Alebrijes

For this project, we learned about the Mexican artist Pedro Linares and his alebrijes. We looked at examples of alebrijes made by Pedro Linares and his family and observe their characteristics: the mix of animals/reptiles/birds/insects within each creature, the use of line/pattern and the variety of colors used. We also observed how some alebrijes use different components to reflect the various elements of fire, earth, water and air. We learned about the cultural relevance of folk art and the ways alebrijes are celebrated in Mexico. Students began by brainstorming with a partner about some combinations of animals they would like to use and what features of that animal they like best (head, body, legs, tail, wings, horn, teeth, etc.). They made a preliminary sketch to figure out how they could combine the various animals before making a larger pencil sketch for their final drawing. Once they completed their larger sketch, we outlined using permanent marker. For the next step, we looked at different ways to create pattern using lines and shapes. This is a great way to integrate the Principles of Design and the Elements of Art into a single artwork. Students were encouraged to incorporate different lines and patterns into their animal while still thinking about the symmetry of the animal in the way they applied the pattern. Our final step was applying color to our Alebrije! We emphasized using bright colors and discussed how color can be an important part of the patterns we