This wonderful sculpture was created at my last Teacher Workshop.... I don't know who to give credit to, so if this is yours, please let me know!Alexander Calder (1898-1976) was an American artist who was born into a family of artists and sculptors and became one of the 20th century’s most influential modern artists. He is also known for inventing the mobile and the "stabile", … [Read more...]
How to Make a Collage Butterfly Inspired by Eric Carle
Make your own Eric Carle-inspired butterfly Eric Carle's colorful collages are among the first works of art that many young children are exposed to.... who doesn’t love his charming illustrations?? It's easy to make your own collage butterflies inspired by Eric Carle.... just follow these simple instructions. And be sure to check out some of the beautiful butterflies below, … [Read more...]
How to Make Colorful Textured Paper
It's easy and FUN to make this colorful textured paper! We made lots of it in a recent teacher workshop I taught. To make this amazing-looking paper, all you need is a small piece of plastic (an expired credit card or gift card works well) with notches cut into one side of it, and some tempera paint. Pour some of two different primary colors (red, yellow, or turquoise) onto a … [Read more...]
Paper Magic
It's amazing how many ways you can turn kids on to MATH using ART!!! In my teacher workshop, "Teach Kids Math with Art", we experienced lots of ways to do just that! This project makes a great introduction to the study of topology. Topology is a type of geometry concerned with space, dimension and transformation. This activity is SO easy to do, but you may want to practice a … [Read more...]
More Teacher Workshops!
Calling all teachers on the California Central Coast! The "Teaching Teachers to Teach Art Series" at Palace Art in Capitola has been a huge success! It's not too late to get in on the final workshops of the summer. Sessions are filling up fast, but several still have space available and more may be added from our waiting list. These workshops are for teachers only and are a … [Read more...]
Duplication Exercise
Train your students to notice details and "see like artists" with this fun activity! In her classic drawing books, Drawing with Children and Drawing for Older Children and Teens, art teacher and author Mona Brookes offers an engaging way to practice seeing and drawing using her "Duplication Exercise". This activity is completely adaptable to any ability level, K through … [Read more...]
“Touch” Contour Drawing
A workshop participant trying out the "touch" method of contour drawingIn my last teacher workshop, I showed how students can improve their drawing skills with different types of contour drawing. In previous posts, I've talked about blind, memory and guided contour drawing. Last, but not least, is "touch" contour drawing. This is another great way to train students to pay … [Read more...]
Learn to See Like an Artist with Blind Contour Drawing
"Blind Contour Drawing" of a student in my workshop! I love this quote by Kathryn Temple, author of Art for Kids: Drawing.... "Drawing has more to do with seeing than it does with holding a pencil in your hand." So true!! In my teacher workshop last weekend ("Teaching Drawing to Kids") we focused on how to help kids unleash the power of the right side of the brain to … [Read more...]
Teacher Workshop: Self-Portraits!
I just finished the 4th workshop in my "Teaching Teachers to Teach Art" series. This workshop focused on teaching Self-Portraits and we had a blast! We learned the basic "rules" for drawing portraits (see below) and did three self-portrait projects inspired by famous artists Paul Klee, Frida Kahlo and Amedeo Modigliani. I'll be sharing those lessons here on my blog over the … [Read more...]
Watercolor Fish with Pointillism
Last weekend's teacher workshop at Palace Art was a huge success! It's encouraging to know that so many teachers are eager to expand their art skills so they can share the benefits of Art with their students! For this workshop we focused on watercolor, so I thought I would share a few of the amazing paintings these teachers-turned-students produced. (Scroll down for the lesson … [Read more...]