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...]
Wild ‘n Crazy Picasso Portraits
"Picasso Portraits", taught by Mrs. Mendence to her 2nd graders,after attending my teacher workshop, "Teach Kids Art with Markers"Nothing beats abstract art for getting kids to loosen up and just have fun with being creative! Not having to worry about making your picture look "realistic" really takes the pressure off, and for many, can be a totally freeing experience!Pablo … [Read more...]
Teachers Make Awesome Students!
Dedicated teachers hard at work.... being students! (And on their day off, no less!)One of my favorite things about the teacher workshops I've been giving is that I get to spend time sharing ideas with other teachers. Teachers not only have lots of great ideas (learned from experience), but most importantly they love to share them.... I guess that's why they're teachers! I'm … [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...]
Self-Portrait Workshop – Paul Klee
Here is a sampling of self-portraits inspired by artist Paul Klee (including one in progress) from my last teacher workshop. Paul Klee (1879-1940) was a Swiss artist known for his highly individual, abstract style. His work was influenced by many different art movements, including Expressionism, Cubism and Surrealism. This project uses squares of "bleeding tissue" for it's … [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...]
Teacher Workshops
One of the fun projects we'll be doing at my "Watercolor Workshop for Teachers"! If you're reading this blog, you probably agree that KIDS NEED ART!!! As more and more schools eliminate their Art programs due to budget cuts, we need to get creative in finding ways to keep Art in the school day. To see that their students continue to have Art, many classroom … [Read more...]