Senufo Spirit Drawing

I like to mix geography and cultures into some of my lessons. The Senufo Spirit Drawing project is perfect to learn about the small Ivory Coast county of Cote d'Ivore. The Senufo people of West Africa’s Ivory Coast are renowned for their cloth paintings. They believe their artwork has special meaning and helps protect them in their daily lives. Design motifs usually include birds, snakes, fish, frogs, crocodiles, and turtles as seen from above or side, covered with lots of geometric patterns.

Materials: Heavyweight drawing paper, sketching pencil, sharpie and oil pastels or colored markers to finish work.

Step #1: Draw a border around the paper as shown below.
 Step #2: Draw a large gator, snake, turtle ect in the middle of frame. I used my favorite alligator for my drawing.
Step #3: Draw a grid through your animal so you have several small shapes.
Step #4: Create different geometric patterns in the boxes.
Step #5: Design your border with images from the earth, sky, fish or animal.
Step #6: Outline all lines with a thick tip sharpie. Choose your medium to finish you Senufo spirit drawing, oil pastels or markers work the best. Your Senufo animal needs a bright colored band around it, the Senofu people thought all animals had spirits and often outlined them with a thick band of yellow to represent that kind of energy. Have some fun and get creative.




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