Starting our first painting together

It would have been October 15th that we last met. Last week we didn't have class. I missed my girls and my teaching time with them!

For this project we are working with acrillic paint on stretched canvas. (How can you not feel like an artist when you paint on canvas?!) We talked about the theory of gestalt as it applies to artwork. It is the idea that the sum is greater than the parts, or that when a shape or form is repeated into a pattern or group, the piece as a whole is what makes the statement. A big concept to grasp, but these girls impress me with their understanding and willingness to dig right in and experiment artistically.

This painting will take several classes I am guessing, but here are some photos of the girls at work. (Alyssa we missed you ... hope your wrist is feeling better! You'll catch up though, no worries.)

Here is Kylie. She has primed her canvas and is tracing the stencil she created to design the pattern she will paint.

Here is our little set up in my craft room. It's cozy and the girls always have good stories to tell as they work ...

Here is a (very poor quality) photograph of a section of a painting I did in college. It was a study in gestalt and color. Like the painting I have assigned for the girls, I used a template in creating the design. Thought I would share it as it was partly inspiration for the paintings we are doing in class. (Wish I had a better image though - the colors in the original are much more vibrant.)

Stay tuned for more work-in-progress updates on this one!

Spooky Scratch Art!

For our first week together in October, I had a special challenge for the girls! We worked on scratchboard, which is a strong paper coated in ink. The idea is to scratch away the ink to reveal the bright white underneath to create the artwork. I thought it would be a great medium for a spooky, scratchy Halloween picture!

The first major challenge of scratchboard is, first, "scratching" is not easy. It requires patience yand a steady hand and a sharp tool. (And I would not let the girls use exacto knives, which I feel is one of the best tools for working in this media ... sorry girls!) The second challenge is that rather than applying color and creating a positive shape, with scratchboard you are subtracting the ink pigment to create your picture. So a challenge, but a fun one that most people never get to experiment with ... and the girls didn't seem to be intimidated!

Here are some of the girls' Halloween pictures. I may post a couple more later on as a couple of the girls didn't have their finished art ready for me scan for them.

Three sitting pumpkins. Delaney

A Halloween bat. Kylee

A bubbling cauldren over a fire! Arika

Day 1 - Still Life Drawings

(October 24, 2009). This was our first day together. We drew fruit by natural light as an observational drawing exercise. First we looked at the work of some master artists. We talked about the process of drawing - first starting with the overall shape or gesture and detailing from there. I demonstrated methods of crosshatching and shading, and the girls got to experiment with their new kneaded erasers and blending stumps. We had a great time, and they each showed me their amazing talent and potential. Here are some of their drawings:



Apple by Alyssa (12). Notice her rendering of the light reflected in the shadow. Beautiful!

Pear by Arika (7). Her attention to detail, the imperfections in the skin, are really impressive for such a young artist!

Apple by Delaney (13). She did a beautiful job of shading and detailing her apple!

Apple by Kylee (10). She is very precise and deliberate in each mark she makes. Impressive!

This is my pear. I've decided to work alongside my students at least part of the time so that I can demonstrate techniques for them and help them understand the assignment or project. I learned from many of my greatest teachers best by watching the way they worked. Hopefully, I can inspire the girls and make them feel comfortable by sitting down with them so we can work through artistic problems together.

Hello Blogging!

First of all: I am new to the world of the blog, so consider yourself warned.


To introduce this blog: I very recently started teaching my first after-school art class for kids. It's something I have wanted to do since I took art classes from the lady down the street when I was in Jr. High! I have loved "art" my whole life and have worked very hard to develop my skills and talent in the visual arts. I earned a degree from BYU in Illustration in 2004. This was the springboard for my side at-home part-time business of freelance illustration and graphic design. My business is officially Erin Silliman Designs, LLC. and mostly has operated on occasional projects including portraits, digital illustrations, wedding invitations, company logos, and business cards. My latest and greatest part of this venture of mine is this art class for kids that I will be following on this blog.


There are several purposes I hope this blog will serve. I want to be able to showcase my students' work and their progress in a way that it is easily accessible to them. They will be able to share images of their work online with family and friends. I wish to also use this blog as a means of communicating with parents the techniques, styles, artists, etc. we are learning about or displaying in any given assignment or project. By keeping a record of the class, I also hope to be able to easily share with potential new students and their parents the kinds of methods and projects I am teaching.


That said, I am really excited about this first session of my art class! I have a small class of four gorgeous and talented girls, ages 7-13: Alyssa, Arika, Delaney, and Kylee. I am sure you will enjoy their work as much as I am. We meet weekly in my home and arm ourselves with art supplies in my "craft room" (if you ask my husband it is called something else!) and we have alot of fun creating art and teaching eachother.


Enjoy!