A student completed her first finished project- and she MADE MONEY!

Okay, she didn't sell her first masterpiece...she created paper money.

The front side of Spain's new paper money (currency), held by the artist, Jamie. 

After weeks of learning how to see as an artist does and then getting what she sees down on paper, we launched our first project of the year. (It was a nice break from working from a still life, shading exercises and contour line art.)

The first "REAL" project of the year was designing and then creating new paper money for a country of her choice. To find out where she might want to create money for we asked her, "Where do you want to live in the world? Pick a place that you want to visit some day."

SPAIN! Jamie answered breathlessly.

We then researched Spain separately and together.

Jamie loves animals, and is very concerned about animal rights, endangered animals, and human impact on their habitats. She discovered that Iberian Wolves are endangered. Right away she KNEW Iberian wolves would be featured on her money.

Close up of Iberian Wolf** on project.  Iberian Wolf image courtesy of Wikipedia. Photographer unknown.

We looked into historical figures**, along with Spain's largest exported crops, manufacturing, and largest imports. When we saw the photos of the Spanish coast taken from space that showed the extent of their tomato green houses, we knew we had another winner.  Adding colorful tomatoes was a must. And then we learned the increased demand for bananas as an import!

Spain's coast all of the white area is greenhouses 

Image courtesy of UNEP.

The icing on the cake, so to speak, was the colors of Spain's flag. 

Three, brilliant primary colors in horizontal bands. Viola!     

Red= Tomatoes          Yellow= Bananas              Blue= Fun!   

Back of the new currency, featuring a juggling Iberian Wolf.

To stop people from forging money, it has intricate designs, over lapping cross-hatch lines, holographic or iridescent printed elements, and is on highly specialized paper.  All of those design elements were considered, and replicated using gel pens, ink work, and attention to detail.  

Discovering that money goes by other names in other countries was an added bonus- before the EU Spain's currency was called Peseta.

A special thanks to Matt G. who gave us Mexican paper currency to see up close and personal. Mexican currency (Peso) is colorful compared to older U.S. paper money. We also looked at money from pre-European Union (EU) days so we could appreciate all the variety that traveling in Europe once entailed. (We did not get into currency exchanges and rates, because that is just a migraine waiting to happen, LOL)

**If you look closely at the wolf, you can see where Jamie pays tribute to Pablo Picasso! The head is seen both head-on and sideways at the same time.  

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Curriculum notes:

We love this project because it encourages learning about another culture, their heritage, their historical landmarks and figures, and holistically engages HISTORY, ART, ECONOMICS and CURRENT EVENTS. While encouraging free thought, design concepts, color layering, and intricate line work.