Grecian Urn

This project uses a crayon resist technique to create a replica of an ancient Grecian urn.

Materials

Red and orange oil based crayons
9"x12" white tag board paper
Black tempera paint
Brushes
Tools to scratch off the paint such as:
- popsicle sticks
- toothpicks
- coffee stirrers

Discuss several examples of ancient Greek vases. Look at some of the various shapes of vases. Discuss the development of the two main styles of Greek pottery. There are two main styles in Greek vase painting – black figure and red figure. Mostly before about 530 BC people painted in black figure, and after that time people gradually began to paint in red figure. Black figure is called that because the people (the figures) are black, and the background is red. In red figure, on the other hand, the people are red, and the background is black. You can find out more about black figure and red figure pottery at Kidipede.

Have students draw a vase on 9" X 12" paper that resembles the style of the ancient Greek ones.
Color the entire vase in with heavy crayon in random blotches of red, orange or both.
Paint black tempera paint over the crayon. Add a squirt of dish soap to the black paint to help it adhere to the crayon.
After the black paint has dried, cut out the shape of the vase. Create a repeated pattern on the vase at the top and the bottom of the vase by scratching through the black paint until the orange or red shows beneath.
Next, scratch out a scene in the center of the vase. Decide if you are going to make a red figure or black figure vase. The key is to scratch away the color behind the drawings not just scratch out the drawings.