Dubuffet Cow Drawing

Jean Dubuffet painted “The Cow with a Subtile Nose” in 1954, and I’ve always wanted to see how close I could get to the look with a good old crayon and watercolor resist. I do recommend that you have your students use a light color for the cow, and a dark watercolor to get the most contrast for their wrinkles.

1. To draw the cow, first start with a large square with rounded corners. Older students may be able to follow the placement on the paper.
2. The feet and udder are added below.
3. A neck is extended from the body and a long head is added. Ears are drawn on the side.
4. Eyes and nose are added to the face.
5. The tail is drawn on the back. Lastly parts of the rectangle are erased so it looks more like a cow body.
6. The drawing is traced with a black Sharpie, and colored very heavily with crayon.
7. The paper is crumpled up, opened up and smoothed. Repeat 3 or 4 times.
8. Dark watercolor paint is generously spread over the entire painting.
9. Rub a paper towel over the entire picture to smooth. Moooove to a drying rack and enjoy!

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Dubuffet Self Portrait

Jean Dubuffet (1901-1985) was a French painter and sculptor who preferred what he called “raw art”. This came from non-professionals who worked in very primitive ways. He routinely added sand, tar and straw to his paintings to give them an unusual texture. His playful style is fun to imitate and can encourage some very creative portraiture.

1. Start by sketching a large simple drawing of yourself on a sturdy piece of paper. No tiny details, just outline of hair, eyes, nose, shoulders, etc. Draw a few horizontal and vertical lines on the body, hair and face to divide up the areas into smaller parts. Keep in mind that the lines will be traced with a glue bottle so tiny details are not necessary.
2. Make a mixture of 50/50 white glue and black acrylic paint in a squirt bottle, and shake to blend. Trace over all the pencil lines with the black glue. Remember that Dubuffet liked rough looking images so wiggly black lines that are sometimes thin and sometimes thick are what you are trying for. Let the glue dry overnight.
3. A lot of Dubuffet’s paintings were done with just red, white and black colors, so I limited myself to a red and black Sharpie, and randomly added stripes in some areas, and solid colors in others. Some spaces may also just be left white.

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