Young Artists Expressing Themselves

Introducing my students to journals was one of the best ideas ever. I wonder why I have never thought of it before. There is such pride in working in the journals and in having their drawings together in one place. I must add this: my students' work is not much like the popular craft hobby known as "Journaling"! We rather concentrate on a drawing of the day, and then, afterwards, the work can be embellished with affirmations and even half a page of writing.

 

Over time, the journals quickly became the students' pride and joy. Often they take them home to show parents their progress or to work for hours more at home. I started handing out small moleskine journals too, so that they have pocket drawing books to take on holidays and weekend trips. 

 

This young student of mine wanted to conform, by trying realism and rubbing out, rubbing out, trying to get it realistic and perfect. To my great joy, I could eventually guide her to relax, to forget about realism and about what others were doing, and to do her own "thing", which turned out delightful!  Here are two self-portraits brimming with joy and expressionism:

 

Self-portraits full of personality!

From a formal point of view, I was happy with the

placing of the eyes and other features, and with

the clever use of charcoal for the hair.

 

As her confidence grew, the student would say:

" I like animation!" Well, why not...and I thought drawing a violin from memory like that was quite an achievement!

 

And then came the  discovery of Manga eyes on the Internet!

To Google when they are at home and then draw from

the cell phone is something that I am not going to forbid.

 It is also a handy reference tool when they travel.

 

Let there be eyes! Anime eyes! 

 I now have my two large books of  Manga art by Christopher Hart available for reference in class. The opportunity is there to practice anime if my students are so inclined. It is not easy! I know, I tried and have a full sketch book to show for it! My reasoning is that anything we do in class, portrait, landscape, anime, etc, can in a few years' time become careers for my students.

 

Nothing gives me more joy, than realising that each student is developing in a natural way, doing what he/she does best.

There will always be great diversity and never a row

of identical projects coming out of the workshops!

Through the Looking Glass

I found this title in a book with the work of William Blake: "The Power of the Imagination", words I often use to inspire my students. They know that they can create works which are totally different from that of anybody else. Dividing their canvas or journal to get the "through the looking-glass" feeling was a great idea!

 

 

This is the first of the "transformation" paintings which
 I want to discuss with you.
How delightful! On the left there is a girl in a
suburban scene. I loved the broken wall.
Is that where you escape to a different world?
I really do not like to work on their nerves,
by trying to analise their vision or
ask "why" questions continiously!

Then the girl passes though the imaginary divide into
a forest filled with foliage, where her outfit is more
adventurous and she now has the curled horn of a faun. I love the serene and contented little face! How well the colours work together! We do not do colour wheels and formal boring lessons, so the yellow/ purple complimentary colours happened spontaneously!
 

 

 

The second painting, part of a journal

is the work of an eight-year old. On the right-hand side of the journal, a tiny girl, drawn in pencil, stands next to a plain tree and contemplates the "normal" scene, which is a watercolour of a green field with distant trees and sky. Some birds were done in

white oil crayon to magically

appear through the paint.

 

On the left side, the same tree shows curly branches which form an eye and an owl.  The total sky turns into a vertical rainbow. Do not miss the little white cloud with a tiny house drifting by!

Imagination is alive and  thriving!

 

Being almost 75, I always have a nap after the art class, as I live on adrenaline while amazing things happen in their journals or on their canvasses! I love what they are doing and specially the great originality my students possess. I think I postpone breathing until afterwards!

 

 

A Beautiful Owl Painting

I was so amazed when I found that my students researched "owls" on the Internet.  I heard questions like "Would they come and live here if we put up owl boxes?" "Are there other sanctuaries where we can see them?" I would be happy to know who handles owls and would be willing to receive a visit from the class.

 

When a subject is so interesting to the children, we carry the theme into a further session. For the acrylic painting class on owls, the journals were put aside. From the moment this girl started her owl, I kept well away. I only mentioned Sap Green as a possible colour to brighten the foliage, and reminded her that the white owl must really stand out in the painting and must not disappear in the busy foliage.

 

This went so well. Just look at the confident
and rhythmic strokes of the foliage!



A truly successful painting for a 14-year old!
Owl is camouflaged, yet well defined.
 

The best test to determine whether
 the tonal values are successful,
 is to look at the subject in black and white.
Yes, it worked a 100% and the detail can be seen!

And so, a confession: this young artist is my
granddaughter, a fifth generation artist in the family.
I hope to surround her with strong young artists continuously. I love the class dynamic and work ethic that we are establishing.





Bird Painting on Sheet Music Background

These are the detailed steps for the bird painting. About 15 children divided  into two sessions enjoyed this lesson during the holidays.

Instructions:

Put the following materials together: Canvas board or strong cereal box paper, photocopies or prints of music, calendar or magazine pictures of birds, modge podge, acrylic paints, containers for water, brushes.



Each student cuts or tears the sheet music and glues it onto the canvas, using a brush and modge podge. The modge podge must cover the front of the print too, to seal it. (Wash the brush well afterwards!)


After drying, paint the blue sky around the border and cover small areas of the paper too.

 

Paint a white form to give the bird an opaque background.

 

 

 

 

Paint the leaves to look like a border, using two colours of green, and continue to finish the bird.



 

Done!

This class was conducted during holiday times, when a few parents were looking for pleasant activities for their children. I was pleased that the kids were so interested in the project and left with such lovely bird paintings.

 

In the next blog, I will tell you how my very small workspace lead to the creation of a wonderful new course for children!