Lisa Frank was immensely popular during the 1980s and 90s for her brightly colored illustrations that graced many school folders. Lately, her style has made a comeback and this project is inspired from her. This starts with a combination of pastel and fluorescent acrylic colors for the background. Then paint an outlined animal. After painting the outline, I painted watered down acrylic paint in the body for a slightly translucent look. 

How can an artist take an idea further? Well, it starts with an idea and then try to build on the idea a couple times. Next, I try to challenge myself art technique wise. For example, this project required a fantasy animal with transportation. I saw a caterpillar that was similar and thought I could change that into a lizard. Then I wanted a story. I created a father lizard with his son while riding motorcycles. I went with markers because I wanted vibrant colors with some of the pen and ink texture techniques such as cross-hatch. 

For every lesson, I test it out. A lot of research and practice goes into each lesson. I strongly believe in creating an example so that I understand the challenges students will face. I also understand the common mistakes that will be made, because I did them too and I will be able to give advice on how to avoid or correct it. This video shows every art piece I made for the lessons. 

I always use the same supplies as the students to make the examples. This way I know the challenges that the students will face and how to fix it. During the pandemic, I had to create a supply list that did not go over $30 and could be found easily at one store for online learning. I went to that famous big box store and was able to find everything needed for the year for under $30. I practiced with those supplies. The ice cream drawing to the left is made with cheap colored pencils on cheap drawing paper. 

Note: When I put together the list, it also had the brand names. Some parents bought the more expensive brands, their choice, but then wondered why it went over $30?  So, it's important to explain the cost of the specific brand names that you pick.