Go big and have fun with this Globe-Skimmer Dragonfly Project. We made these dragonflies about seven times their normal size with 11 x 15″ sheets of watercolor paper. It gave our students plenty of room to explore the magic of watercolor paints, grease pencils, and salt as they created their own version of these amazing insects.
This project was part of Green Mountain Area Homeschoolers’ Annual Summer Art Day. The display – “Travelers” – is currently up at Belmar Library in Lakewood, Colorado. We were inspired this year by some unusual animal travelers from around the world, including the Globe-Skimmer Dragonfly.
Summer Art Day Aug, 2022
at Belmar Library in Lakewood, Colorado
Globe-Skimmer Dragonflies
Dragonfly migrations have been observed on every continent except Antarctica. What’s unusual about the Globe-Skimmer Dragonfly is that many scientists believe they migrate from India to Africa across the Indian Ocean. Do an online search to learn more about the current research.
While Globe-Skimmer Dragonflies are typically yellow, gold, and brown, our students portrayed them in all the colors of the rainbow.
Supplies Needed
- Watercolor paper. We used 11 x 15″ paper.
- Watercolor paints. I like to use liquid watercolor for bright and vibrant results. A good, less expensive alternative are Prang watercolor sets.
- Paintbrushes
- White grease/China pencils or white crayon. The grease pencils work best on watercolor paper. If you use crayon, you’ll need to go over your lines repeatedly to work the crayon into the bumpy texture of watercolor paper.
- Salt. I like kosher salt for its larger grains, but others prefer table salt. Experiment with both.
Prep
I cut the dragonflies out ahead of time for our students. Use the link below to print the template out for one dragonfly on two sheets of regular 8.5 x 11″ copy paper.
Click here for printable Dragonfly Templates
It takes six sheets of 11 x 15″ watercolor paper to make five dragonflies – one for all the bodies and five for the wings.
Cut the wings and body pieces out. Tape the two body pieces together.
Tape each set of watercolor paper wings together and then hot glue them under the watercolor paper body.
Video Tutorial
Once you’ve gotten your dragonflies assembled, you can follow this video for suggestions on how to explore the use of watercolor, grease pencil, and salt. Some of our students also used sharpie markers for embellishments.
I hope you enjoy making this Globe-Skimmer Dragonfly Project! Feel free to borrow elements from this project and use them for other artistic pursuits. I’d love to hear about what you create.
Here’s another watercolor project you might have fun with: