Basquiat Pumpkin Art Project Halloween Art Lesson Basquiat Autumn Art Activity

This Jean Michel Basquiat inspired pumpkin art project guides students through creating a wild jack o lantern artwork using paint and oil pastels on orange paper. Students begin with a layered painted background in black, red, yellow and white, then build a bold pumpkin face with thick contour lines, sketchy marks, Basquiat inspired texture and expressive writing.

It is a Halloween art lesson and autumn art activity for art teachers, classroom teachers and homeschool families, and it suits upper elementary seasonal art. Students explore line, shape, texture, contrast and mixed media, and the finished pieces are bold and energetic on Halloween bulletin boards and autumn displays.

WHAT TEACHERS ARE SAYING

★★★★ “One of the most engaging resources I've purchased on TPT. The instructions were clear enough for the students to follow on their own if they needed. The results were incredible.” Celia L.

WHAT'S INCLUDED (NON-EDITABLE PDF)

• Cover Page
• About the Resource Page with prep and teaching guidance
• 2 Lesson Plan Pages with lesson overview, materials and teacher directions
• National Art Standards Page
• Critical Thinking Questions Page
• Art Project Rubric Page
• Journal Reflection Page
• Elements of Art and Principles of Design Reflection Page
• Comic My Art Making Journey Page
• Artist Statement Pages
• Example Artwork Page
• How to Create Basquiat Pumpkin Page with step-by-step visual support
• Individual step-by-step painting and oil pastel pages
• Printable student support pages

WHAT STUDENTS LEARN

Students build a layered mixed media artwork with dramatic color, rough texture, thick outlines and expressive mark making. The orange paper, black paint, bright yellow and red strokes, white highlights and thick oil pastel contour lines work together to create a composition with energy and movement, which gives students a hands-on way to see how expressive materials change the feeling of an artwork.

Materials: pencil, eraser, black felt marker, oil pastels, thick orange paper or construction paper, tempera or acrylic paint, a paint brush and water.

FAQ

Who can use this resource?

Art teachers, classroom teachers, substitute teachers and homeschool families.

How can this resource be used?

For art class, homeschool visual art, Halloween units, autumn art lessons, mixed media projects, sub plans or seasonal classroom displays focused on texture and expressive mark making.

How long will this art lesson take?

Usually 1 to 3 classes, depending on student age and skill level, class behavior, teaching style and the time available in each class.

What format is this resource in?

A non-editable step-by-step PDF tutorial with printable visual directions, lesson planning pages and student support materials.

ALL TEACHER REVIEWS (8)

★★★★ “Fun halloween art project, students had so much fun” Lesson P.

★★★★ “I love Basquiat, and this lesson was so cool how it turned out.” Mrs. E.

★★★★ “My students really enjoyed making this art project. All of them were very successful. They enjoyed his style of art, and look forward to experimenting a little more with it!” Karen H.

★★★★ “One of my all time favorite art activities! My students loved doing this art activity and they all came out looking so great and individually unique.” heather s.

★★★★ “Another fun project, thank you!” Angelica O.

★★★★ “Students and I loved this lesson!” Kellee T.

★★★★ “I absolutely LOVE EVERYTHING that you make! The step-by-step directions help so much, especially for the students who couldn't make the live sessions! Thank you!” Create My Life

Get free, classroom-ready art lessons and printables in my Free Art Lesson Library.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kathleen McGiveron (Ms Artastic) is an artist and educator who has been featured on NBC LX News and was the featured cover educator in OCO Magazine (October 2025). She creates art lessons for kids and educational resources for teachers, homeschool families and art educators. She is the founder of Ms Artastic and hosts the Ms Artastic YouTube Channel and Podcast.

TERMS OF USE

Images and lessons are copyright products.

YOU MAY: use this in creative ways and have as much fun with it as you like. For clip art, you may use the images as clip art, website graphics, binder covers or bulletin board decorations. Additional licenses are available for school use.

YOU MAY NOT: use this on OutSchool, put it on your blog, share it with other teachers, administration or districts (admin can buy additional licenses), sell it, give it out for free or photocopy it for others.

Sincerely,

Ms Artastic