More Bears in the Berries!

Bears in the Berries

The air is crisp and days are shorter,

Bears need something sugary sweet.

A yummy something in short order.

Berries – yes! Now life’s complete!

Messy juicy purply good,

Such a yummy treat!

Love this berry neighborhood,

Juicy – messy – eat – repeat!

Yes, we've found bears in the berry patch - again!

Caught 'em red (or purple) handed!

Our bear mamas and children are painted very carefully in watercolor and completed with Sharpies and colored markers. Notice all of the furry detail and the expressions of surprise!

These paintings could be illustrations in a children's book, couldn't they? Find out more about this painting lesson in our original Bears in the Berries post.

Sunny Sunflowers

This week, as we approach the end of summer, we painted these cheerful sunny sunflowers!

First we examined photos of sunflowers from our resource files, which just so happens to include a sunflower-themed calendar!

The next step was to paint a bulls-eye shape, starting with a dot near (but not directly in) the center of the paper, and another near a corner. The rings could be any color at all, which was a great opportunity for mixing new colors!

After the rings were dry, we painted patterns over them in black or white, such as dots, zigzags, and wavy lines, with a fine detail brush.  We also painted the negative space around the petals - the background - which better defined the positive space.

Then we added a few more details (leaves?) to the background, outlined more areas as needed,  and added some little critters!

The results are so bright and cheery, don't you think?

Take a look at our previous Sunflower post to learn more 

about this cheerful painting project.

An Open Studio Day

Landscape - watercolor and tempera

Once in a while, I like to provide some "open studio" time for our young artists. 

They have ideas. 

They have plans. 

Raptor - oil pastel on sulfite paper

The work space and supplies are here, and my job to get them set up and to assist as needed. 

Fishing on a River - watercolor 

This little watercolor depicts a boat floating along a river, as seen from above! Notice the fishing poles and all the fish just beneath the water's surface.

Hummingbird - oil pastel and watercolor