Whimsical Mixed-Media Animals inspired by Clarissa Hagenmeyer

My 7-13 year olds and my adult class created whimsical animals inspired by contemporary German illustrator Clarissa Hagenmeyer. See her YouTube tutorial here (in German). You can also find her on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest.

Lisa, Adult Class

We drew our animal in light pencil, and colored it using a wet watercolor technique, allowing colors to blend ever so slightly at the edges. We were careful to use analogous colors together, or warms with warms and cools with cools, because we know that anything else would result in browns. We used our brushes lightly and openly, mindful of using our color transparently and leaving some white areas for that light, airy quality. This gives our animals a brighter, lighter and more textured look.

Eyes were important. To make our animal whimsical and playful, we created large, sparkly eyes with lots of character. Colored pencil was used over top of our watercolor in similar colors in some areas to add emphasis and boldness (particularly in the eye area), to darken areas where there are shadows (for example along the bottom edges and the wings), to give added vibrancy, depth and interest, and to give the fur more texture. We were being playful and experimental in our use of colors and designs. 

Our final and most implant step was using thin black permanent markers and white gel pens to add whimsy squiggles, fur fuzz, symbols and other elements on and around our animals. Even our signature was made in a whimsical fashion. 

These are adorable and so full of character!

Adult Class

Kids 7-13

Kids 7-9