Baobab Tree Silhouette
Baobab trees are strange looking trees that can be found across Africa, Asia, and Australia. They are characterized by their very wide trunks and branches that look like root systems. Some people say that these trees look like someone had pulled them out of the ground and flipped them upside down. There are some trees that have been carbon dated and show signs of being several thousand years old.
The “Tree of Life” in the Lion King is a baobab and the name is very appropriate. As strange as these trees may look, they serve several important functions, serving as its own ecosystem, on the plains of Africa. They provide shade, they bear fruit, the nectar of the fruit flowers feeds animals as well. During the wet season they house many birds and animals. Elephants use their bark to scratch their bodies and they’ve also been known to chop down a whole tree and consume it. They can be burnt and will re-grow bark. The bark can be used to make rope, mats, baskets, paper and cloth. The fruit can be eaten or roasted and made into a drink like coffee. Some hollowed out trees have been used as shelters and even tiny prisons. These trees are really something!
MATERIALS:
+ white paper
+ pencil
+ black paint
+ brush and water
+ crayons, colored pencils, or markers
Start with an outline of the baobab tree. Remember to make a fat trunk with branches that look like roots reaching up to the sky.
Use your black paint to paint the tree, creating a silhouette. Allow this to dry before moving on to the coloring step.
Use your coloring tools to create a blended background. We would have used art stix to create this stained-glass like background. They blend well into each other. Markers were the quickest things I could grab and the effect isn’t as nice and bright as I would have liked.
Below are a few photos of former students working on their larger baobab trees. Sometimes to control the chaos I only have one table at a time paint their trees. If this is the case I have the other tables begin coloring around their tree sketch and then rotate through. It saves some hassle and paint when I do it this way.
