair...

...followed by the very distorted nose.

Do the mouth next...

...and then the eyes.

Just draw what you see in the reflection.

If you colour the picture in, it looks even better!

You can use the technique to draw whatever you like, too. How about drawing the outside of your house...

...or the front of a car?

Have you ever wanted to copy something from a picture like a person or animal, but thought it was too complicated? Well, here's a way of beating that problem... turn the picture upside down! You will need:  

paper crayon

Take the picture you want to draw and turn it around. Here, Neil's turned around his picture of a kangaroo, so it's no longer a kangaroo just a collection of funny, weird shapes!

So - it's no longer a kangaroo that he's worried about drawing! Instead, it's just a case of drawing the different shapes. That's all you need to remember. Draw what you see, breaking each part of the object up into different shapes.

If you keep going in exactly the same way, adding in the shading when you've finished, you'll end up with your finished picture. Turn it around, and there you have it - a kangaroo! Try it yourself!

Useful hints and tips for drawing effective clouds, like the ones you see in cartoons and comic strips. You will need:  

Black Pen Paper

Have you ever noticed how many types of clouds there are in cartoons and comic strips? There are loads - and drawing them couldn’t be any easier.

To draw any cloud all, you need to draw is a ring of curved lines. And if you want to make your cloud look thicker and lighter, then just use a light blue pen or pencil, and draw some curved lines on the inside of the cloud to make it look thick and fluffy.

You often see dust clouds in cartoons. To do those, just draw lots of little curved lines just creeping along the ground and getting bigger as they get further away from the object that is making all the dust.

You can also draw whoosh clouds, which you often see in comic strips when you see when a car zooming off.

All you need to remember is thirty three draw a little three followed by a big three, and then add in some whoosh lines coming from them. Don’t forget if the whoosh lines are coming off backwards, you need to draw the thirty-three backwards.

Try it yourself!

Are you one of those people who really likes dogs, but have a bit of a problem drawing them? Well - what you need is a guide dog... You will need:     

paper pencil paintbrush paint eraser

The first thing that you draw is this... a round head, a pointy snout, and then the numbers 6, 1, 1, 1. This is your "guide dog" - and this is nice and easy!

Use that as a guide to drawing your dog. Now you can put in your dog's features eyes, snout, ears and the rest of the head.

Just carry on with the rest of the dog's features - collar, body shape along the 6, and then use the 1's for the guide to drawing the legs.

You can use this guide dog to make any dog you like, depending on what size the numbers 6 and 1 are, and how close together they are.

Here are some more dogs based on this "6111" pattern. And once you've done your dog, rub out the guidelines, and then you can paint them in...

...like these ones here. An easy but great way of drawing dogs. Try it yourself!

Is it possible to draw sounds? Well, if you follow this Art Attack, it certainly is! You will need:  

Paper Colours for your picture

To draw someone screaming, the best way to do it is to spell out the scream as it comes from the mouth. Screams are an "aaargh" sound. The longer you make it, the bigger the scream.

It really comes to life if you add a jagged box around the scream, like this.

Drawing sound effects really adds humour and fun to your drawings. The sound of a balloon popping is loud. It sounds like "bam", so put that. You could even put an exclamation mark to emphasise the loudness. Again, put it in a spikey box to show that it's loud.

Here's an ice-cream being dropped. To do a splat sound, just draw a splat on the ground where it's dropping. To try to work out what you should write, keep saying the sound over and over again until you can put that sound into letters. This one is a "splot"!

If it's a much softer sound, just draw a cloud shape - then spell it out again. This time, to make it look softer, you could do it in fat, fluffy letters. "Poof" is the sound this time.

To put some sound effects into your cartoons, try to spell the sound out, and then put other effects like the jagged edges around the words to make it look loud or quiet, soft or aggressive. This time, an old lady has sat on a whoopee cushion - a sort of "thhrppt" sound! You could add in the rush of wind coming out of the cushion!

You don't always have to spell the sound out; sometimes little tricks will do it for you. For example, these two boys are howling with laughter, so some lines and a couple of tears will do the trick!

For a musical sound you just need musical notes. For the whistling policeman, just one note, and a bit of wind to show that it's been blown. For loud, fast music, lots of wild rocking notes. And for quiet, soft music, just one single note should do it.

You can even get some great effects by doing letters in the shape and style of the sound itself. Here the "sloop" sound is given a dripping edge. Or how about wobbly lettering for "urgh". And some whoosh lines for the children running away!

You can throw all sorts of little doodles in to show chaotic noise. Puffs of wind, stars and little scribbles should do it! And for someone sleeping, "zzzz" does the trick every time! Try it yourself!

Design your dream home with these Art Attack tips. You will need:   

Paper Pens Paint or something else to colour with

Start with the outline shape of your dream home. This one is going to be a big mansion, divided into rooms.

To give the room some depth, draw another square or rectangle inside the room along the top line, and connect the bottom corners together.

Here's a big sweeping staircase and gallery landing.

Some big fancy windows with huge curtains.

In the bedroom, how about a four poster bed and some furniture?

Downstairs, if you make the back square smaller and join them up, it makes the room look bigger.

This one's getting a swimming pool. Just follow the lines of the wall so you get the perspective right.

Two lightly-drawn lines for water and wiggles for the reflection on the water, and some lines on the panes of glass in the conservatory at the back.

You could even draw the rooms on a different piece of paper that you cut to size, so that you can experiment with different designs before you stick them down.

When you're happy with the rough design of your dream home, it's ready to be decorated. Decide on a colour scheme and paint or colour it in.

This one has a games room in the attic!

Not only can you change your room whenever you like, you can even add extensions. How about this garage with two cars inside? Try it yourself!

Here's a great way of making your pictures look like they're made from electric neon light - like those in nightclubs or trendy cafés! You will need:   

Black paper White pencil Lots of different coloured chalk

First you need to design a picture onto some dark paper, like black card, using a white pencil. Do it lightly and with not too much detail. Keep it simple, big and bold.

Now the fun bit! You need some coloured electric neon light! Yes... it's just coloured chalk! But the effect is just as good.

Pick a good neon colour like electric blue, pink or purple and carefully go over all of the lines in your picture. Make nice thick lines that follow the original.

Then carefully go over all the lines with your finger. Just follow the direction of the lines rubbing backwards and forwards. Try not to smudge the lines outwards!

Now to turn the neon lights on, take a white chalk and with the sharp edge, go over all the lines again. This time just use the sharp edge to create a thin bright white line down the middle of the existing lines.

You could even leave little gaps between the white lines to make them look even more like an electric neon striplight.

Lettering looks good too, especially if you do it in a different colour.

When you've finished, you'll have a brilliant electric neon drawing.

They make great posters! If you like, you could try different designs. How about this jazz club design?

Or a cool skiier? Try it yourself!

Here's a really easy trick to make your lettering look as if it's standing out from the paper. This trick will work for all types of lettering, and it's really easy to do. You will need:  

crayon paper

Here's the writing that Neil is going to make the lettering stand out from...

Take a black wax crayon, or thick soft black pencil and rub it onto a piece of paper to blunt it so that you get a nice thick soft black line.

To raise your letters, drop a shadow from each letter, using your crayon. Drop a shadow down the left-hand side of each line, slightly to the left.

This works for all types of lettering - even joined up writing, and big chunky letters!

And now the clever bit... smudge the lettering slightly with your finger. Don't smudge it right across your paper, and not too much. Just take the edge off it, so the shadow is much softer.

And there it is - lettering that stands out.

You can even do it with shapes too. Here, Neil has drawn a banner around his name...

...and then another shadow along the left hand side. It's a great effect to give your lettering some energy. Try it yourself!

Find out how to add some magic to your pictures! You will need:   

White chalk Dark paper Silver pen or white pencil crayon

Chalk is a very versatile art material - and here's a great way of using it to create a magical, mystical Art Attack.

Do a line drawing of a fairy on some dark paper - blue or black is good. Neil used silver pen for this picture, although white pencil crayon would be fine.

If you're not sure how to draw a fairy why not trace one from a book.

Use the chalk to carefully go around the outline of the fairy.

Try to keep to the outline, and not go over the picture too much.

It's a good idea to take your time when doing this.

When you've chalked all the way around, smudge the chalk outwards using your finger. It gives the picture a lovely, magical glowing quality.

Finish off by adding extra detail using the chalk...

...which you can smudge in the same way.

You can also use a silver pen or white pencil crayon to dot on extra magical detail.

Make your drawings come alive by layering the scenery to make things jump off the page! You will need:     

Paper Pencil Ruler Scissors Coloured Pens

Take a piece of paper and use a pencil and ruler to draw two lines, equal distance apart, going across the paper lengthways.

Fold the paper in half so that the lines are on the outside.

Fold down again, towards the first fold in the middle.

Flip the paper around, and do the same again on that side.

You should have a concertina which has four parts. Put it down so that it forms a "W" shape, with the lines facing upwards.

Flatten it a bit, then use your pencil to follow the bottom line along to the first fold.

Now, draw a line up the first fold, and then along to the middle fold, and up again. It should look like steps going up the page.

Carefully cut out the top corner. You should be left with two steps and two whole sections on the right.

Fold up the paper again so the small step is at the front. This will be the foreground of your picture.

The middle chunk will be your middle ground.

This is the background layer.

If you open out the paper, the back piece will be sky.

Now you can start designing your picture. Draw some sky on the back section..

FOld the whole thing over to draw the background of your picture in front of the sky. It will be covering where the sky was, but don't worry about that. Neil's drawing a castle.

Fold the picture over the other way.

Now draw the middle ground. The top of the background picture will be sticking out at the top of your drawing.

When you've done that, fold the last bit over, and in front of the middle ground draw the foreground.

So far the picture should look like this.

Neatly cut along the top of all the skyline detail, so the whole picture really jumps out at you when you open it out.

Colour the whole thing in, and your completed scene should look like this!

Have a go at different types of scenery, like countryside or beach scenes...

...or even the big city. Try it yourself!

How about this for a simple novelty greeting card idea? You will need:     

card colours string scissors felt pen

Fold a piece of thick paper or thin card in half. On one half of the card, draw "me," or in other words, draw yourself, because you're the one who's going to send the card.

Then on the other side of the card draw "you". The picture has to be of the person you are sending the card to. From me, to you. Make the picture look like a cartoon.

Colour in the two pictures.

Then write your message in the card. Put "From Me" and "To You" along the bottom of the card, and in the middle, add a message, depending upon the purpose of the card.

Next, pop a hole where the hands are in the picture. The best way to do this is to place your card above some sticky tack, then push a pencil through the card.

Cut out a heart from thin coloured card. Alternatively, use white paper, and paint it red.

Cut a piece of string a bit longer than the width of your card.

Thread this string through the hole in the middle of your heart, then through the holes of card where the hands are, and tie a knot.

And when you've done that, you'll have a card that looks like this. There are plenty of other types you can make. How about a Happy Birthday card or even a Get Well Soon card? Try it yourself!

If you've got some intricate gluing to do, here's a great tip. You will need:  

PVA glue Cocktail stick

If you've got some intricate gluing to do, here's a great tip. Rather than using a paint brush covered in PVA glue and risk getting glue all over your art...

...use a cocktail stick! Put a tiny bit of glue onto the end of the stick.

Then you can put the smallest amount of glue on your picture.

You can even use the cocktail stick for lifting tiny bits of art material, like this sequin.

On it goes, perfectly!

Here's a great way of framing a photograph, without actually framing it! You will need:   

Coloured pens A photograph or picture Coloured paper (slightly bigger than the picture)

Place your picture into the middle of a piece of coloured paper. If you've got an ordinary sized photo, A4 paper is good.

The idea works by drawing squiggles around one of the corners. Do a squiggle, a couple of loops and another squiggle...

...then send the line back on itself.

Join up the lines at the end.

Now colour in the bits in between.

Do this on two opposite corners. It looks like the picture's been framed by twisted ribbons looped around the edges!

Use different coloured pens and frames.

You could even do squiggles all around the frame...

...Or a two-coloured ribbon, where the loops are alternate colours! Try it yourself!

Here's a great way of designing your own graffiti tag... but don't write it on walls or desks! You will need:  

Coloured paper Chalk pastels or crayons

Chalk pastels like these are the best for this Art Attack, but crayons work just as well.

On a piece of coloured paper, write your name in big, chunky, angular letters. It's a good idea to tuck the letters behind each other.

Then take some white chalk and add a little trick... just draw a small dot somewhere on each letter.

Next, colour each letter in using bright colours, but don't cover the dots!

When you've coloured each letter, strengthen up all the black lines If you're using pastels, be careful not to accidentaly smudge it!

Now to really jazz it up, just gently smudge the dots to make them look like highlights...

... and gently smudge the black lines too to give them a fuzzy effect. This makes it look like they've been sprayed on.

Thicken up all of those bottom lines to give it a real, chunky 3D effect.

Then smudge that line too.

Next, give everything a coloured outline, doing it twice in different colours. Keep it straight and jagged with sharp edges.

Finish off the outline with another black line.

Finally, just to finish it off with a heavy metal effect, draw some white shine lines going diagonally across the lettering. Make sure all the lines are in the same direction. And to make it really stand out, put some starry twinkles on the corners. Make sure you keep the twinkly bits nice and thin!

And there you have it - your name in a graffiti tag!

You can create different tags with different materials and shapes. This one is more round and blobby.

This one uses more distinctive shapes, giving it a sharp feel.

Or even really distorted letters with all sorts of extensions. Try it yourself!

Here's a great way to create really groovy writing for cards or posters - and it's lots of fun! You will need:  

Paper Coloured pens

Draw one blob for each word you plan to write - in any shape you like.

The idea is to do thick writing inside the blobs. The only rule is: don't let any letter touch the blob or the letter next to it.

Squeeze the letters in tightly.

You'll be forced by the blobs into strange, groovy writing.

Think ahead about how you'll squish the letters in.

Then colour in all your letters as brightly as you like.

The writing will look different every time depending on the shape of your blob.

You could even make the border blobby too by going round it again!

Practice different words, and use them on posters, cards or exercise books like this. Try it yourself!

Some useful tips for incorporating horizons into pictures to give depth of background. You will need:  

paper pen

When you draw pictures of people or animals, where do you draw the ground? Do you draw it like this, right underneath the feet?

Well if you do it like this, it's wrong, because it looks like he's walking along a tightrope! The best place to put this line - which is the horizon - is further up, about a third of the way. Now it looks like he's walking across the picture properly.

If you put the horizon line higher, it looks like he's sinking.

If the horizon slopes, like this one here, then it looks like he's walking up or downhill, depending on which way you put it.

Of course, not all horizons are completely straight lines. However, if you imagine the horizon about a third of the way up, you can build your background onto it. You can add buildings, hills, mountains or the sea - in fact, any background you like, as long as you remember to draw the horizon one-third of the way up the picture. Try it yourself!

A really quick way to get authentic-looking medieval lettering. You will need:  

Paper Pen

Have a look at this fantastic medieval gothic writing. Medieval sign writers and the apprentices spent years perfecting their techniques.

But here's a really quick way to cheat just think curvy diamonds. Follow the shape of a normal diamond but draw it with curved lines - like the one on the right of this picture.

Build up the shape of letters using different size curvy diamonds, like this.

To make an "L" into an "E", just add a couple more diamonds.

You could even add a couple of lines to make it look more ornate.

If you colour them in black they look really medieval.

It works for lower case lettering too.

You could use medieval lettering on posters...

...or for covering books.

Go on, have a go at creating ornate medieval lettering...

...out of curvy diamonds.

This Art Attack is a really easy way to create big, bold lettering for posters and the front of books. You will need:    

Paper Pencil Pen Felt tips or coloured pencils

Starting in pencil, as a guide, draw some simple, chunky block lettering.

If you're not sure how to do block lettering, just draw normal letters, and then thicken them up!

When you're happy with the rough pencil letters, go over them in pen.

Now rub out the pencil lines, and you should be left with some chunky lettering like this.

Add a dot above the middle of the lettering. The dot needs to be the same distance above the lettering as the height of the actual letters.

Use a ruler to join all the top corners of the letters to the dot.

When you've done all the top corners, do the same to all the bottom corners. But take care not to go over any of the lettering itself!

The effect is really interesting - you get really long, everlasting letters that look as though they're going off into the distance.

Next, shade down the sides of the letters. That's it - finished. It's a good effect, isn't it?

Here are some other ideas. Place the dot lower, but still shade between the letters...

...place the dot to one side...

...or underneath the letters, like this poster.

And with practice, you can even do curved lines going towards the dot! Try it youself!

Why not have a go at the beautiful art of calligraphy? You will need:      

lolly sticks paper ink or watered down poster paint ruler pencil scissors

Take a look at this beautiful calligraphy. Calligraphy means "the fine art of handwriting".

This one was created in black ink.

Red poster paint, thinned down with lots of water, was used for this one.

This split-lettered effect was created in blue ink.

Do you fancy having a go? No problem! Take a piece of paper and a ruler, and draw a horizontal line in pencil, across the top of the ruler. Draw another line across the bottom of the ruler.

Move the ruler about 1 or 2cm higher up the paper, and draw another horizontal line across the top of the ruler. These guidelines will help you draw letters of different sizes.

This calligraphy isn't done with expensive pens or brushes. As you might have guessed from the title of this Art Attack, all you need is a lolly stick or two!

Carefully snap a lolly stick in half. This will give you two calligraphy pens!

Take some ordinary fountain pen ink. You can also use poster paint mixed with lots of water so that it's nice and runny. Remember to hold the stick as if it was a fountain pen.

Dip the stick into the ink, and have a go. Keep the stick in the same position as you draw letters. That will give you a great thick-and-thin effect on the lettering.

With a little practice, you'll discover the different effects and styles you can achieve.

If your snapped lolly stick splinters or has a jagged edge, don't throw it away. Use it in the same way to get a great split letter effect!

You can also create the split lettering effect by carefully snipping a notch in the stick with a pair of scissors.

If you eat enough ice lollies, you'll have enough sticks to make a whole set of calligraphy pens. Try it yourself!

Use magazines to create a whole new perspective on things! You will need:   

Old magazines Pen Paper

For this Art Attack, all you need to do is cut out a magazine picture and turn it into something completely different! For example, here's a picture of a shark...

...and with a quick doodle, you can pop it into a goldfish bowl!

So take an image and think of the least likely place you'd find it. Here's a shoe...

...and with a couple of wheels, it's become a shoe car!

Here's a very cute cat...

...transformed into a monster chasing a tiny person!

And here's a motorbike...

...complete with a worm riding it! Ha ha! Try it yourself.

Here's an Art Attack to help you paint reflections in your picture! You will need:      

A3 sized card Pencil Paint Paintbrush Ruler Light blue pen or pencil

Carefully fold an A3-size piece of card in half.

On the left hand side of the card, draw a simple cartoon-like figure lightly in pencil.

Use a generous amount of paint, and paint one or two parts of the picture at a time.

Carefully close the card before the paint dries.

When you open it again, the excess paint will have printed onto the right hand side of the picture, leaving a mirror image.

Keep painting and repeat the technique after each one or two colours.

As you build up the picture, it starts to look like a reflected image.

Add on final detail - in this case it's buttons and stripes on a scarf.

And when the last of the paint has dried, add on final feature detail using a fine permanent black pen.

When you draw on the side of the reflection, make the pen work lighter.

Finally with a light blue pen or pencil, add some lightly drawn shine lines onto the reflected part of the picture, to add to the reflected effect...

...then use a ruler draw the frame of a mirror around the printed image. And that's it!

Here are some other ideas - a cat looking into a mirror...

...a poser...

...or a mum, putting her make-up on! Try it yourself!

Have you ever done a monochrome picture? Mono means one, and chrome means colour, so it's a picture in one colour! It doesn't have to be the right colour - just pick any colour you like! You will need:  

paper pen, pencil or felt tip (one colour only)

Draw anything you like on white paper. Remember to only use one colour, otherwise it won't be a monochrome picture!

Here's one of Neil's monochrome pictures taking shape.

Shade it in, using just the one colour. Resist the temptation to use a darker colour - just press harder! And there it is - a monochrome picture. Try it yourself!

Not everything you do goes according to plan. Have you ever drawn something that you don't like, or rip up a picture because it's rubbish? Or you've spoiled it by mistake? Well don't throw it away! Turn bad stuff into an art form! It's great fun to do. You will need:      

a ruined picture scissors coloured paper felt tips black marker stick glue

Here's a picture Neil's done, but a coffee mug stain in the bottom left corner has ruined it.

To make it really sad, cut it up a bit, by cutting it in half, but do it neatly. The idea is to make it look like you meant every single mistake.

Then, to get rid of the really spoiled bit, cut it out in jagged lines, a bit like a bite mark, to make it look like it was meant to happen.

Tear along the top to make it look like a crack, just by ripping it. You can even draw black lines around these cut bits to make it look like it was meant to happen

Now go over the top! Scrunch the picture up a bit, and stick it wonky onto some backing paper.

Make the picture look even sadder with some very bad repairs. Take some more paper, and draw a cartoon plaster, some bits of cartoon sticky tape, or maybe some cartoon planks of wood.

Colour these in, using cartoon colours, and you'll have loads of 'repair' things to stick on your picture like these here.

Finally, just place these onto the picture to make it look like you've tried to repair it - badly! When you're happy with all this sadness, glue them all down and there you have it. So next time you ruin one of your pictures - don't just throw it away… think how you can turn into sad art, instead! Try it yourself!

Here's an old but great way of making a weird but colourful pattern - a psychedelic ripple pattern. You will need:   

paper black pen felt tips

Take a black felt pen, and draw a sort of blob shape in the middle of the paper.

Give your blob two ears, by drawing around it. It'll look something like a wobbly butterfly.

Repeat again and again, until you can fit no more onto the paper.

Colour each individual section of the pattern in different ways.

When you've coloured every one, you'll have something amazing like this. You don't need to stop there - you'll get different patterns every time if you just experiment. Try it yourself!

If you've worn out your toothbrush, don't throw it away! You will need:    

paint paper old toothbrush scissors

These pictures look fantastic and are great fun to create too! Choose some different shapes and cut them out from a piece of paper or card to create a stencil.

Take another piece of paper or card and place the stencil on top. Cover your work surface in plenty of newspaper to protect it from stray paint spatters!

You can use an ordinary paintbrush to flick the paint (poster or acrylic), but you can use an old toothbrush too for a finer effect. Dip the toothbrush in paint, then run a piece of card along the bristles so that the paint spatters onto the picture.

When you've spattered all the paint you want, let it dry, then take the stencil away to reveal the completed picture!

You can also apply the reverse technique for a great effect. Use cut-out shapes as masks, and spatter paint onto paper around them - just like this Big Art Attack Neil created in the studio using paint and an air spray. Try it yourself!

When you complete a picture, do you ever feel that it doesn't look fully finished yet? Ask yourself "can I take it any further?" and see what happens... You will need:  

A drawing Pens, pencils, crayons, paint... whatever you choose!

Here's a picture of a boat. You might think that it's finished. Right now it looks rather boring - so how about some extra detail?

Start with a cabin on the boat, then a bit of extra rigging on the sails.

Maybe a motor at the back of the boat?

And some rails at the front of the boat.

A little buoy bobbing around.

And a hint of some people at the back of the boat!

And there - much better. This is a good tip to remember when you've finished a picture - ask yourself if you can take it any further.

How about trying some different art materials to create some different effects? Wax crayons are really good for adding in texture, especially if you use them on their sides.

A sun in the sky introduces colour to the picture.

You can even reflect it on the water.

Because the sun is behind the boat, it would make the front darker. So why not turn it into a silhouette by colouring everything in in black.

Because both wax crayon and permanent marker pens are water resistant, you could add in a bit of watercolour. Streak some red watercolour paint lightly over the sky to give a great sunset effect.

Reflect it off the sea too by painting some red across that too.

And there you have it! From a very simple, boring picture of a boat to a really moody, atmospheric sea-themed sunset! Next time you draw a picture, ask yourself, "can I take it any further?" But remember - you have to stop somewhere! Try it yourself!

Have fun splashing some paint around, and make a waterfall picture! You will need:   

White paper White crayon or a candle Blue and green poster paints

Take a white wax crayon - or a candle and some white paper. Simply make bold, scribbly strokes in a curve going from the top to the bottom of your page.

Then, at the bottom of the paper, scribble around in messy circles.

Next, take some watered down poster paint and paint it on in the same direction as your curves...

...and suddenly, a waterfall starts to appear!

Especially when you add the water crashing down at the bottom!

Then, add in a small amount of green, and the wax crayon resists the paint, giving you a fantastic watery effect.

Leave it to dry, and when it's ready, you can add on extra details. How about this daredevil canoeist?

Or maybe some fish jumping?

Or this mad diver? Try it yourself!

A simple Art Attack tip for adding water, shape and reflection to your drawings. You will need:  

Pen Paper

How do you draw water? The answer is you don't - you draw the shape of it and the reflections in it. Just think "shape and reflections." Here's the shape of a small puddle...

...adding in two lightly drawn lines added at the top and bottom gives the impression that they are the reflections on a shiny water surface.

You can use the technique to include the reflections of anything that's standing in the water, or floating on it. Here's a dog and his owner...

...and an unexpected puddle!

So, once again, two lightly drawn lines at the top and bottom give the impression of water.

You can even add in the dog's reflection, and a few splashes.

For a pond or lake, draw in the shape of the lake...

...the reflections....

...and if the water is still, draw light rings around whatever is standing in it!

If you're drawing the sea, draw the horizon followed by the shape of the shoreline...

...followed by the reflections.

For a slightly rough sea, just draw lightly drawn lines in the distance, and make them further apart as they get nearer to the foreground. As they get really close, hint at the traditional up and down wave shape!

For a really rough sea, just do big waves, one behind the other. Make them nice and big. Really rough sea, and it's so rough that the reflection of the boat is all chopped up. Try it yourself!