Fusion Dragons

These “Fusion Dragons” were inspired by a lesson I saw online created by art teacher Caroline Nay, and are a combination of traditional Chinese Dragon styles with influence by contemporary Canadian Artist Diana Chan. Chan’s whimsical illustrations combine strong pops of color with layered black elements to create a unique graphic style. This lesson aligned perfectly with Lunar New Year, so the cultural tie-in was timely!

*Original Lesson Example by Caroline Nay. Seen on the “Middle School Art Teachers” Facebook Group and the inspiration for my version here!*

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About Lunar New Year:

Lunar New Year is an important annual holiday celebrated by many people of Asian descent around the world. 2024 is the Year of the Dragon, which is a powerful sign associated with authority, strength and good fortune. The only mythical animal in the Chinese zodiac, dragons are known as symbols of power and Imperial authority. Originally an agricultural holiday, Lunar New Year commemorates the end of winter and the beginning of spring, which is why it is also known as the “Spring Festival.” The traditions of this holiday celebration often align with themes of revival, renewal and rejuvenation. Communities celebrate the holiday through many traditions—with each culture, family or individual choosing which custom they would like to adopt. From hosting a big family dinner, gifting red envelopes filled with cash, going to parades that showcase customary lion and dragon dances and hanging decorations with symbolic meaning, there is something for everyone.

Source: lunar-new-year-traditions

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Since Caroline Nay’s lesson example referenced the work of Diana Chan, I searched out Chan’s work online and reached out to her via email to ask if I could create a digital packet of reference pictures of her illustrations for my students to look at. She was more than generous, sharing access to sketchbook images as well as personal anecdotes of growing up as a first generation Canadian daughter of Hong Kong immigrants.

I will summarize the steps of this lesson below, but you will find all the details and project goals in THIS INSTRUCTION PACKET.

Also, here is a Diana Chan Artwork Reference Packet, and a packet of Traditional Chinese Dragon References.

In my 7th grade classes, We began this drawing with a brief introduction of the meaning and traditions of Lunar New Year, and looked at some examples of Ming Dynasty Chinese Dragon Scroll Paintings and examples of Chinese Dragon art found on the web. We then looked at the work of Diana Chan and discussed similarities and differences between the two styles of Dragon Art. I presented my kids with the challenge that their dragons could be unique and personal, but should combine characteristics from both Diana Chan’s illustrations as well as the traditional Chinese Dragons.

Students began their dragons by drawing a simple snake shape. In terms of paper, I gave them the choice between a “skinny” rectangle, (12” by 21” watercolor paper,) or a “fat” rectangle, (15” by 19”) based on their design concept. They added a unique stripe effect and colored their snake shape with POSCA brand paint pens.

*A student sketching their basic body shape*

*A student using POSCA pens on their “snake shape”*

*A student using POSCA pens on his “snake shape”*

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When the kids had finished coloring their basic “Snake shapes”, we then used both semi-moist pan watercolors and liquid watercolors in spray bottles to create an abstract background. Color choice was unlimited, but I encouraged students to thoughtfully plan a color scheme. The INSTRUCTION PACKET has a link to a video tutorial I made to explain the watercolor process.

*Students painting their abstract backgrounds*

*POSCA colored “snake shapes” and painted backgrounds, complete!*

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Once the paint was dry, students worked out their dragon design with pencil. This was where they had to make concrete decisions about how to create their unique “fusion style”: Their dragon had to include dominant black features and the “peek-a-boo” color effects found in Diana Chan’s artwork, but also had to include at least two of the common features found in traditional Chinese Dragons.

Once the sketch was finalized, students began coloring in their dragon elements with black. Here’s where a major pitfall occurred! Coloring over the POSCA pen with black Sharpie resulted in the Sharpies getting destroyed quickly: Something about the dry POSCA pigment “gunked” up the Sharpie tips, making them look dried out immediately. Coloring over the POSCA color with black POSCA worked great, but I simply didn’t have enough for almost 100 students to create their entire dragon with these expensive paint markers. The solution was to switch back and forth between Sharpie and Black POSCA, using the Sharpie for all the areas that were over blank paper or areas of dried watercolor, and saving the black POSCA for only when they had to draw over colored POSCA areas.

*A dragon sketched out and being colored with black Sharpie*

*A dragon sketched out and being colored with black POSCA pen* *over the colored POSCA areas*

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Once the black elements of our dragons were completed, we added two final steps to emulate the style of Diana Chan: “Background sparkle” and “Layered Pattern”. Once again, specific details on these steps can be found in the INSTRUCTION PACKET, but these last details really added a magical flair and extra pop of detailed color to our Fusion Dragons!

*A student adding her final embellishments: “layered pattern” and “background sparkle”*

This lesson could be done anytime of the year, (because dragons are always cool,) but the tie-in with Lunar New Year and 2024 being the year of the Dragon added special meaning to this project. It will certainly be added to the regular rotation of lessons in my 7th grade classroom! If you try it with your students, let me know how it comes out!