Let it Snow!

So it was appropriate that we had snow fall last week because we our art project was to create "snowflakes!" I had several winter and Christmas books with illustrations available for my students to browse through. I asked them to come up with a single image that made them think of snow or this holiday season.

They completed a drawing of a single image. We then rotated and duplicated the image six times in snowflake fashion. They experimented with pastels and added color. The results were very individual and darling snowflakes that we mounted on sparkling backgrounds.

PS - I apologize these poor snowflakes all got cut off around some of the edges. I suppose I need a bigger scanner!
Jocelyn's spectactular snowmen.

Mackenzie's elvish snowflake.

Rachel's Rudolf.

Tree snowflake by Tyler.

Create your own "Wild Thing"

Update!
Delaney was able to complete her wild thing, so I get to add him. He is very wild! Love it. Some things that make this painting successful: the use of complimentary colors, the use of foreground and background, the quality of her brushstrokes. It just makes me happy. I appreciate the time she puts into each piece she creates. This painting turned out beautifully!
Delaney



So I am totally sorry about this everyone, but blogger is telling me my "images are corrupt," and the only picture it will let me post is this "wild thing" of Alyssa's. I guess the other wild things were just to wild for you all to see!

After studying Sendak's "Where the Wild Things Are" illustrations and working on our scratchboard pictures with my older class, I challenged the students to create their own "wild thing." I encouraged them to base the idea of their character on a person, animal, mood, or some sort of a theme. Each of the four were very different.

First they sketched their ideas, then completed a pencil drawing. They then transferred their drawings to canvas board and painted their pictures with acrillics. Below is their artwork. I LOVE 'em!
Alyssa's ballerina elephant. I believe this one was dedicated to her little sister Jocelyn. Very sweet. I love the roses on stage.

Mikayla's was a very wild, one-eyed teacher wild thing. Emma's was a scary and very wild autumn tree. And like I said, both were "corrupt," so perhaps I can remedy the situation at a later date. Also, Delaney's is coming along beautifully, but she has missed a couple classes due to performances of Le Mis that she has been involved in. I will post her's later on as well once she has been able to complete it.

Boo!

Rachel -gorgeous colorful sky

Madi -love the contrasting blue and orange

Joslyn - the cutest ghosts I've ever seen

Tyler -great job creating a spooky mood

Arika (unfinished) - the most original pumpkin with glasses

Halloween Scene (above) -

Our last assignment for my "mini" class was to create a spooky Halloween scene. I had a pumpkin on the table as a model and everyone ended up drawing a pumpkin picture!

The assignment was to use both oil pastel and watercolors to create their picture. First, each student used pencil to sketch out their scene on colored artists paper. Then they used oil pastel to add color to the white and bright objects. Last, watercolors were used to fill in the dark spaces and skies. The watercolor does not penetrate areas where the oil pastel has been used - I like to call it magic painting.

I love the contrast of dark and light in their art. It was a fun project, and they are a fun group.

PS - I have one more picture to post after I have the official okay to do so. So check back soon for one more gorgeous pumpkin pic!

Welcome Wednesday Artists!

What a great class! Today was the first class for my new "mini" art class. We meet twice a month for class. I will get pictures up on the sidebar of my new artists once I take photos of them. My new students include: Rachel Beddes, Madison Cowart, Arika Hedrick, and Tyler Seitz. They were a lot of fun and energy. It's going to be a great class!

Today we had introductions, then we talked about some basic tools of drawing - pencils, erasers, and blending tools. We experimented with hard and soft lead pencils, three types of erasers, and tried using our fingers and blending stumps for blending and smudging. We also talked about composition of a subject, perspective, and adding detail. Then we drew our shoes, and I asked the kids to implement some of the things we had talked about. Here are their drawings:

Arika (8) - Great attention to the details. Madi (8) Beautiful blending on her flip flop.

Rachel (8) Great job creating an interesting composition.

Tyler (7) Careful attention to the contour of his croc.

As an early finisher assignment the kids worked on sketching three dimensional objects. Here are a couple cubes below.

Rachel (8) Tyler (7)

Painting teaser

Delaney's sketch.
Just a teaser for the paintings that I hope to post soon! The girls are working on an assignment I am calling "Create Your Own Wild Thing." They are painting acrillic on canvas board. I think they are going to turn out great.

Above is Delaney's sketch of her very own wild thing. Pretty frightening if you ask me! Stay tuned for their finished paintings.

Scratchboard Art

Ohhhh ... scratchboard! Don't we just love it and we hate it. It's so fun to work with and experiment with. But such a challenge using the knife to scrape away, remembering to work backwards - subtracting the ink rather than applying it.

We used "wild things" from the book, "Where the Wild Things Are" by Maurice Sendak as our subjects. They have a lot of character and a lot of texture, making them perfect models for the look of the scratchboard art.

Here are the girls work, let the wild rumpus begin! Alyssa Emma Delaney Mikayla

Class now in session!

Here it is! My first post for my new class. Check out my thursday class students (pictured here and to the right) Alyssa Harper, Emma Patton, Mikayla Simon, and Delaney Bigelow. It's going to be a great class!

Above they are working on "Wild Thing" scratchbook pictures. They may be finished these this thursday, then I can post them.

The previous week -


The first class of a new session, I like to do some sort of a straight-forward drawing assignment. I think it helps get us "in the groove," get our pencils warm, and our artistic eyes open. We did an observational drawing assignment - a still life of a vase of assorted fresh flowers.

Here are a couple examples of the girls' work.

Delaney

Mikayla

Alyssa

Definitely just a rough start to this drawing!! Here I am showing the girls a few drawing techniques - starting with large shapes, finding the gesture of the subject before filling in details and value. I like to work alongside my students at least a few moments here and there (it seems like I rarely finish with them!) I think it helps me share the secrets I have learned in school and from experience, and it feels more comfortable for them than having me hovering over their shoulders I think.