Category Archives: Art

Picasso Portraits as Seen Through the Eyes of Children

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….my kindergarten class just finished their Picasso portraits

After discussing faces and the different parts and how to draw them I introduced Pablo Picasso to my kindergarten class. We talked about the difference between reality painting and abstract painting and how Picasso could do both. I had photographs of some of Picasso’s abstract portrait paintings and then I drew an oval shape and divided it with a vertical line down the centre. I encouraged the children to use curvy or zigzag lines and to add more than one.

The next part was the fun part. They could draw as many eyes, noses and mouths as they wanted. They could use any colour for skin and hair. Each child was given a black Sharpie to draw a shape for the face, the lines within the shape and then all the facial features that they wanted to add. When they were done with that they took crayons and coloured in their Picasso faces and some of them coloured the background as well. I was amazed at the detail that they added. They really took the time to examine some of Picasso’s portraits and you could see how they tried to incorporate some of his design details in their own work. I think they’re fabulous. You be the judge.

Share Your World – 2014 – Week 46

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….6 more weeks before the end of the year

Thanks Cee for four more great questions.

On a vacation what you would require in any place that you sleep?

I require at least two pillows, a clean bathroom with a hot shower, and a desk to write from.

Music or silence while working?

More and more I find I like to work in complete silence, especially late at night. During the day I don’t mind a bit of music when I’m doing chores. It helps elevate my mood when I’m working on something I’d rather not do.

If you were to move and your home came fully furnished with everything you ever wanted, list at least three things from your old house you wish to retain?

I would want to retain all our musical instruments, all my art work and my antique blanket box. These are the things that add character to our home.

What’s your least favorite mode of transportation?

My least favourite mode of transportation is a speed boat. I’m fine with larger boats, ferries and sailboats but I’ve never understood the thrill of bouncing over waves in a speed boat.

Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

I’m grateful for time spent with my oldest daughter, her partner J and her nephew A. We spent an afternoon at the museum and then we all went to one of my oldest teaching colleagues and best friends for supper.

I know I’ve had a good weekend when I can finish a piece of art. Last week I did the last of the assignments for my on-line class, Table Top Drawing and Painting. I’ll post those pieces later in the week.

This week I’m looking forward to some normalcy. I can continue to organize the library. Everything is finally coming into place. The last of the additions arrived today and will be installed this week. I’ve finally deleted boxes of damaged and old books from the computer and processed half of the new books that I purchased during the book fair.

On Thursday my husband and I are going to the theatre to see The Book of Mormons. I’m really looking forward to that. It’s not often that we get out to see a live show.

Cheers!

 

More Kindergarten Art

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….this JK/SK class is like a giant sponge

I love teaching art to my kindergarten class. For the most part everything I teach them is absorbed and acted on by these eager learners. Last week I taught them how to draw their bodies that didn’t use stick figures.

I found this chart on Rowdy in Room 300 and used it with the class. I started with a blank chart and filled it in one square at a time to demonstrate how to draw a body.

They were given the option to take it one step further and draw a second body of their best friend. They were encouraged to draw what they were wearing and use the colours that best represented their hair and eye colour. I think they did an amazing job.

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Our Monster Gallery

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…..the grade 2/3 class finally got to make their ‘monsters’

I introduced this lesson before Hallowe’en but we hadn’t finished a couple of other projects and the Remembrance Day assembly was coming up and we needed to make our poppies so our ‘monsters’ were put on hold.

Our inspiration came from Mies van Hout’s book Friends. She’s a wonderful artist from the Netherlands who likes to use oil pastels on black paper. Before we started I demonstrated how to draw a random shape and from that come up with a monster. I explained to the class that if they have a monster in mind they are more likely to experience disappointment if it doesn’t turn out the way they envisioned it. Most of the class trusted my instructions and created very interesting and ‘fun’ monsters.

Table Top Drawing and Painting

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….some of the art that I’ve created in the last week

I’m taking an on-line class again with Carla Sonheim and Diane Culhane. This one is called Table Top Drawing and Painting and the focus is on contour drawing and using line to create depth. The materials we’re using include micron pens, pencil, vellum paper, watercolour paper, Prismacolour pencils, acrylic paint and wood and canvas.

So far I’ve completed lessons 1, 2 and 3 and have prepped for lessons 4, 5 and 6. Here are some of the completed pieces that I’ve done. The first two are contour drawings of  still life.

In the second assignment we had to use black paper and create another contour drawing but use Prismacolour pencils and a variety of hatching lines to create depth and texture. This was a lot of fun.

In the last picture I used vellum paper and drew a contour still life using pen and a variety of lines (continuous, broken, dashes, dots, etc.). Then I filled in the negative space using Prismacolour pencils. This was also a great exercise.

IMG_3170 IMG_3171 IMG_3341 IMG_3310The next three assignments use acrylic paint, glazes, moulding clay, paper, canvas and wood panels. Hopefully I can complete them this weekend.

Cheers!

 

 

Monster ‘Friends’

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….Mies Van Hout has illustrated and written a wonderful book called Friends

Image borrowed from:http://cache1.bdcdn.net/assets/images/book/medium/9781/9359/9781935954231.jpg

This week I read Mies Van Hout’s book Friends to many of my library classes. I shared the book with my kindergarten class and instructed them to create and draw their own monster. We started with a free hand blob, turned it around and decided which end was up. They then added eyes and any other features they wanted to make a unique monster. They were encouraged to add a lot of colour using oil pastels. Considering that these children are only 3 to 5 years old I think they did a fabulous job. Enjoy!

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Creating New Colours and Turning Them Into Bugs

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…..after learning about primary colours the kindergarten class mixed two primary colours together and voila!  ……  instant bugs

Of course it was more than that. When two primary colours (red, blue, yellow) are mixed together you get secondary colours (purple, green, orange). The object of the lesson was to see which two colours made each secondary colour.

Each student was given three small squares of watercolour paper and the three primary colours in watercolour. They were instructed to put two different colours on each half of their paper and while it was still wet, fold the paper in half and press hard. When they opened the paper they discovered that they had made a new colour.

This part of the lesson took an entire period so we put the squares aside to dry and in the next class we looked at the shape on the square of paper and cut it out and glued it onto a piece of construction paper. I had no idea how difficult this step would be for so many of the students. They had no idea how to hold a pair of scissors, never mind cut with them. After some trial and error, everyone managed to cut out at least two bugs.

Once they were glued down, the students were given markers and were encouraged to add details to their bugs, things like eyes, legs, wings, antennae, etc.. Here are a few of the finished papers. Enjoy!

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Meet the Leaf Man

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….in kindergarten we collected leaves and created these wonderful leaf ‘people’ and creatures

Lois Ehlert has written and illustrated a wonderful children’s book called the Leaf Man. She is a collage artist and writer and has illustrated the entire book with the use of leaves. Using her book as our inspiration the kindergarten children created their own leaf people during art class. They really enjoyed the process.

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Lois Ehlert has illustrated and written many children’s books. This cute video is narrated by a little boy name Jonah. He’s actually reading The Leaf Man. Enjoy!