More Dragon Eyes!

Red Dragon Eye
9" x 12" watercolor on paper, artist age 14

Dragons are a popular subject for many of our young artists, so this week we decided to create dragon eyes!

Artists could use any art medium for their dragon eye artwork. 

Our goal was to create an awesomely believable dragon eye surrounded by amazing textures, such as the sharp scales and boney details of the dragon's face above. Shadows and highlights were crucial!

This dragon eye incorporates the violet color of the paper while depicting overlapping and layering of the scales using drawing media such as pastels, charcoal pencil, and Sharpies. 

Green Dragon Eye
9" x 12" pastel, charcoal, ink on paper, artist age 11

The artist decided that the artwork needed something more, so she added some metallic highlights and additional detail within in the eye itself. 

Yellow Dragon Eye
9" x 12" mixed media, artist age 14

This is a mixed media version of a dragon eye, using a beautiful color combination of blues, pinks, and a yellow-green eye!

Flying Dragons
12" x 12" acrylic on canvas, artist age 14

For more about Dragon Eye art, see our previous post: Dragon Eyes!

Giant Designer Feathers

We've been working on Bird Portraits, so why not design our own bird feathers too? 

These very large, unique feathers were painted with temperas in large sections around the center quills. They were then stamped with smaller and still smaller details as desired, while working somewhat symmetrically around the quill (unless not) to create a cohesive design.

Once dry, the feather is cut out with 'V' shaped notches like real feathers. Then we added a few fuzzy feathers at the bottom of the feathers and glued them to a piece of black poster board. 

It was fun to imagine what type of bird (or other flying creature) these feathers could have fallen from!

We made these Giant Designer Feathers in our Friday Art Adventures class.  You can also see more Designer Feathers in our previous post right here. 

Backyard Bird Portraits

Northern Flicker, artist age 11

Since becoming an official "bird watcher" (Project FeederWatch), I have found that birds are much more than just these chirping feathered critters you see flying around in the yard. I enjoy identifying them, learning about them, and watching their behaviors. (There can be a lot of bird-drama in your own backyard if you pay close attention!) 

I have also found that the kiddos who come to our art classes are equally enthusiastic about birds!

So, as an ongoing project, we decided to paint Backyard Bird Portraits. 

Our goal is to paint portraits of local birds; that is, birds that frequent our area here in southeastern Idaho. That doesn't mean that we won't paint other birds too.  Sometimes you've just gotta paint a favorite bird, no matter where you might actually find it.

Blue Jay, artist age 14

This student has a special affinity for Blue Jays. She has included the Blue Jay in several different works of art, so this piece was a natural for her!

I've not personally observed any Blue Jays in our area, but they are listed on the eBird Field Checklist for our County. Have I seen Scrub Jays? Yes I have.

Anna's Hummingbird, artist age 11

This artist is a hummingbird lover.  She  painted Anna's Hummingbird, which is found along the Pacific Coast and year-round along the Oregon coastal areas.

Well. That's not so far from our neck of the woods. 

American Robin, artist age 11

Here we have (likely) the most recognizable bird in North America: the American Robin. In fact, when describing the size of a particular bird, it is generally compared to this red-breasted fellow: "Is it larger or smaller than a Robin?" 

This is such a fun project; I have painted a few of my own, the latest of which is this Black-billed Magpie. Big boisterous squawkers they are, but also spectacular, iridescent, and surprisingly graceful.

We're not done yet! Future Backyard Bird Portraits will be posted 

as they are completed.

What is Impressionism?

Over the last couple of weeks we have been painting flowers as some of the Impressionists did, such as floral bouquets in the style of French Impressionist Berte Morisot and the cherry blossoms of Natalia Goncharova.  

I decided it was time for our artists to get to know the predecessor of modern Impressionism, Claude Monet and how he painted his impression of the form, light, and color of a scene. Artists would then create their own personal version of his famous Water-Lily Garden. 

These artists decided to include the Monet's famous Japanese footbridge in their paintings.  They began by drawing in details such as water-lilies, surrounding foliage, and the bridge. 

Then they painted over all using a wet-on-wet watercolor technique and added sprinkle of salt to the water.  After the paint dried, they brushed off the salt, which made shiny sparkles in the pond! Then they added a bit more oil pastel detail.

Aren't they beautiful?

These paintings were created by our Friday Art Adventurers.

Pretty Pink Cherry Blossoms

Every year around this time we are ready to paint something spring-like! 

I have found that as a painting subject, these cheery Cherry Blossoms embody this much anticipated seasonal transformation - from cold and drab (a common symptom of acute cabin fever) - to warm, delightful, and "in the pink!"

Our vase of cherry blossoms is created in the style of early 20th century Russian artist Natalia Goncharova.

You can see more about her and previous versions of our cherry blossom paintings here and here. 

My most recent sample

These beautiful Spring paintings were created in our Friday Art Adventures class 

by kids ages 8 and 9 and their adult companions.

Build Your Own Board Game!

Escape! board game 

If you are a board game enthusiast (like I am), have you ever had ideas for your own unique board game? 

Instead of just thinking about it, why not construct your own personally designed board game for family and friends to enjoy?  This is an exciting project for young artists - they have ideas! It's also an enjoyable project for adults (myself included!)

The theme of the game above is animals. The object is to help them to escape the Zoo and make their way to Animal Paradise! This aptly named Escape! game utilizes cards, handmade dice, and animal toy playing pieces on a folding pathway gameboard.  The 11-year-old game maker also designed a logo and a storage box for the pieces. Best of all, Escape! has already proven to be a family favorite!

Where is Blue Dog? The Game

I created this travel-themed card game based on Cajun artist George Rodrigue's Blue Dog series. 

Okay, I'll admit it. I trickily infused art history, social studies, and geography into my game. And it was a hit with my young game testers!

Building a board game is a lot of fun - but it takes time. There are several steps involved, including planning and then more planning. 

Here is a list of planning questions to help you create a successful board game: 

1) What type of game will it be: strategy game, word game, skill game, grid game, math game, card game, drawing game, or a start to finish (pathway) game?

2) What will be the theme of your game? Dogs? Golf? Bright shapes and colors? This will affect the artistic design of your game.

3) What will be the layout of your game? A board (folding?), a grid, a card game, a 3D maze? Will you need tokens or game pieces or a spinner or dice?

4) If a card game, what will the cards look like? What will they say (front and back)?

5) What will be the object of the game? How will it start and end? Who wins?

6) What are the rules for your game? (Remember to test the rules for playability!)

Use my (pdf) board game planning guide, Game Plan, which you can download and print to help you with your own board game plans.

Wizards & Dragons chess set

This is a hand-crafted Wizards & Dragons themed chess game. It features a carefully painted chessboard of worn stones, tangled vines, and various grasses and flowers growing through the cracks. 

The chess pieces are tiny clay figures, each an intricately hand-crafted character and the pawns are miniature wizard hats!

The designer and creator of this chess set (age 14) painted her chess pieces silver and gold.

SWAP an equation game for any age

The game of SWAP consists of colorful dots and squares glued to cards and strips of black cardstock.  It's easy to learn and easy to play, even for younger kids.

The rules are shown in the picture so you can make your own version of this game too!

Itten's Kittens board game

I made this board game (my first) for a college Color Theory art class assignment. I called it Itten's Kittens after Johannes Itten, an important 20th century Swiss painter, author, teacher, and color theorist.

I included a printout about the artist, but my young students simply want to get their pieces from the cat bed to Dad's chair first! 

Take Two word-building game

This game, Take Two, looks deceptively like an ordinary tubful of Scrabble tiles, but it is soooo much more! Take Two is our favorite family game, even to this day. Invented by my children as teenagers, we still play it whenever we get together and on camping trips and any other time. You need old letter tiles  (from Scrabble games found at thrift stores and garage sales) and a container to keep them in.  

Learn more about Take Two and how to play on my Homeschooling Helper weblog: Better Than Scrabble?

Now it's your turn to build a board game of your own!

Let's Draw Toys!

Drawing is a fundamental art skill. Learning to draw starts with learning to observe one's surroundings and draw what one sees: otherwise called "drawing from life." Observational skills can be practiced and strengthened by keeping a sketchbook and drawing what you see whenever the mood strikes.  

One of my favorite subjects to encourage observational drawing is (da-ta-ta-da!) toys! Kids love toys and get excited about the idea of drawing them. Toys are a fun subject that can be simple or complex. Young artists can start with simple toy shapes first and move (often in one drawing session) to more complex toys. Drawings of toys can be colored in if desired, which adds to the fun!

Here's how we did it:

We started with a big table covered with a plain tablecloth and lots of small toys. I collected a huge variety of toys that differed in size, shape, color, etc. Young artists could spend some time observing the table and thinking about what they would like to draw. I suggested that they may want to 'warm up' with simpler shapes first, then move on to the 'harder' ones as they go along. We also set up a shelf full of plushies. Artists select one toy at a time and place it on the table in front of them to draw. When the drawing is complete, they return the toy to the table and select another one. 

There are rules to be followed during drawing time:

Ink only. We used Sharpies. No pencils. Ink eliminates the constant 'need' to erase in pursuit of perfection. It emboldens the artist to just draw. Perfection is not our goal. Depicting a recognizable toy is all we are doing.

No tracing. Without this rule, some will try to trace the toy. So, instead, the rule is that the drawing of the toy should be a bit larger or a bit smaller than the model (depending upon its actual size).

Include at least one plushie.

Fill the paper. A large sheet of paper (12" x 18") can hold a lot of toy drawings! I asked  them to draw at least five toys on paper of this size. Or more if there is room. 

Color in the toy drawings. Any media may be used to add color. This is where it gets really fun. The ink drawings are almost like a self-designed coloring book, so the kids love coloring them in. We used markers, colored pencils, soft pastels, and a combination of any of the above. (Crayons could be used too, but we don't use them very often.)

Background. Leave it white or use soft pastel for an easy background of beautiful blended
colors. Also (as a bonus) this solution is useful for covering accidental smudges around the toy drawings. They simply apply pastels to various areas around the drawings and smear/blend together with their fingers.

Here is post about a previous observational toy drawing session. Always FUN!

Rabbits, Bunnies, and Hares - Oh My!

It's SPRING... 

and... we have a snowstorm happening here today. So we decided to PAINT spring and maybe the weather will follow. 

Our favorite "springy" subject is a hungry rabbit happily chomping on wild flowers in a sunny green meadow.

These wild bunnies were painted with tempera on 14" x 20" sheets of white poster board. We first sketched in the basic shape of our rabbit (no ears yet). Then we painted the background in a variety of spring-like colors, impressionist-style!

Next, we painted in the bunnies, adding the ears right over the background, leaving the whiskers and facial details until later.  

Now it was time to add the grass, wildflowers, and dandelion seedpods floating through the air!

When the paint was dry, we added the whiskers and facial details with paint or Sharpies.

For more dandelion bunnies, take a look at these Wild Rabbits and these Wild Rabbits and Wildflowers. Also, check out these Dandelion Bunnies to find a special poem about our adorable wild rabbits.

Say it with Style!

How can you say something with style? 

Why not add what you want to say to your artwork? 

It's a great way to personalize a painting or a piece of artwork for yourself or for someone else. 

We created our own personalized art by first painting with acrylics on canvas boards and also stamping and scraping with tools like combs and bubble wrap.

Then we added a bit of mixed media collage to our paintings by attaching various paper elements with clear acrylic gloss medium.  Some artists outlined with Sharpies too.

Once the painting was dry, we printed out our quotes, which could be a familiar saying or a special quote (even your own!) using any font. The quotes are then cut into strips and can be cut apart in phrases or sections, or even word by word. We laid them out over our dried paintings and rearranged them until they fit well in the overall composition. They are then attached, one by one, using the clear acrylic medium, being sure to brush medium over the word strips to seal them. 

After the canvas is completely dry, the last step is to loosely (even sloppily) outline each word or section with a Sharpie. I like to outline in black, then again in white for a cool double outline. 

This garden birdhouse has been a popular subject for Saying it with Style!

I created this painting for a high school graduate. 

As you can see (besides being cute!) it contains all of the knowledge, wisdom, and advice that a young person needs in life.