The Snowy Day: by Ezra Jack Keats, author

Imitate Ezra Jack Keat's snowy illustration style using cut-out construction paper, watercolors, and a scene-building collage technique.

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Watercolor Snow Collage:

Materials:

• construction paper (including speckled or flecked variety)
• white drawing paper
• paintbrush
• jar of water
• scissors
• glue
• choice of collage base - poster board, heavy paper, cardboard, mastboard

Process:

1. Assemble supplies including paper scraps and watercolor paints to make a snowy collage.
2. Some of the paper for the collage can be painted ahead of time. Paint on white construction paper with watercolor paints, experimenting with different painting effects:

3. Paint and cover several sheets of paper in different ways. When dried briefly, these self-painted papers will add to the supply of papers that can be cut for the collage.
4. Cut some of the painted paper into curving shapes that resemble Keat's piles of deep snow. Arrange them on the base paper and glue in place. Note: The beauty of the watercolor paper is that snow does not have to be white to look like snow. The color adds depth, shadow and light.
5. Cut or tear other papers to form more of the snowy scene, such as these suggestions -

Variations:

Create a snowy collage of:

• torn papers only (not cut), for a softer look
• magazine and newspaper cut-outs

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