More Sketchbook Pages

Continuing my sketchpad digging to find pieces I’ve done on top of backgrounds which I pre-painted. I’m leading my art students through watercolors and we’re sticking to backgrounds only so it’s a little less intimidating. 

I incorporated my molotow chrome marker for this floral so you have to compare photos to see how it reflects.  

Michelangelo

We’ve been looking at Michelangelo in my art classes.  On the Sistine Chapel ceiling, this is one of the Old Testament prophets that foretold Christ’s coming. Through time we’ve been looking at how symbolism is changing.  Can you look at this picture and guess who the prophet is? 

SPOILER ALERT!  The fish.  Jonah. The interesting thing here is that Michelangelo wasn’t content with just painting a figure.  As in all his work he wanted to create a figure at a particular moment.  An example is his sculpture David - at the very moment he was coiling his muscles and scrutinizing Goliath as he contemplated the kill (vastly different from all sculptures of David that went before.) 

So, Jonah? Can you see here that God’s telling Jonah to go, and Jonah is struggling with ‘No, I don’t want to do that! I... think I’ll run away... I’m going to fight this...’  Every fiber of his being in this painting is struggling with God.  Only got Jonah into, uh, deep trouble, wouldn’t you say?  I guess the moral of the story is - let’s obey God the first time, shall we?

I teach at two locations, The Training Center

www.ttcclasses.com

And HIS Classes (Homeschool Instructional Support Classes)

www.hisclasses.org

These are formal art classes that run through the entire school year for homeschoolers.  Both organizations offer all subjects; I just happen to be the lucky person to teach art.

I also teach super fun, super messy classes in the summertime so let me know if you’re interested.

Lessons in Art

Take a look at this beautiful sunset.  Look at the tree with the sun behind it.  I’m going to assume  ;) you know that the tree doesn’t stop at the sun and have the top half of the tree floating in space above it.  You know the tree is whole; your mind attaches it even though you can’t see it.  In art, that’s called an implied line.  

Now, I have two paintings, Grant Wood’s and mine.  Mine is super simplistic compared to his.  You see the wire that Pippy and the bird are sitting on.  You KNOW that the wire is constant, even though I broke it up for interest.  Implied line.

  Grant Wood’s is more complex; you can see how the man’s ladder points toward George; how the man’s hand points toward George’s ax, how the narrator leads you toward the cherry tree. Even the little tassel balls on the curtain lead you down to the narrator.  Implied line.  

There.  Now you’ve had your art lesson for the day. :)

Summer Art Classes

This summer I’ll be teaching metal embossing - oh, I mean SOMEDAY when we can actually touch people again.  This piece is beat up because I toss it in boxes and carry it places to use as a sample when I demo but I like it!  Anyway, here are four photos so you can see how it looks in differing light.  The copper is stained with blues, violets and magentas and something dark.  Anyway, we have that to look forward to! Message me if you’re interested in a fun class and I’ll put you on my email list.  Adults and kids alike love this class.  That way I can send out when I get dates set.

Metal embossing is one of the techniques that turns out beautifully even if the student is not an artist.  I feel it’s one of the most relaxing of mediums and you could positively forget yourself to the point that you drool.  Well, I wouldn’t, but you probably would. ;)

Art Class Printmaking

My classes for the next few weeks will be doing print making. Here are some artist trading cards I made in preparation. If you’re NOT in my classes, I’ll still swap; give me a holler. Some of the qualities in art that I find important are layers, texture, color and contrast.  Hopefully you can find those things here. If you want to learn a little more, look for my video on these cards which I will post right after this. Once my students get a handle on making prints with some of the elements I just mentioned I’m going to have them make artist trading cards so we can all trade. FUN!

Cool, huh.  Note how the colors change with the light.  These are special, handmade watercolors.

An Art Teacher’s Homework

These are Artist Trading Cards (ATCs). They must be a certain size, signed on the back and traded, never sold.  I’m doing them with my students in my classes. There are all kinds of places where you can trade and lots of online trading groups.  When I need inspiration, going through my ATCs can put me right back on track. My students think THEY have a lot of homework; I have to make one card for each student!  Fun work, though. :)

Golden QOR Watercolors

Oh my lucky, lucky students! I have used every watercolor under the sun and when Golden Paints came out with these QOR colors a few years ago I switched without a backward glance.  Perfect for professional artists, perfect for everyone else too. I absolutely adore teaching watercolor to others.

These QOR sets come ‘High Chroma,’ ‘Earth Colours’ and another one which is called something like ‘Traditional Colours.’  I have a nice set of 12 with a bigger tin.  The wells are in the lid - you can see the lids have different sized circles in them.  Perfect.  They just make so much sense.

DID YOU KNOW.... you should never use watercolors straight from the tube?  Squeeze them onto your palette and let them dry.  When you’re ready to paint, re-hydrate them with a squirt bottle.  If you use it straight out of the tube it will waste paint.  A tube of watercolor paint, used correctly, can last for YEARS.

Michelangelo vs. Bernini

I’ve been working through the Renaissance with my students and compared Michelangelo’s David to his predecessors.  Now we’re comparing his David to Bernini’s.  

Bernini took the majestic greatness of ‘The Divine Michelangelo’ and stepped it up with expression.  Whole body expression right down to the toes.  I love them both. 

Wow.

 Michelangelo’s David is determined to kill me but Bernini’s David is wound up like a top to kill.  Wow.  I love them both.  (Yes, I added the swag for my students’ benefit). Bernini literally changed the face of Roma, and when you walk the town you find his incredible work around every corner.  Rome is such a delightful place and the fact that you can find fountains and great work everywhere you turn is a big part of it.

As for me, there is no choosing between the two.  They were both great, they were different.  I choose both!

An interesting Sculpture

Take a look at this sculpture and tell me who it is before you read this.  There’s always a clue, and that’s what he’s holding.

...

Michelangelo misinterpreted scripture when he prepared for this piece.  When Moses came down from the Mount with the stone tablets his face was shining and the people couldn’t look upon him.  Michelangelo somehow misinterpreted ‘rays’ for ‘horns,’ thus this sculpture.  Moses with horns.  These are things we need to know to live a full life.

Leonardo da Vinci’s Faces

Now THESE are great faces! We’re studying da Vinci and learning about expression.  I am absolutely LOVING some of the drawings my students came up with copying Leonardo’s monstrosities.  Aren’t they fabulous?

Art Class Preparation

There is nothing happenstance about my classes.  Art is like any other subject; if you want to be good at it you have to STUDY and WORK!  Just like math or science you start at the beginning and build skill upon skill through many years of work.  Art doesn’t just ‘happen.’  Sometimes people will ask me how long it took me to paint a painting.  My reply will often be something like, ‘Oh, a lifetime.’  Here is just a small part of my preparation for this week’s classes.

Upcoming Art Classes

Gathering supplies for my new students - can’t wait to meet them!  Classes start SOON and I am gearing up! I have a couple spots left in each class so look up www.hisclasses.org or www.ttcclasses.com and let me know if you want in.  These are formal, weekly art classes for homeschooled students ages 9-18 through the entire school year.  The websites:

www.hisclasses.org and

www.ttcclasses.com

And, a little known fact about me - I almost never erase to get rid of a mistake.  Not that I don’t make a LOT of mistakes, I just draw so lightly and loosely in the beginning that the mistakes simply get covered up. Do you see how these art erasers are flat?  That’s because they’re for oh so much more than deleting bad stuff.  They’re good for drawing in ‘light.’  They do highlights, reflections, light lines, smudging, strands of hair... all this can be erased out of dark values with the edge these babies have.  Love these things!  

Want to join in on the fun and creativity?  Check out the websites and let me know!*

* If you’re interested in privates, I give them as well.  Just ask.

Art Classes!

Now THAT is a lot of pencils, Bubba!  My students could look at just these ends and know each pencil’s purpose - light lines, super dark values, initial sketching, super-fine details, etc.  Can YOU? School starts SOON and I still have a couple slots open in almost all of my classes.  I teach in two locations, in The Woodlands - www.hisclasses.org; The Training Center - www.ttcclasses.com.  If you want a spot, let me know right away to get your spot.

Here are the links:

www.ttcclasses.com

And www.hisclasses.org

Meet the Teachers is Today!

TODAY!!  For those of you ready to sign up your kids for fall classes or who are curious about homeschooling, this is your chance to Meet the Teachers!

The Training Center, www.ttcclasses.com will meet TODAY, July 22 from 2:00-4:00

Grace Point Church, 426 Corporate Woods Drive, Magnolia, 77354

Here’s the link:  We are teachers that master in the subjects that you don’t want to teach.  Come on out and meet us!  Some classes are full; check the websites for individual teacher and class information and we will see you there!

www.ttcclasses.com

Also note, I am no longer teaching private lessons; if you are wanting privates, I will resume them next summer.

Sketching in Art Class

Yes, I know these are terrible sketches, but they were super fast ones. Had a hilarious, fun time with my youngest students today taking turns dressing up and doing two minute modeling stints so we could draw each other.  Two minutes was about as long as any of my students could pose, haha! Here are a few of mine. Oh, my darling students. Love these goofy, wonderful little people.

Collage Art

One of my favorite things to teach my students is collage art.  SO MUCH FUN!  Here’s a collage I made which I’m using as an example.  I call him “Guy on Fire!”  Into each life a little flaming blue hair must fall, huh? :). Back to school!! 

Lino Printing in my Advanced Art Class

In my advanced art class I’m teaching my students linoleum printing.  Oh, what FUN!  As a woodcarver I have found that this is soo much easier, ever so relaxing and beautiful as well. And once you get those printing blocks carved, you can go into printing production until the house burns down around you and you realize you haven’t eaten for three days.

Below are some of the linoleum blocks carved, and some of the printed works below them.  You see varying darknesses of ink; the second printing in a go is called the ‘ghost’ and I often prefer it to the first printing.

This one is a little print I made and laid out in the classic fashion.

I love printing on top of already painted works.  For me it’s all about layers. And here, some of our tools.

Art Class Official

Now this.  This is what I call art.  One of my students brought super yummy whoopie pies for us all.  Whoopie pies on top of my Australian art towel on top of my art board.  Layers of love here.

Aren’t they beautiful? :)

Class is In Session! Charcoal

Just getting dirty with my advanced art students today. Charcoal.  Gotta love it. Honestly, there are few things I would rather do than spend creative time with kids.  Love them so much.

Charcoal Sketches in Art Class

I don’t know who this little guy is, but he was fun to draw.  Charcoal in my advanced art class, teaching the elements and principles of art - value, space, line, contrast, inferred line, texture, movement, rhythm and of course artist’s prerogative.  LOVE charcoal! This sketch would’ve looked much better on charcoal paper, but, oh well.