Chalk Flowers: The Smearing Truth

The snow has gone and mud is here, but flowers won't be out for a few weeks yet in North Pole. During this drab time of year, we just have to get down and dirty and smear a few of our own flowers.  Surprisingly, this rather messy, fingers-in-the-chalk method results in a delicate and lovely painting.

For inspiration, we looked at paintings by Georgia O'Keeffe, who captured the beautiful forms and intense colors of flowers in her work.

Red Poppy, by Georgia O'Keeffe

To start, we tore some paper to make an oval shaped stencil, chalked the outside edges,

placed the chalked stencil over the paper, and smeared the chalk into the center with our fingers.

Viola!  A bloom appeared.

After doing several blooms we tore a vase shape, chalked those edges, and smeared more chalk to make a vase on the paper.

Next, we added a few stems,

and leaves to make a nice composition.

To finish up, a coating of fixative was sprayed on the painting to keep the chalk from smearing more, and a backing paper was added.

Our artists have smeared up some beautiful paintings to be proud of:

Amy

Gretchen

Hailey

Madyson

Melody

Next week, our final lesson, will be a barrel of fun!  Stay tuned for more details, coming soon.

Mexican Folk Art meets Easter Peeps

Today, Bear Paw Art Kids accomplished what I thought might be impossible--blending a bit of Mexican folk art with an Easter theme and working with paint, clay, Easter grass, and feathers all in one session!  These young artists did a fantastic job, finishing in record time and with beautiful results to take home for their Easter tables.

The lesson:  First our Mexican Folk art bowls needed painting,

. . . so we looked at photos and displays of colorful Mexican designs on plates, figurines, paintings, and clothing to admire the bright colors and repeating designs used in folk art.

Next, everyone dove in and painted their paper bowls bright yellow (tempera paint was used) and added a repeating design after the yellow paint had dried.

Then we broke out the clay to make some Easter peeps (you can find the recipe for this self-hardening cornstarch clay, or "Play Clay," at argostarch.com).  

A large peep was made by patting out some orange clay and covering a small plastic Easter egg completely with the clay.  The plastic egg is used since otherwise the clay would be too heavy and dense to dry properly. We added beaks, eyes, and feathers to finish the peep.

Gretchen works on one of her peeps.

A second, smaller peep was made by simply rolling a ball and adding a beak, eyes and a top feather.  The baby peep fit nicely in the bottom half of a large plastic egg shell, where it could just peek over the rim.  The shell was fitted with a clay pillow underneath to keep it from wobbling around.   

Hailey has her green-eyed, purple-feathered peep done.

Madyson has a little peep finished and is getting ready to put it in a shell.

Melody made a snail to keep the peeps company.

Gretchen, showing her cute peeps.

And Madyson, in her colorful hat, is a good peep maker too.

The finished peeps were then put in the bowls painted earlier, with Easter grass to keep everything from shifting around and getting mashed.  The clay peeps will need to be dried thoroughly at home for a day or two before they harden up.

Amy with her colorful bowl full of clay peeps.

 And Madyson's bowl is a riot of peeping color . . . .

. . .  and so is Melody's.

 So Easter and Mexican folk art really can be combined in one busy, and slightly crazy-fun lesson for 7 year olds!

Anniversary Caricature - Final Version

This is the final version of the anniversary caricature that I've posted about twice before this week to show the work in progress.  

The painting was done in ink and chalk pastels, with the composition based on several reference photos and other information provided by the customer.  

I enjoy working on commissions, knowing that my work will go directly to someone who will appreciate it and provide a special place for it in their home.  They are indeed a cute couple and hopefully this will bring them sweet memories of their wedding day.

Anniversary Caricature - Sketch 2

This is the second sketch for the anniversary caricature I mentioned in my last post.  I made a photocopy so I could try the chalk coloring, though chalk does not do well on copy paper.  Pastel paper or something with a tooth will look much better.  There are a few changes I plan to make in the final drawing, including a little more work on the bride's train, plus adding some contours to faces and the gown, and maybe making the ribbons trail back a little so the children's names read a little better.

Anniversary Caricature - Sketch 1

I have a caricature commissioned for a 30th wedding anniversary gift, and this is the first sketch so far.  The photo I'm using shows the couple in a pose similar to this, but I've changed a few details to add interest.  I'll do another sketch tomorrow, adding in more details requested for the background and refining the drawing. Then I'll need to decide  between using watercolor or chalk pastels for the coloring.  I have done watercolor before, but I think the chalk would have a softer effect more suitable to the couple and the occasion.  I'll probably give both a try and then decide.  Stay tuned.

Jumping Colors and Kandinsky Circles

Bear Paw Kids Art Lesson #3 - April 13, 2011

Our lesson today was about color complements, warm vs. cool colors, and Wassily Kandinsky, the Russian abstract painter.  First we closely studied one of Kandinsky's paintings so we could see how he put complementary colors next to each other and used warm and cool colors to make circles look like they could "jump" right off the paper.  

Color Study of Squares by Kandinsky 

For our paintings we decide to paint six circles inside six squares using four different mediums:  watercolor, oil pastels, gouache (an opaque type of watercolor), and tempera paints.  This will add some interest and give us a chance to experience different types of paints and the oil pastels.

Here Gretchen and Amy start their jumping circles by using watercolor paints in two of the squares.

Next, Gretchen moves to the tempera paints to fill another square.

The materials are set out around the table in six work stations.  As each student finishes using one type of paint, she moves to another station to use a different medium, and so on, until all six squares have been filled with circles.

 

Now Hailey is using the tempera paints,

while Melody is using oil pastels,

and Madyson is using the gouache.

Hailey's painting is finished and ready to mount on some backing paper.

And finally, all artists are done with their "Jumping Kandinsky Circles" and are rightfully proud of their great masterpieces.

Besides a painting, we also made Kandinsky pins to wear home and help us remember the special artist we learned about today.

Kandinsky's Circle

Five Ways to Paint a Fine Cat

Week 2 - Bear Paw Studio Kids' Lessons - Laurel Burch Folk Cats

Snacks and a warm-up project, this week paper bracelets, start the lessons off each week.  Five seven year olds teaming with energy and enthusiasm gathered around a table full of food and paint!  Nothing to do but dig in and have fun, which is exactly what we did.

This week's main lesson had students painting cats in the style of Laurel Burch, a contemporary folk artist with a wide range of products bearing her colorful, stylized designs.   If you haven't seen her work, take a look at her website.


We started our lesson by learning how to mix secondary colors from the three primary colors of red, yellow, and blue.  We paid attention to using separate brushes for each color, so as not to contaminate the tubs of colors. Loading brushes with just the right amount of paint and painting by pulling the brush around on the paper was practiced, too.  Each student completed a simple color wheel to take home.

Next, we painted the large backgrounds for the cats using tempera paints, adding some designs in the paint--circles, x's, swirls--to add a little texture.  While these backgrounds were drying, we used black markers to draw cat faces on a second sheet of paper and then painted in their features and other details.  

While these were drying we goofed around a bit.

Here are our very own fancy cats--all brilliant, full of character and inner beauty!

The children were all excited about Laurel Burch's cats and each ended up with a wonderful painting to be proud of!  Everyone left the lesson still full of energy (amazingly) and very excited about next week's mystery lesson.