Episode 5 Nine Minute Ninja

Time to get my ninja on. Got my clothes!

The Art Ninja fish bat and ball.

I'm going to grab an old coat hanger here.

I'm just going to bend it out into a diamond shape.

Like that.

Now I've got an old cereal box here

and I'm going to draw around that diamond shape.

Then we cut that out.

Using masking tape I'm just going to stick it all

the way round on the inside of the coat hanger.

I'm using the tape just to kind of soften off

the cardboard into the hook at the bottom.

There we are.

Now I've taped it all the way round I can bend it to create

the wings of the manta ray. It will hold its shape.

Now I've got some old yoghurt pots and these are going to

become the eyes. But I'm going to chop them

down a little bit cos at the moment they're a bit too tall.

And I've left them slightly too tall

so that I can cut some slots into them here to create some flaps

so they're easier to stick to the top of the manta ray.

I'm just going to stick them on with some masking tape.

Now I'm going to cover it in a layer of papier-mache.

So I've got some newspaper here. And to mix -

two parts PVA, one part water.

With the brush, I'm just going to start pasting it on.

Now I could wait for this to dry, but not me.

I'm going to use my ninja skills!

There we are. It's dried nice and hard.

And I've given it an undercoat of white

so now it's ready for painting.

I'm going to be using a sponge just to give it a nice texture.

Starting with a light grey, I'm going to go back

and do a darker grey around the edges and along the spine.

Now I'm going to add the darker parts to the ray and I'm going

to use just edge of my sponge there so I can get a bit more control.

I just need to leave that to dry while I get ready with some

darker and lighter tones so I can add even more detail.

A little bit there.

And I'm going to use a much smaller brush

so I can just get in and do those nice little dots.

I think that's looking really good.

There's a lovely range of different dots on there.

Giving him a nice, realistic texture.

Now, with a black marker pen, give him some eyes.

There we go.

I think my manta ray bat looks absolutely fantastic but if

you want to play with your mates, you'll need to make another one.

You could make a nice round football bat,

or a long leaf-shaped cricket back complete with its very own cricket.

And as it's a bat and ball game, I'm going to need a ball.

So I've made one out of the leftover

papier-mache mix and I've painted it white.

Let's see if I can distract Gavin away from that game on my phone!

BEEP

-PHONE:

-'Foul.'

Serves him right.

Doing art with fish is fun, so I think I'll do some more.

Just for the "halibut".

Hey, Ricky!

-Hey!

-Oh, It's Radzi and Lindsey.

I hope they haven't got sticky-back plastic, again.

Hey, guys what have you got?

We want to know can you make anything using this bucket?

-As I said before, not without a Blue Peter badge.

-Oh. That's rude.

Has anyone seen my bucket?

BEEP

-Can you make art with salt?

-Sounds interesting. I choose you!

YAY!

-What's your name, mate?

-Anton.

-Hmm. Art with salt.

I can add some salt to watercolour paint

and make an awesome picture. Let me just grab my things.

I've got some nice watercolour paints, some water, obvs.

A bit of paper, and of course trusty salt.

What's the picture going to be like?

I think it's going to be something fishy. Maybe a saltwater carp.

I'm going to start by drawing myself a little rough outline.

Do a little line there.

Right, so I've done my rough outline and shapes, I'm going

to get a brush and I'm going to

start just wetting the paper around the fish.

I'm currently being careful so it

doesn't actually go into where fish are.

Right, so I've wetted all around the fish, now.

I'm going to add a little bit of colour.

I'm going to go with blue to begin with. I'm just dabbing it on.

So, the water helps the colour flow everywhere. It looks more authentic.

You need to use watercolour paper which helps give the painting

a unique style.

-So I'm going to put a bit of water in the fish area.

-OK.

So I'm just adding some orange to the fish now.

I'm being careful not to paint right up to the lines of my fish because

otherwise the colours run together.

And now I'm going to add some red and yellow

for a bit of contrast and some lights and darks.

Just adding a few light bits into the fish

so they look like they're shimmering under the water.

Just adding some more darker bits of blue in there.

-Now I think it's time to add the trusty salt.

-OK.

Here we go.

The salt, when it hits the page starts soaking up all

-the water in ink.

-Wow!

'This creates a lovely texture.'

Now, I'm just going to blow a bit of that salt away.

With a dry, small brush, I'm going to add the eyes.

Usually we'd have to wait for this to dry,

but I'm going to use my ninja skills.

Looking great so let's shake off the salt.

-Are you ready to see it, dude?

-Yeah!

-What do you think?

-It's awesome, Ricky! I give it a 10!

I think it's so good it deserves a frame.

-Oh, that really looks great. Thanks for your suggestion, Anton.

-Bye!

Have a good day, bye-bye.

Here's a quick art tip of how to draw a laughing character.

Start with her head.

Add some hair quickly.

Now, the important bit. Her expression.

Give her a nice big mouth. Crescent like that.

And this to drag all the way down.

She's laughing really hard so the mouth is super wide.

Then those. And upside down half circles for her eyes.

Cos they're closed. Let's draw her dress here.

And I want her to be uncontrollably laughing with her hands just

brought up to her face, like this.

And then I'm going to have her knees knocking together with the giggles.

There you go. She's vibrating with her chuckles. And that's it.

A quick art tip.

SHE LAUGHS

Go on, have a go yourself. It'll be a laugh.

Now go to the website and get your ninja on!

Art ninja!