How to Make a Cat out of Dots

Last week I shared my quest to find cats in Italy. Here’s a quick photo of a pretty white cat we found in Venice. Notice how her white fur shows up. If she were in front of a dark or colored background, she’d show up even more! 

Today we will make another cat art project based on the wonderful book, They all saw a Cat by Brendan Wenzel. If you haven’t picked up a copy yet, you can look it up on YouTube to see the pictures. It’s a great book not only for the illustrations, which are so varied from so many perspectives, but also for its ability to springboard connections across the curriculum to science. 

If you are doing any kind of animal study, for example, you can use this book to talk about the way different species see the world. If you are talking about the human body, you can use this book to talk about the way our eyes work. 

If you want to add artist appreciation, you can link this project with a study of contemporary Japanese artist Yayoi Kusami, who is famous for her use of polka dot art. (here's a picture book about her) You can also connect this project to another great picture book, The Dot, by Peter H. Reynolds, or Press Here, by Herve Tullet. 

For today’s art project, your child will need simply a little white paint, a Q-tip, and a colored piece of construction paper. Kids can also use a dot marker like this, or even simply a marker. This project takes a little patience and is a fun one to do outside while you are listening to music or reading aloud. 

Step 1: Draw an outline of a cat using curved lines and shapes. I used a color similar to my paper-I can still see the outline, but I don't really want it to show after I paint the dots. Remind your kids that they can do it! Curved lines and shapes--that is all your drawing is to make a cat! If they need a refresher, check here. No need to do the face for this project...I was just drawing and forgot I didn't need it! ;0

Step 2: Fill in the entire shape with white dots. See your cat emerge from the paper in a new way! Tlak about what animals see shapes separated into dots. (Apparently, "Looking through a bee’s eye is like looking through thousands of tiny holes, which interpret an image." according to my internet search :)

That's it! 

Have a relaxing time doing dot art with your kids, and be sure to check next week because there will be another different cat art project coming up!

PS. Are you enjoying these projects? I am so excited to share something new I'll be offering at the end of July! It will be a brand new online art club where your kids will get a new art project every month they can do at home! Stay tuned for more info to come! Find out more here! 

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