June 28, 2018

Art Challenge: Movie Inspired Art

Baseball season is in full swing and the MLB All-Star Game is just around the corner. Our next Art Challenge is baseball-themed and invites you to get inspired by your favorite kids movies to hit a HOME RUN!

Here are some ideas for creations you can make using a baseball as your canvas. Make look-a-likes of your favorite characters.

Sherlock Gnomes – Gnomeo, Juliet, Watson, Irene – so many to chose from. Use the baseball as the gnome face, nose or butt cheeks (hehe).
Frozen – Build Olaf the snowman
The Bee Movie – Create a buzzin’ Barry B.
ET – Aliens however you imagine them
Monsters Inc. – Mike Wazowski is round like a baseball
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs – Make the meatballs

The Bees Are Buzzing

We decided to go with a bee. Here is how we did it…

What You Need

There are several different approaches you could take to making a bee; we chose to work with fabrics.

Scissors
Chalk (for marking fabric)
Glue gun
2 baseballs
Black marker or paint
Yellow paint
White paint
Brushes
Yellow (9×12) and black felt (9×12 and 11×16)
Black fur fabric
Pipe cleaners

Step 1

Paint the baseballs white. We pulled out a nuts can and plastic dressing cup from the recycle bin to set them on top of while they dry, so they don’t roll and get paint everywhere.

Step 2

Take the larger piece of felt (11×16) and using the length, fold into a triangle shape. You will have excess felt on the one side and a triangular flap in the front that can be tucked in. Be sure to leave enough of a pocket so that both of the baseballs fit snuggly side-by-side.

Step 3

Run the glue gun along the seam to secure the pieces together. You can also use glue stick or stitch it together with a needle and thread.

Step 4

Cut the excess felt off and tuck the top flap in.

Step 5

Paint the yellow stripes on the body of the bee. It is best to start on one side and move around in a circle from both directions so you can line up the stripes easier. One crudely applied coat is sufficient so texture is created.

Step 6

Put two pieces of yellow felt together. Use the chalk to roughly sketch out the bee wings.

Step 7

Cut out the wings and lay them out so the shapes are mirrored. Likely brush the white paint across the surface of the yellow felt. This will help give our wings some depth.

Step 8

Glue or stitch the wings to the body.

Step 9

Using a marker or paint, create the eyes on the baseballs. Use the texture from the stitching to create eyebrows, marking or painting over that surface. Be sure to position the baseballs properly if you want to take advantage of the stitching.

Once the marker or paint is dry, tuck the baseballs into the body of the bee. They should be nice and snug. You can glue them down if you want them to stay put better. If they are too lose, stick the felt on the corners until they hold in place.