"Draw, Paint, Grow" Art Camp - Day 1

Draw, Paint, Grow Art Camp

June 10 - 13, 2013

Bear Paw Studio - North Pole, Alaska

The objective of the "Draw, Paint, Grow" four day art camp is to develop drawing skills and watercolor painting techniques with children 7 - 12 years old.  Each 2-hour lesson is based on the well-respected teachings of Mona Brookes in her book Drawing with Children, and Betty Edwards' Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain.  Both authors present excellent strategies which capitalize on the naturally creative abilities of the right side of the brain.  Anyone can draw successfully using this approach--even those who deem themselves devoid of any artistic talent!

The foundation for our four lessons is Mona Brookes' five basic and very simple shape elements--dots, circles straight lines, angled lines, and curved lines.  Along with some attention to size and relative position,  combining these simple shape elements in a series of small steps allows one to draw complex objects with confidence and creativity.  The often overwhelming complexity of an object is thereby reduced to basic elements and rendered much less intimidating.

Since the camp lasts only four days, the plan is to focus on several main concepts and learn quickly--  which these wonderful young minds do very well!

Day 1  - We start by defining and exploring the five basic shape elements using games and written practice sheets.  Then, after a quick demonstration on how to mix up and paint with tube watercolors, we apply our new ideas as we draw and paint a simplified lion.

Aaron working on practice sheets.

The whole class, minus one,  focused and involved with learning to draw.

Let the painting fun begin!

Gretchen choses oranges for her two smaller lions.

Colors and size are the artists choice.  Danielle likes her lion big and blue.

Kaylee has mixed up a great shade of orange for hers.

A very proud Emma drew and painted this handsome lion on her own!

Aaron added a blue sky behind his bright, red lion.

Artists love using bold colors, as you can see from Danielle's dazzling lion.

Hailey's lion has great personality and color, too.

Gretchen's painting shows a lot of planning and attention to detail.

Kaylee's lion stands out in bright and bold orange.

Join us for back here for another session tomorrow to see what we draw and paint next, and how we improve each day!