Winter Class Schedule

BAC Winter 2019-20 Class Schedule. Classes start December 2.

Monday
Kids Create!    3 to 5 pm, $55/4-week session or $15 per class (1-1/2 hour option also available). For ages 6 to 12.

Tuesday
Home School ART Club   1:30-3:30 pm, $40-$45 per month, sibling discounts available. For ages 5 and up.


Wednesday
Adult Novice ART Class 1-2 pm (or 1-3 pm), $10-$15 per class, depending on project and class length. Ages 16 and up.

Youth Open Studio/ Private Lessons               3 to 5 pm or as scheduled, $10/hour.               For children 6 and older, and teens.

Painting Lessons with John Martin  6:30-9:30 pm, $25 per class. For ages 16 and up. (John's classes will resume in January; please check our website for details).

Thursday 
Little Artists - Story Time ART  1-2 pm,     
$10 per class. For ages 4-5 (children slightly younger or older will also enjoy this class). 

Paint Your ART Out    3:30-5:30 pm,     $55/4-week session or $15 per class.         For teens ages 12 and up.

Friday
Charter Kids ART Class      1-2:30 pm, $35/4-week session or $10 per class.    For students with no-school Fridays, ages 6-14.

Art Adventures   3:30-5 pm, $35/4-week session or $10 per class. For ages 6-14. 

Please see our website for more information or to register for a class online.

EXPLODING Art Books!

Also known as SQUASH books, these little masterpieces can fit in the palm of your hand... 

...until they are opened and BOOM! They EXPLODE with spectacular ART!

This is a multi-step project that took us three hours to complete.

The artist first creates a large piece of abstract art. We used watercolors, Sharpies, and metallic markers to make our 12" by 18" artwork.

While the paintings dry, artists construct their exploding art books. You'll need heavy cardboard, origami or scrap book paper, black paper, ribbon, tape, and glue sticks. You can find video instructions for assembling the book at the Amsler Art Room.

Once the book is assembled, the artwork is cut into twelve squares 3-3/4" x 3-3/4" each. One is chosen to glue to the cover, four are glued inside the book, and 6 more are cut in half diagonally to glue into the book. (You will have one square left over, which might be cut up and creatively glued to the back of the book.)

The best part is opening the book for the first time to see your own EXPLODING ART masterpiece!!! 

The next best part is SHARING it with someone else!

Here are my samples.

           These are sometimes called Squash Books because they                 do not open and close, they open and SQUASH!

More Squash Books below! 

These were created by home schoolers.

 Joseph used a rubber band and a bead to hold his book together.

  Good idea!

This is Italia's Squash Book. Nice!

Dog in a Scarf!

It's a windy autumn day! 

Colorful fall leaves are swirling around this dog, who isn't worried, because he is wearing a nice warm scarf.

These are tempera paintings on 9 x 12 watercolor paper. 

We started by selecting a frontal view photo of a cute dog from our resource photo files.




We placed the photo on a small table easel. Then we traced a 5" plastic circular lid near the center of our paper. We were careful to leave enough room for any "perky" ears, as opposed to droopy ears.




The circle was not intended to be the shape of the head, but to ensure that the head would not be too small for the paper (a common problem for young artists).

The next step was to observe the shape of the head of our chosen dog and adjust the circle shape. 

We then added the ear shapes and an oval snout, and we sketched in the nose and mouth. 

We added a scarf below the head, and two lines from each side of the bottom of the scarf for the body. 

Then we painted the coat by filling in the body with mixtures of color to match our dog model.

Next, we designed our scarf. Colors included everything from  rainbows, to pinks, to winter and Christmas designs. 

We then painted the background with a solid or semi-solid color. 

The next step, once the body  was dry, was to add details to the face, such as the eyes, nose, nostrils, mouth, and tongue. We also completed the scarf with shadows, outlines, stitches, and patterns.

Now that the background was dry, it was time to add a few swirls of color to indicate the motion and movement of the wind. We did this by adding short strokes of paint; usually two or three autumn colors. 

This step was optional and some artists chose to leave the background color smooth. 



Now it was time to add rows of short lines along the edges of the dog's image to indicate fur over the painted coat. That's why we painted the background before we added the fur textures along the edges.

We continued to paint rows of short lines within the body. This step greatly added interest and personality to our sweet dogs! 



The next step was to add any additional details. A good way to do this is to walk away from the painting, then turn and look at it from a distance of about six feet.

Anything that needs to be fixed, added, or adjusted becomes more apparent from a distance. This was also a good time to add little white highlights in the eyes and on the tip of our doggy's wet nose!

Many of our artists added a 3-D element with leaf rubbings, which they cut out, curled, and attached to their completed artwork with a bit of glue.





This artist added snowflakes and a Christmas-style  scarf for a more wintery look.

These artists ranged in age from 5 to 12.

Another Autumn Still Life

This week we created another autumn-themed still life painting.

Instead of paint, this one was created using all dry media - pastel on black paper. 

We started by selecting at least three different objects, such as birch tree branches, gourds, leaves, and fruit. Then the objects are arranged on a paper "stage" to create an interesting still life. 





Next, the still life is carefully drawn on a piece of heavy black construction paper using a black oil pastel. No pencil! 







Now comes the fun! Artists are given soft pastels, from which they select a palette of colors to match those in their still life arrangement.  Then they fill in the sections they created with their oil pastels.






Colors can be layered and blended with the fingers or a blending stump to create new colors and/or soft edges. Additional details can be drawn over the colors, such as veins in the leaves.

A shadow can also be created at the base of the still life using black soft pastels or charcoal. the shadow follows the bottom edges, and then is lightly rubbed to achieve soft edges.



The objects can also be retraced with black oil pastel. Black details can be added to the birch branches, and white highlights to add shine to smooth objects.

Our artists had so much fun! For some it was their first art experience with pastels.

These works were created by artists age 8 to adult.