Now talk about cross hatching, the primary technique of Sendak’s illustrations.

Plotting these in now will help the kids get a sense of how the Wild Things will develop on the page. Once this is dry talk with your kids about some of the important details to sketch in first: eyes, horns, teeth, claws and toes. Pinks, browns, reds, greys, oranges and yellows work best for the bodies, and I filled the background with blue or green to give a sense of environment. Don’t worry about fine detail at this point, and mistakes can be drawn over later. When sketching in the Wild Thing shape with the colours, I recommend googling some images of the Wild Things with your kids to get an idea of body shapes, arm and leg directions. Both effects work, just depends on what you and the kids have lying around, though check your markers are washable and that the ink runs before committing to the technique. I tried very watered-down watercolours on one hand, and on the other hand I used washable markers which I washed over with a wet brush so the ink ran. So I am going to lay out a few ways your kids can create an artwork like Sendak using just white card, black pens, and either watercolours or felt tip pens.įirstly, the artwork needs a gentle layer of colour, the colours in Sendak’s pictures are pretty washed out and muted behind those black lines. Those hairy and beady-eyed wild things are great for sparking the imagination of kids. The illustrations in this book are some of my favourites, they express texture and mood so well. Today I am tackling the classic book Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak.

Where the wild things are drawings