Intuitive Painting

Posted on December 17, 2020 by Mama Cormier

….working small

I’m in love with intuitive painting. I never quite know where I’m going when I start but the process is very meditative. As I get into the painting I see some themes pop up and I go there but try to stay loose. I still need to work on that.

I’ve always wanted to paint gifts for friends but have lacked self confidence or run out of time or both. This year I made the time and dove in. I started with just laying down marks and then randomly layered colour all over the board. Once the first layer dried I layered another random selection of colour over the first and usually in opposite temperatures, i.e. cool vs warm colours.

Here are some examples of how the process starts.

69-B87-AD7-4-E53-4637-AC7-A-9-F974793-FD12

76-DEB1-EE-19-CD-4-FBA-A5-A7-201790-BE00-AB

When I start into the final layer I tend to go to floral or landscape themes. After I’ve laid down the main shapes I start to add marks for interest.

F52-DA83-B-94-C3-4-D24-8810-3939-A06-C1-B27-1-201-a

34428-AC2-841-E-41-DD-BC0-C-9-D31-EFD94-ABA-1-201-a

1-F763-B0-F-9-B12-49-EC-A383-6-F443-C707-B92-1-201-a

C3-A7227-C-8283-47-A6-8-C92-E27-F4-C9-C4-C42-1-201-a

7-AE3777-C-DC93-4-D43-8076-A822-B6286-E0-E-1-201-a

These are all 8 x 8 on wooden panels. Here are some close-up of the same work.

8-EA6-F31-B-7145-492-D-9249-0933560-F527-C-1-201-a

43-F54-A99-BA8-C-419-E-BD63-DA8-FD4-B75421-1-201-a

BD4-C8-B2-E-C7-BE-42-ED-94-A1-C2-C0-EB3161-DF-1-201-a

A148-B99-F-8-D89-419-A-9-B6-D-CC400-FE6-CB84-1-201-a

EF4-AA75-F-8-D2-C-44-D0-91-FB-E790984-FA31-D-1-201-a

WPC – Favourite Landscapes for 2017

Posted on December 22, 2017 by Mama Cormier

….couldn’t limit my favourites to one photo

Here are two of my favourite photos of water. One is the city skyline of Toronto on a grey but calm day and other is a windy summer day at the beach overlooking Georgian Bay.

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More Collage Art by my Grade Three Classes

Posted on January 29, 2017 by Mama Cormier

….I love the finished collage projects that my grade three art classes produced

It took close to three weeks to get this assignment finished. The first week we collected and assorted coloured pages from magazine and discarded books. The second week we cut up and glued geometric shapes into cityscapes or country landscapes. In the final class we added line detail and dots to give the scene texture and interest. I think the boys and girls did a wonderful job.

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WPC – Landscape

Posted on April 8, 2016 by Mama Cormier

….I’m a little late for last week’s WPC – Landscape challenge but I managed to take some interesting shots after our spring snowfall/freeze this week that I wanted to share with you

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Tissue Collage Landscape

Posted on January 12, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….I introduced four different art projects this week

I had to think quickly this week as to what I was going to teach in art. I ordered some supplies before Christmas and they hadn’t come in yet so I scrambled to find a project(s) that required the materials I had on hand. Of all the projects that I assigned I think the one I introduced to my grade 3 class is my favourite so far.

We talked about landscapes and reviewed the components: foreground, background and horizon line. I demonstrated how to tear the tissue and overlap the colours to give the picture more depth. I then explained that once the tissue layer was complete we were going to cut out shapes from construction paper, magazines and art papers that we had created last year to create a foreground of flowers.

In the first class most of the students only finished gluing down the tissue paper. In the next class they will cut out their shapes from different materials, glue them into place and then using a fine tip black marker they will add detail to their cut outs and add some line drawings behind their collaged flowers.

I had lots of art books and posters to demonstrate the technique and show a variety of flowers that they could draw. I didn’t want everyone to gravitate to the blue tissue for their sky so I read them Peter Reynolds new book Sky Colour. It’s a wonderful book that every teacher who teaches art should have in their library. All my classes loved the book and took the message to heart. Very few chose a solid blue for their sky colour.

I started a sample with the children as they worked so that they could visualize what I had in mind. I think that the process is more important than the product and I find giving them a sample to look at helps them better understand the process. No two pictures are ever the same.

Today I finished my sample at home. The first picture shows the tissue in the background and the simple cut outs that are glued on top. In the second picture you can see a close-up of the detail that I drew in after with a fine tip black Sharpie and the third picture is the entire finished piece.

I’m looking forward to seeing what my grade 3s come up with.

Cheers!

Our Urban Rural Drawings

Posted on December 4, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….in the Hundertwasser style

This week the grade 3 students have been working on their urban rural landscapes using vibrant chalk pastels.

We started the lesson discussing the components of a landscape; foreground, middle ground, background and horizon line. We talked about how objects in the foreground were larger and smaller in the background. I then showed the class images of Hundertwasser’s whimsical houses and lollipop trees.

The assignment was to draw city buildings in the foreground and a rural setting in the background. After drawing their rough copies, each student was allowed to choose a sheet of coloured construction paper and then redraw their landscape lines using first pencil and then black or silver marker.

Starting at the top of their paper they then started to add colour using chalk pastels. I showed them how to blend colours using their fingers and pieces of tissue paper. Once all the colour was in place, the black lines were redrawn as the last step. The final results have been stunning. You be the judge. Enjoy!

January 2013 Photo a Day – Landscape

Posted on January 27, 2013 by Mama Cormier

…..step back and take a photo of a landscape near you. Or even take a little trip just for the photo. Would be nice to explore your town for a beautiful photo

It was pretty overcast today and there was a grey hue over the entire city. I have lots of landscape pictures in my files but I feel I have used some of them once too often. There’s a large bridge close to my house and I often see photographers at the top of it taking pictures of the city. I always wondered what the attraction was so I drove over and parked the car on the wide shoulder and took some panoramic views. The bridge goes over the rail lines and downtown Toronto and Lake Ontario are off in the distance.

After taking pictures from the Islington Bridge I decided to drive over to one of the bridges that spans over the highway into to city. This bridge was a bit scarier because the railing was lower and the speeding cars below were intimidating.

For more landscape photos check out http://www.nolagirlatheart.wordpress.com

From Cloudy City Views to Cities of Fossils

Posted on August 13, 2012 by Mama Cormier

…. greys are the predominant colour today

Taken by my cousin with his new Canon Power Shot SX40

Taken from the car window on the Gardiner Expressway.

It’s amazing what we don’t see in life when it’s right below our feet. Upon closer inspection of the rocks that we were walking on we discovered a world of tiny cities made of fossils.