Line Art Barns
- Hope Creek Studios
- Jun 27
- 1 min read
Art Around the World: North America — Elevator Barns
As part of our Art Around the World unit, we stopped in North America to explore one of the continent’s most familiar rural icons: the red barn! We focused on elevator barns—those tall, narrow barns and silos often seen on farmland across the American Midwest and Canada.
Before starting, our Grade 1 students studied photos of various barn styles. We talked about the different parts—roofs, silos, doors, windows—and how they’re often built for function rather than beauty. But even with simple structures, barns have such strong visual character.
For this project, we added a creative twist: students could only use lines to create their drawings. No shading—just expressive, varied lines to build their barns from the ground up. We encouraged them to think about vertical, horizontal, diagonal, zig-zag, and curved lines—a great tie-in to our earlier lessons on line types.
This started out as an early finisher activity, but students really embraced the challenge and ran with it. Their bold barn illustrations were charming, quirky, and surprisingly detailed. It’s amazing what kids can create with just a few materials and some structure (pun intended)!
🧰 Materials:
White drawing paper (9"x12")
Black fine-tip markers or Sharpies
Rulers (optional for straight lines)
Barn photo references or inspiration images
Colored fine-tip markers or sharpies
Why it works:This lesson is simple to prep, perfect for short class periods, and reinforces line work, observation skills, and architectural form. Plus, kids love working with Sharpie—it feels bold and grown-up!
©HOPECREEKSTUDIOS2025
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