'Drawing From Nature'
A SCIENCE AND ART LESSON FOR KIDS
This appeared on June 5, 2005  in the Los Angeles Times

THE KIDS’ READING ROOM

By Carol Felixson
Special to The Times

June 5, 2005

Did you know Los Angeles has an official flower? It is the bird of paradise and can be seen in parks, rustic canyons and gardens throughout the city.

Twin sisters Darcy and Morgan, 9, learned the bird of paradise is really a large tropical herb native to South Africa. In Zulu, a language spoken by many people in South Africa, it is called inkamanga (in-kah-MAH-ngah) or isigude (e-see-GOO-de).

Darcy and Morgan turned the plant into cartoon characters using watercolor markers. They first studied its structure and colors on the Internet and in books. Best of all, their neighbor gave them a few plant stalks from his yard.

"They must have been named the bird of paradise because the flowers look like bird heads," Morgan observed.

Cartoon characters are usually made from line drawings. They don't have to be realistic. The girls made good use of their imaginations.

Morgan explained that her character, Angel, is a lead singer in a punk band. Darcy's character, Webfeet, is riding home from school on a skateboard. She said, "My hair looks like Webfeet's when I wake up."

The girls taped photographs of the flowers to a glass door and used pencils to trace the images onto thin white paper. Then they moved to a table where they outlined their characters using markers and then added color. Their mom helped them cut out the art and the twins pasted their characters onto construction paper.

Good job, Morgan and Darcy!



Author's note: Pronunciations provided by the L.A. office of the South African consulate-general and the National Botanical Garden in Pietermaritzburg KwaZulu Natal, in South Africa.



About the series: Carol Felixson introduces children to a subject from nature and an art technique. She is director of education and community outreach for UCLA's Stunt Ranch Reserve and Mathias Botanical Garden. Next lesson: Western pond turtle and soap carving. Previous projects can be seen at nrs.ucop.edu/Reserves/stunt/newsforkids.html.

 

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