Here you’ll find an easy step-by-step tutorial video for a Laurel Burch Cats art lesson. Her abstract style allows for lots of creative interpretations.
Laurel Burch Cat Drawing
Laurel Burch Art Project
Celebrate Women’s History Month with a colorful art project inspired by Laurel Burch! Her famous cat paintings are a wonderful way to show students how simple, abstract shapes can turn into bold and beautiful art. This lesson guides kids in drawing one of her whimsical cat designs, then filling it with lots of rich color and pattern.
Oil pastels (and crayons!) are especially fun for this project because they make it easy to create bright colors and soft gradations that really bring the artwork to life. The end result is always eye-catching, expressive, and perfect for a classroom display.
More about the artist Laurel Burch
Laurel Burch began her career by making jewelry and selling it on the streets of San Francisco from tackle boxes. Some local stores began stocking her creations when a businessman took samples of her work to China. She eventually traveled there herself and discovered cloisonné, a kind of enamel work, with which she designed paintings and had the designs made into earrings.
Laurel Burch was not only an incredible artist, but overcame a tumultuous upbringing, and learned to live with a debilitating bone disease too. Her optimism inspired many, and can be seen in the many beautiful paintings and works of art she left behind. This tutorial imitates one of her favorite ways of drawing a cat, which leaves lots of room for students to complete in their own way.
Laurel went on to work on cast metals and wood, and to include spinoff products on paper, porcelain and fabric. In 1979, she started Laurel Burch Inc. as its president and chief designer. In the 1990s she licensed her designs to a dozen or so companies that now make and distribute her creations worldwide.
Another Simple Coloring Option
Join “The Daily Draw” below to get this tutorial!
Laurel Burch Cat Coloring Page
Materials
- Drawing Paper. This is the good stuff you can buy in bulk for a good price.
- Pencils. Don’t waste your money on the cheapest brand. These make nice dark lines.
- Oil Pastels. This brand makes the most brilliant color of all. Messy, but worth it.
Note: All of the above are Amazon affiliate links.
Step by Step Directions
Time needed: 1 hour
How to Draw a Laurel Burch Cat
- Draw a W in the top left corner.
- Finish the ears, add eyes and nose.
- Add all the details to the face.
- Draw the back of the body.
- Add the simple front legs.
- Draw a curve to start a tail.
- Finish the tail and add toenails.
- Fill the body with patterns.
- Trace with marker and color.
Here’s another fun option for drawing a Laurel Burch cat with a different media. Start with black card stock paper (the good stuff that is really black) and then have students draw their cat with some metallic markers. They are SO much fun to wprk with, look amazing on black paper, and follow Laurel’s love of shine and patterns too! Check out my links below to the two brands I used a lot during my classroom teaching days.
Student Examples of Cats
Recommended Products for Metallic Marker Cats
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