First Place! Yippee!

One of my private art students won First Place in the Keyes Art Show in Milford, NH recently for a piece she did with me. You may remember the tints and shades landscape with charcoal I posted about here.

I am so proud of her! She's only in 3rd grade and LOVES art! I've loved hanging out with her and doing all sorts of art projects (you'll be seeing more of her projects soon, since we did a whole series on animation as well).

Congratulations!

Tints Landscape With Charcoal

I love working one-on-one with students! It's just the break I need in my week. I get to focus on art and one person and really enjoy both!

Today, my 3rd grade private art student finished this beauty. I am so proud of her! I had originally seen this post called "Winter White Landscape Paintings" at the blog A Faithful Attempt and loved them! The landscapes are done in tints of blues (in tempera!) and then the details added with charcoal pencils. LOVE IT! Honestly, I didn't think of temperas as a serious art paint, but I am so glad we tried this. I have completed my own piece and have another in the works--they are pretty addicting to create!

So, enjoy my student's work and hop on over to A Faithful Attempt to see how her students did it--and try one for yourself! You'll be glad you did!

With this project, my student learned:

• Color that are mixed with white are called "tints" and there can be many tints of a color!
• How to select a composition to paint (visual interest, balance, value range, etc.)
• How to use opaque water-based paint (tempera) to paint a landscape in layers and in multiple steps that require planning
• How to add details and value to a piece using charcoal pencils and the different ways of applying them as well as grades of softness
• One point perspective (fence) and direction of light and its effects on the shadows in a composition

Follow-up: 3D Wire Sculpture

One of my 13-year-old private art students created a wonderful sculpture from pantyhose and a coat hanger and it came out so incredibly cool! I wish I could do this project with ALL of my students! I originally showed this project here while it was in-the-works. These sculptures do take a while to make--she worked on it during a few of our sessions together (a coat of gesso here, a coat or paint there...). But finally, it was done!

She chose to paint her sculpture with a bright red acrylic paint (3 coats) and we finished up with a coat of Mod Podge to add a bit of sheen and seal it up. While the Mod Podge was drying, we used the opportunity to sketch the sculpture from a variety of angles and with a few different types of drawing media.

I brought out the very large newsprint I have and we practiced drawing BIG and loose trying to get the feel of the sculpture and the lines and movement with our sketchy lines. Some children have a hard time with being "sketchy" with their drawing--a few timed drawings (each about 2 minutes) and some vine charcoal usually loosen them up.

We then tried sketching the sculpture from other angles working with charcoals and conté crayons in various shades of grey, black and brownish-reds. Some of the media lent itself to sketchy, loose drawing (vine charcoal and traditional, chalky, pastels), while other media allowed my student to create hard edges. I really stressed that these drawings were just sketches--they needn't be museum-quality--the more you draw, the more you learn.

This was also a wonderful project to discuss value and contrast and perspective (the base of the sculpture needs to "lie flat" in the drawing. This was a great lesson and the results were wonderful! ENJOY!

Cave Drawings

On our first stop on "Art Around the World," we looked at the cave paintings from Lascaux, France. We saw how detailed and beautiful the drawings are while being so simple. I showed the students a great double-page spread from the book, "Art and Civilization: Prehistory," that shows the tools the ancient artists used and also shows a depiction of the scaffolding that they must have used in order to create the drawing so high up on the cave walls. I also had a series of posters of the Lascaux caves that I bought from Dick Blick Art Supply.

We then experimented with charcoals and pastels to create drawings of our own. The children could incorporate ancient or modern animals, symbols, weapons, etc. They were also encouraged to add their handprints as their "signatures." Once they had filled up their large paper, they could choose a portion, make a frame from twigs and lace their masterpiece to the frame. The finished piece has a tribal or even Native American feel to it.

Supplies Needed:

• A large paper bag, crumpled, rinsed with water & then ironed until dry and flat (the wrinkles will make the bag look like a cave wall or an animal hide).
• Charcoals, pastels, conté crayons, or vine charcoal
• Packing tape
• Hole Punch
• Suede lacing (or brown yarn)
• Four twigs for frame
• Hot glue gun & glue sticks

Directions:

1. Spread out the brown paper bag and using the pastels, draw animals, figures, symbols and trace your hands onto the page. You can make the animals all sorts of sizes and make sure to show the detail of their coats. Are they striped, spotted, or have shaggy fur? Make sure you "sign" your work by tracing your hand.

2. Once you are done drawing, select a portion to frame. You can either rip the paper gently or cut it with scissors to crop the piece to size.

3. Flip the cropped section over and reinforce the edges of the back with packing tape (this will make edges more sturdy when you lace them later). Use the hole punch to create some holes around the edge of your piece about 2-3" apart.

4. Create a frame with four twigs. Hot glue the corners where the twigs overlap--this will help the frame be a bit more sturdy. Then take a 6" section of the cord and tie the corners of the twigs where they overlap. This will cover the hot glue and make the piece look more authentic.

5. Cut a piece of cording about as long as you are tall. Tie a knot in one and and thread it through the holes of the artwork and around the twig frame to secure. Keep sewing through the holes of the artwork and around the twig frame until done. Enjoy!

*Be aware that the piece is still sort of messy since it uses charcoal. You can spray the finished piece with a coat of hairspray to fix the dust.

Here are some other pictures of the project to enjoy:

"Take a picture of my hand!"

Another finished piece.