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Welcome to Denise Cassano’s blog

Why is a lion’s roar so loud?

Hearing a lion’s earsplitting roar is enough to make anyone shake!

Lions are famous for their deep, powerful roars. Other big cats like tigers, jaguars and leopards can roar, but not as loud as a lion. A lion’s roar is … Read More

How to Integrate STEAM and Service Learning in Middle School

STEAM, Service Learning and Middle School Kids- What a Great Mix!

How do you get 7th and 8th graders excited about school? Give them voice and ownership over a service learning project and allow them to understand the impact … Read More

Three Tips to Use Writing Prompts in Your Class

How to Use Visual Writing Prompts in Your Class.

Using visual writing prompts in your classroom will inspire your students to dig deep and come up with new and imaginative stories. But- the image you use is important if you … Read More

Painting Textures in Oil and Water Color

How to Use Tools for Painting Textures in Oil and Water Color

In the past few year, art supply stores have expanded their line of tools that help artists make textures in paintings.  But you don’t have to buy fancy … Read More

The Art of Briton Riviere

Briton Riviere’s emotive paintings capture the emotion between animals and people.

Briton Riviere’s painting are magical.  If you’re fascinated by the beauty of animals, and the unique relationship they have with humans, you can’t  help but love the art of … Read More

How to Paint Fur Texture

Painting animal fur texture

Painting animals is an exploration in texture. Whether it’s fur, horns, scales, or hooves, there are a number of ways to convey that texture to the viewer.  We will focus on fur texture.

Step 1: What … Read More

Writing Prompts Using Animals

Illustrations of animals are a great way to encourage students to write.

There are so many ways to use writing prompts in class- why not use animals? The added benefit of using animals is that the writing may be fantasy, … Read More

How to Paint Animal Eyes Video

Painting Zebra Eyes…

I’ve made a video on how to paint animals eyes- even though it is a video of zebras, these painting techniques will work for most any animal eyes you want to paint. I go over how to … Read More

Writing Prompts and Writing Resources for Teachers

I’ve found two awesome websites for teachers that focus on creative writing… First, JournalBuddies run by Jill Schoenberg.

It’s an amazing website filled with over 10,000 writing ideas and journal prompts for kids, young writers, and people of all ages. … Read More

Honorable Mention from SVS- I’ll Take It!!!

We all like to be recognized- particularly when we work hard. It’s even better when that recognition comes from professional illustrators, AND your work is compared to that of Chris Van Allsburg!

Recently I was awarded Honorable Mention in a … Read More