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Some artists like to draw and paint pictures of houses, especially their own. Houses have lots of interesting shapes to see and draw. Houses also tell us something about the people who live inside them. In this activity, you will get to draw a picture of where you live, neither in a house or an apartment building.
Materials You Need: 12x18 inch white paper, a drawing pencil or a marker, a piece of masking tape, and a drawing board.
Getting Started: Before you begin your picture, look at how other artists have depicted houses. Here are three examples from the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC:
- House on the Main Street, Easthampton by Childe Hassam, an American artist.
- The Old Mulford House by Childe Hassam, an American artist.
Notice the details and the similarities in both of Hassam's drawings of houses? Have you ever seen houses like those in Hassam's pictures? Compare Hassam's drawings of houses to The Magrot House by Vincent van Gogh. Which of these houses would you like to live in? Why?
The Activity: Tape your paper to a board, take your pencil or marker, and go sit outside your house (or apartment building). Try to find an interesting place or point-of-view to observe your house from while you draw. (If you can't actually sit outside your house, then try to draw it from memory.)
- Before you begin to draw, study your house for a moment. Notice all the shapes in your house. What shape do you see the most? A square? A rectangle? Look for shapes that repeat. Look for unusual shapes.
- Begin by drawing the largest shape you see in your house. Look for other large shapes and draw them too. Then draw the smaller shapes and details inside the larger ones. Continue working this way (from large to small) until you've drawn all the shapes you see in your house.
- If there are trees or other things around your house, draw them too. Your drawing should fill the page.
- When your drawing is finished, sign, date and title it in the bottom right-hand corner. Share your drawing with your family or classmates.
Want To Do More?
Add color to your house drawing, using cray-pas or watercolor paints. Search for other drawings and paintings of houses in art history books or on the Web.
