Friday, September 23, 2011

Hello Fall!

So many projects to work on... Where do we start?!
Back to School
Autumn
Portraits
Family
Harvest
Apples
Oh my!

Let's start with something fun!
Printmaking!

Grab an apple-
Slice it in half.
Paint or ink it up (the juicy side).
And print!

Too simple?
Try a pattern, shimmer, or carving a set for note cards!

Have fun!
XOXO
Willow

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Paper Mâché Fun!

Ingredients for your paper mâché bowl:
Newspaper
Balloons
Glue
Water

-newspaper for tearing and covering your work surface.
- A plate for each child's bowl to collect excess glue (write their name on the plate - this will identify their bowl.)
- yogurt or cottage cheese container for each balloon to support it while applying the paper.
- a clean dry bowl for the torn paper ... Use it all up the pieces ...the idea of doing layers less abstract, more concrete.
-White glue diluted with water, sothat it is the consistency of milky cream.
-Put it in a small cup with a paint brush for each child. Yogurt cups and sponge brushes are perfect for this.
-A balloon for each bowl (small sized for younger children, so that there is less to cover) and masking tape to hold it down.

-Paints - acryllics or tempera - and brushes or collage materials... We liked tissue paper!
Optional - spray gloss for tempera, brush-on gloss or sparkle mod podge
Is fun too!

Paper Mâché Fun!

Ingredients for your paper mâché bowl:
Newspaper
Balloons
Glue
Water

-newspaper for tearing and covering your work surface.
- A plate for each child's bowl to collect excess glue (write their name on the plate - this will identify their bowl.)
- yogurt or cottage cheese container for each balloon to support it while applying the paper.
- a clean dry bowl for the torn paper ... Use it all up the pieces ...the idea of doing layers less abstract, more concrete.
-White glue diluted with water, sothat it is the consistency of milky cream.
-Put it in a small cup with a paint brush for each child. Yogurt cups and sponge brushes are perfect for this.
-A balloon for each bowl (small sized for younger children, so that there is less to cover) and masking tape to hold it down.

-Paints - acryllics or tempera - and brushes or collage materials... We liked tissue paper!
Optional - spray gloss for tempera, brush-on gloss or sparkle mod podge
Is fun too!

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Easy Printmaking

Tonight we're designing our own rubber-stamps! We'll learn several techniques including the blender pen transfer system! (pictured below) and the upcycled cork stamp.

You'll need:
One sheet of easy cut or an eraser.
A newspaper or photocopied word that you can transfer.
A Speedball Linoleum cutter, and an ink pad or watercolor paint.

1. Take your newspaper word and place it face down on the blank stamp block.
2. Rub across the back with the blender marker, revealing the transferred word.
3. Pushing the cutting tool away from you, cut out the negative space around the design.
4. Ink and stamp. Clean up any extra marks that you want to remove now.

Have fun creating your own stamps for... decorating a scrapbook, journal, and cards!

For the cork stamper you'll need:

A wine bottle cork, sharpie, and sharp blade tool.
1. Draw your design... Simple is best
2. Cut out the negative space, leaving the positive space image as your stamp.
3. Ink it and stamp it!

Nature Prints

Leaf impressions are fun to make in Minnesota! We have so many big leafy trees and plants here to play with! I loved seeing the Ginkgo leaves that one of my adult students brought in...so beautiful!

Step one: clean the leaf with glass cleaner- I used Celadon Road Mint glass cleaner.
Step two: paint the leaf with ink, I used liquid watercolor and a spritz of glimmer mist. Place the leaf painted side down on to watercolor paper. Cover it with a folded paper towel.
Step three: print the leaf by pressing down evenly on the paper towel and leaf. Then carefully remove them to reveal the print!

Make a nature journal of your backyard flora... A greeting card... A change of season log... or ?
Have fun!

Choosing Colors...

Personal Palettes

140 lb cotton paper
Acrylic or watercolor paint
Paper punch / 2.5 inch circle
Brush

Cut watercolor paper shapes to paint, start with yellow (note cool or warm)
Then add some blue for yellow-green then some more blue for green. Now paint a blue (cool if your yellow was cool or warm depending..)paint the next circle blue. Add a bit of red for the purple and more red for the red-violet paint chip. Now paint a red circle. Add a bit of yellow for the red-orange color and more yellow for orange. There you go! Your own color wheel! To personalize your colors try to tint some with white or create new shades and tones by adding black or a colors opposite.
Have fun, and remember to mix colors so they fit the mood you're going for. It's a very intuitive activity. When they dry move them around and observe how the colors relate to one another. Find your favorite collections for future projects.

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Explore wk 4

Hello!
Welcome to week 4! Designing rubber stamps and Fimo clay fun! Can't wait to see what you all make!

I so enjoyed seeing everyone play with paint last week! And I plan on posting some artifacts from that experience so we can all learn from one another :) ...fabulous results!

Did anyone take the altered book spark and run with it? I hope so! Post photos if you would :)

Did anyone run out and buy rubber fish? Hahaha! I can't wait to play again soon!
See you Tuesday night,
Willow

Exploring the Possibilities week 4

Hello!
Here we are in week 4 already!
I so enjoyed watching you all work last week on your color palettes and printmaking! And, it was great to see you take the materials available to the next level! That's what being creative is all about!
I hope to carve some time out of our week 4 muse: design and do more with printmaking!
And, I want to post some pictures of student work from week 3.
I can't wait to see what you all do with Fimo clay and Easy Cut this week! It's a rush to play with these materials with such a fun group :)
See you Tuesday night!
Willow

Blogging from my phone...

Hello! My computer is down this week... so I figured out how to publish blogs from my phone! However, I can't seem to edit "pages" so our class syllabus will have to be on the front page this week :)

Thanks for your patience!
Willow

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Art Idols... a camp for k-3

Sign up now at www.articulture.org for my newest art camp for kiddos!
Join us on our journey of inspiration and creation. Learn about the famous artists that inspire us and then use your creative juice to make your own art! Who will captivate you? Picasso? Klee?Georgia O'Keeffe? Let's go!

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Painting Fun!

Let's get started with the basics!
Watercolors...
Paper: 140 lb cotton cold press block or sheets. This one is my favorite... but Blick art matrials has a nice Canson 140 lb cold press pad on sale for a fraction of the cost.

Paint: Start with a set of warm and cool reds, yellows, and blues. Colors that contain Cadmium, like cad red and cad yellow are highly toxic. So, choose your colors wisely if you're working with small children and pet that may be tempted to get into them. I ditched all of my toxic paint colors a few years ago while my daughter was young.
I like keeping watercolors in a round palette with a cover for traveling. But here is a sweet little set of starter paints (however the good paints are amazing...and if you can swing it...get the primary colors in warm and cool)


I also keep this little set of Cotman pan colors in my reach for quick sketches. I love the pigment concentration in this brand. Yummy.





Cotman also makes a super watercolor bush selection... nothing makes watercolor more fustrating than having the wrong brush. So, go brush hunting for a good flat, round and a liner. I like having a #12, 8, 6, and 4 of each. It's really up to you and what you prefer.



Play! Play! Play!


















Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Up & Running!

Posting NEW fun lessons to inspire you! :) xoxo Willow