Safari Animal Shadow Drawing

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After the great success of our shadow drawing we decided to give the animals some context and create a beautiful African sunset background!

This is one of those things that turn out even better than you think it’s going to!

The African sunset is a beautiful reminder of nature in all its glory!

I have included a helpful instruction video at the end of the page that shows this art project step by step.

Let’s get started!

Safari Animal Shadow Drawing Materials

We used an A3 size paper for the background. We used the back of a stash of paper – find anything sturdy. A cardboard box will do!
Selection of colored paper. Your African sunset definitely needs red and orange and yellow to form a good gradient. The green and brown are optional. The animals just need something to stand on!
Black markers like these
Glue – Glue sticks like these are our go-to for papercrafts. Runny glue can make the paper curl!
Safari animals. We used plastic animals and chose a giraffe for the contract in height!
Sticks for a tree – optional but totally cool!

See video below for detailed help
First, you create your background sunset by cutting and sticking paper in a gradient. A dark piece at the bottom – we used brown and green to form the ground, and the sunset made of red, orange, and yellow.
Once the background was made we searched for a sunny patch.

Stand the animals in such a way that their shadows are the most realistic. That is usually flat onto the sun – however some animals may have a turned head – like our elephant here below!
We have a tall giraffe and a dancing elephant! Brilliant!
Dylan held the sticks for the photo and then I held the sticks whilst he drew the shadows. You could plant the sticks in a cup of something else to hold them together!
First trace your animals and tree with pencil and then color them in with a black marker.
Easy art and WOW, what a result!