MS Paint is for students who are learning simple design and drawing principles. For older students transport MSPainted images into Photoshop - enhance with Filters Tool.
The image of a Preying Mantis illustrated at the bottom of this article was created in MSPaint. Once it was drawn simply it was then transported to Photoshop CS and the Filter Tool was used to enhance the background.
- The colours in the picture of the Preying Mantis are complimentary. Red and green are opposite on the colour wheel. I have chosen a crimson red to contrast against a more limey green just to give it that bit of tang!
- When the picture was transported in to Photoshop it was grainy and a little too stark in the shading method I had used - so I used the Blur Tool to mix the colours and making the blending more subtle.
- When I had done this I rescued the outlines with the Pencil Tool on Black.
- Once I had enhanced the foregroundI selected the background with the Magic Wand and going to the Filter Menu I experimented with filters until deciding that the Mosaic Tile was what worked for me.
When you have Dance, Drama or Singing as part of your schedule it is often appropriate to allow the students 5mins Drawing straight after. This is to take advantage of the stimulation of their creativity and to allow the theme to be expressed in another form. Simple drawings taken from the images you have been working with can give you acess to a quick Art Starter that is not too much fuss or bother.
