Thiebaud Inspired Cakes

One of Wayne Thiebaud's cake paintings.

Wayne Thiebaud is known for his paintings of delectable treats!  The students always enjoy this project and the idea of creating their dream cake.  We often talk about the cake shows that are on TV these days: Cake Boss & Ace of Cakes. The students dream up their ideal birthday cake and create beautiful paintings.  This is a great lesson for talking about color mixing, practicing ovals and 3D images.

Materials:
Examples of Wayne Thiebaud's work
Water dishes
Paint
Paint Brushes
Pencil
Sharpie markers (optional)

How to make your own cake:
1. Begin by drawing your cake.  Start with an oval and then draw a line from the edge of both sides of the oval down toward the bottom.  Connect these two lines with a gentle curve to make the bottom edge of the cake.  Add another layer if you like. 
2. Add a background by drawing a line across the back of the paper to separate the table from the wall.  You can also think of this as the sky and the table -if your cake is outside.  Don't draw the line through the cake; cakes are not invisible ;)
3. Add some details to your cake and background such as: candles, designs or patterns, a striped wall, a tablecloth, etc. Be creative!
4. Now you are ready to paint!  We start with the background.  Paint the wall and the table first and then paint the cake. 
5. If you want to outline all of your pencil lines with a sharpie.  This helps define the image but isn't necessary.
6. Display your delectable cakes and enjoy.  Maybe go home and make a real cake too!