• 60 ideas
  • Checked October 2026

Renaissance Art Project Ideas

One Renaissance art idea per press, with its materials and the method of the period it uses.

Renaissance Art Project Ideas

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  1. One block printed again and again as a patternFoam block, ink. Block books, text and picture cut in one block, became popular in Europe in the later 15th century.

Next step Real things from the past to draw

All 60 ideas

One-point perspective 12

  • A ceiling of square panels, all shrinking toward one dot Ruler and pencil. In linear perspective things look smaller the farther away they are.
  • A checkerboard square with one figure standing on it Ruler and pencil. A treatise of about 1435 set out methods for showing distance in a painting.
  • A cupboard with half-open doors, as wood inlay showed it Brown papers, glue. Renaissance wood inlay turned to perspective views and half-open cupboards.
  • A ladder lying flat, its rungs closing up toward one point Ruler and pencil. One-point perspective has a single vanishing point, straight ahead of the eye.
  • A palace wall seen end on, its windows closing up far off Ruler and pencil. Receding objects run to a point in the distance, usually on the horizon line.
  • A room drawn as a box, every wall running to one point Ruler and pencil. Every edge that runs away from you is ruled to the same vanishing point.
  • A row of arches down a street, each smaller than the last Ruler, compass, pencil. Italian painters and architects studied perspective and wrote treatises on it.
  • A stretched picture that reads from one spot only Grid paper, pencil. Anamorphosis: early examples date to the fifteenth century.
  • A table of objects, its far edge drawn shorter than the near Ruler and pencil. Perspective shows a solid scene on a flat sheet, as the eye sees it.
  • A tiled floor running back to one vanishing point Ruler and pencil. Lines that run straight away from the viewer meet at one vanishing point.
  • An invented town square with a round building at its center Ruler, compass, pencil. Buildings on both sides send their receding lines to one shared point.
  • Three rows of towers, each row paler and bluer than the last Watercolor. Aerial perspective: far things look paler, lower in contrast and bluer.

Notebook pages 12

  • A bird's wing with notes on how the feathers overlap Pencil and pen. Labels and arrows sit beside the drawing, as on a page of working notes.
  • A friend's arm span measured against their height Tape measure, pencil. A famous study of the period fits a figure with arms outstretched inside a square.
  • A full-size design pricked with holes, ready to transfer Paper, pin, chalk dust. Pouncing: powder through pricked lines carries a drawing to a new surface.
  • A hard pencil drawing on paper you painted white first White paint, hard pencil. Silverpoint was drawn with a silver rod on a prepared surface.
  • A machine with gears, drawn clearly enough to build from Ruler, compass, pen. Draw it whole, then one part larger with its measurements beside it.
  • A page that plans a painting: six thumbnails, one chosen Pencil. A cartoon was the full-size drawing made as the design for a painting.
  • A plant from outdoors, drawn with every vein and notes Sharp pencil, hand lens. Renaissance art applied the scientific knowledge of its own time.
  • A sleeve study: one bent arm in a loose shirt, every fold Charcoal and white chalk. Chiaroscuro uses contrasts of light and dark to show volume.
  • A study of your own hand in three positions Hard pencil on tan paper. Fine-line metalpoint drawing came into use in the early Renaissance.
  • An invention sketched with notes in mirror writing Pen on tan paper, a mirror. Mirror writing looks normal when it is reflected in a mirror.
  • Water bending around a stone, studied in five sketches Pen and wash. Look, draw, note what changed, and draw again: a study in a row.
  • Your own face studied three ways: front, side, between Pencil, small mirror. Front, side and in between: full face, profile and three-quarter view.

Portraits in the manner of the time 12

  • A classmate's head turned halfway between front and side Pencil. A three-quarter view sits between full face and profile.
  • A face with no hard outlines, its edges smudged soft Soft pencil, tissue. Sfumato softens the change from one color or tone to the next.
  • A family portrait on three hinged panels of card Folded card, color. A triptych is a work in three sections, often hinged to fold shut.
  • A portrait built up in thin see-through layers of color Watercolor. A glaze is a thin transparent layer that changes the look of the paint under it.
  • A portrait in grays only, as if carved from stone Black and white paint. Grisaille is painted in shades of gray, often to imitate sculpture.
  • A portrait in which the sitter holds a chosen emblem Pencil, color. An emblem is an image that stands for a person or an idea.
  • A portrait with distant hills through a window behind Colored pencil. Outside the window use aerial perspective: the hills paler and bluer.
  • A profile portrait inside a circle, like a medal Pencil, compass. Portrait medals were given out to allies in Renaissance Europe.
  • A round painting of your pet, a tondo Card circle, paint. Tondo is a Renaissance term for a round work of art.
  • A sitter by a window, the far cheek lost in the dark Charcoal, one window. Chiaroscuro: strong contrasts of light and dark across the whole picture.
  • A statue pose: one knee relaxed, hips and shoulders tilted Pencil. Contrapposto, weight on one foot with the shoulders turned, was revived in the Renaissance.
  • Two friends facing each other in profile on one sheet Pencil. A profile is the side view of a head.

Fresco, tempera and gold 12

  • A gilded initial: the first letter of your name in gold Gold marker or foil. An initial is the enlarged letter that begins a text.
  • A gold background behind one plainly painted object Gold paint or foil, poster paint. Gilding lays a very thin coat of gold over a surface.
  • A light and dark pattern inlaid from two brown papers Two brown papers, glue. Intarsia sets pieces of wood into a wooden surface to make a design.
  • A margin of curling vines with a snail and a bee in it Fine pen, color. Illuminated manuscripts were decorated with borders and miniature pictures.
  • A pattern scratched through dark paint to the color below Wax crayon, black paint, a toothpick. Sgraffito scratches through one layer to show another.
  • A red-brown underdrawing for a wall painting Red-brown chalk on rough paper. A sinopia was a fresco's underdrawing in a reddish earth pigment.
  • A scrap of wood primed white, then painted Scrap wood, white primer, paint. Gesso is the white ground brushed onto panels before painting.
  • A small painting on a disc of damp plaster Plaster set in a jar lid, watercolor. Fresco is painted on fresh wet plaster and sets into the wall.
  • A small scene drawn inside one large capital letter Fine pen, color. In older books an initial could hold a scene: a historiated initial.
  • A wall painting planned to fit around a real door Pencil, watercolor. As the plaster sets, a fresco becomes part of the wall itself.
  • A wall plan divided into one day's painting each Pencil, colored pencils. A giornata is the patch of plaster painted in one day; faint seams show.
  • Paint mixed from egg yolk and chalk dust, tried on card Egg yolk, colored chalk, card. Tempera binds pigment with egg yolk and dries fast.

Maps, coats of arms and printed pages 12

  • A chart border with a scale bar and place names in ink Pen, ruler. Portolan charts carry scale bars and keep to the coasts.
  • A drawing made only of fine lines and cross-hatching Fine pen. An engraving is cut as grooves into a hard surface; printed, the grooves become lines.
  • A full heraldic display: supporters, crest and motto added Pencil, color. The full display adds supporters, a crest and a motto around the shield.
  • A leaf design pressed into foam and printed in one color Foam tray, pencil, ink pad. In a woodcut the parts that are cut away carry no ink.
  • A line of a poem set letter by letter with rubber type Alphabet stamps, ink pad. Movable type prints from separate pieces that are used again.
  • A motto on a scroll under a badge of your own Pen, color. The motto is one part of a full coat of arms.
  • A shield in four quarters with a sign in each Ruler, color. Heraldic designs came into general use among European nobles in the 12th century.
  • An invented coast with every port name at right angles to it Ink on tan paper. Portolan charts have place names written perpendicular to the coastline.
  • An invented island on tea-stained paper, drawn in ink Ink, tea-stained paper. Portolan charts were drawn in ink on sheets of vellum.
  • One block printed again and again as a pattern Foam block, ink. Block books, text and picture cut in one block, became popular in Europe in the later 15th century.
  • Two blocks, two inks: a print that needs both to finish Two foam blocks, two inks. On a relief block the raised surface carries the ink.
  • Your own coat of arms on a shield Pencil, color. A coat of arms is a design on a shield, traditionally unique to its bearer.

How it works

These Renaissance art project ideas are things a student can make for a unit on the period. Each uses one of its methods: one-point perspective, notebook studies, portraits, fresco, tempera and gold, or maps, coats of arms and printed pages.

Read the full guide

Renaissance art ideas, method by method

One-point perspective sends every receding line to a single vanishing point. Notebook pages are studies with notes beside them; Leonardo da Vinci kept most of his own notes in mirror writing. Portraits try the three-quarter view and soft shading. Fresco is paint on fresh wet plaster, and tempera is pigment bound with egg yolk.

Pick a level

Easy, Medium and Hard are our own estimates of how much there is to do. The plaster and egg yolk projects are Hard, for a classroom with an adult. Level is a choice under More filters.

  • No painting is copied here. Each idea borrows a method and leaves the subject to you.
  • Write the method's name under the finished piece, as a museum label does.

Questions and answers

What is a good Renaissance art project for school?

One that uses a method of the period: a tiled floor running back to one vanishing point, a classmate's head turned halfway between front and side, an invention sketched with notes in mirror writing, or your own coat of arms on a shield.

What are easy Renaissance art ideas?

Easy holds the simplest projects: a ceiling of square panels shrinking toward one dot, a profile portrait inside a circle like a medal, a gilded initial, or a leaf design pressed into foam and printed in one color.

What art techniques were used in the Renaissance?

Linear perspective, fresco on wet plaster, egg tempera on wooden panels, soft shading called sfumato, the light and dark of chiaroscuro, fine-line silverpoint drawing, woodcut printing and gilding. Italian painters and architects studied perspective and wrote treatises on it.

How do you draw one-point perspective?

Draw a horizon line and mark one vanishing point on it. Rule every edge that runs straight away from you to that point. Edges that go up and down, or side to side, stay parallel to the edges of the paper.

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