ART IS AWESOME!!  Week 6

JIM DINE

tate.org.uk

Welcome back to week 6 of Art is Awesome!

This week we are learning about artist Jim Dine.

Jim Dine is a very versatile artist.  He has produced over three thousand paintings, sculptures, drawings, and prints!   He is well known for repeating images over and over in his art, showing them in different ways.  Things like hands, tools, hearts, and

even bathrobes! 

 artsy.net 

 When he was a child, his family owned a hardware store so he was 

surrounded with tools.  He was fascinated with them and studied

their shapes and forms. 

His work is part of the Pop Art movement.  

You can see more of his work at www.artnet.com.

 pinterest.com

ms chang's art classes

For your assignment this week you will need the following materials:

drawing paper

crayons, chalks, markers or whatever you would like

Assignment:

Fold the paper into sections, such as fourths

Draw a heart, or paintbrush, or tool, or whatever you want in each section filling the whole section

Color and decorate each heart or item with a different design.  Color in the background for each item also.

Optional:  Tape or glue your drawing onto a larger piece of colored paper to make a simple mat or frame.

Here is a drawing done by one of our team members, Miles, age 10.

Miles, age 10

Look around your room for an object that you would like to draw.

Have fun with this assignment!  We'd love you to send us a picture 

of your drawing!

Bonus Points for Parents:

When children participate in both arts and crafts, creativity and imagination receive strong stimulation, states the Americans for the Arts website. A child with a paintbrush in his hand suddenly has the ability to create vivid paintings and express himself boldly with color and brush strokes. The youngster can also learn about symbolic communication through the art he creates, choosing various colors to communicate feelings, for example.       livestrong.com

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Week 5 ART IS AWESOME!!

This week we are learning about

Alan MaGee

 askart.com

Alan Magee is a "realist" painter or a "representational" painter.  He is best known for his large scale acrylic paintings of stones and found objects.  His paintings are so realistic that you might think they were a photograph.  He likes to spend alot of time at the beach carefully studying stones.  He often gathers many stones, takes them to his studio, and then does arrangements of them that he can paint. He begins painting early in the morning and often paints late into the evening.  He loved to draw when he was a child and enjoyed looking very closely at objects he found.  At one time he illustrated covers for books and won an award for it.

     forumgallery.com

dreamsofart.com

This is a great summer project to do while you are outside exploring!

Materials needed:

collect materials such as stones, rocks, pebbles, gravel

you can also get:  leaves, twigs, pinecones, etc.

stick for drawing

camera

Assignment:

Assemble your collection of materials.  Place them in a design or stack or place them in a temporary sculpture.  You can add other items for decoration like twigs or leaves.

Another idea would be to draw lines around it to make a design.  When done, take pictures of your creation from different angles.  You can print the photos and tape or glue them onto poster board!

Here's some art done by some of our Young at Art team:

Emmett, Age 6

Levi,  Age 9

Aubrey, Age 12

Sara, Age 12

Get creative!  Have fun!  Take pictures!  Send them to us!

Bonus Points for Parents:

If you integrate art and crafts into your child's academics, your child can derive additional benefits. Many literacy and mathematical concepts can become easier to comprehend and even more interesting with the addition of art, according to Reyner. For example, if your youngster draws a picture or creates a sculpture of a character from a story, he may boost his reading comprehension and interest in literature. A child who uses artistic manipulatives such as paper shapes and beads can gain mastery of mathematical concepts due to the hands-on nature of the items.

livestrong.com

Other source:  Great American Artists, Kohl, Solga

young-at-art.com

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WEEK 4

ART IS AWESOME!!

Welcome back!  We have a really fun activity 

for you!

This weeks artist is:

BEV DOOLITTLE

"High Life"  Pinterest.com

Bev Doolittle paints mostly with watercolors and likes to do paintings of the American West, Native Americans, and wildlife.  She is famous for using what she calls a "camouflage technique".  She says this makes people take their time to look at her work. Some people say there are hidden items in her paintings but she says they are not hidden, they are just meant to slow down the process of looking and to tell a story.

How many mountain goats can you see in the above painting?  Look closely!

Bev and her husband like to travel and be close to nature.

artencounter.com

This painting is called "The Forest Has Eyes".  There are at least 15.  

Some say there are 17!  

artandnaturegallery

This painting is called "Woodland Encounter".  Can you see two riders on horses?  Why do you think she named it that?

Here is your assignment for this week.  Have fun with it!

Materials:

For this assignment you will need:

blue painters tape

crayons, markers, pencils, or paint

white paper

Assignment:

Using the paper horizontally, put about five strips of tape from the top to bottom, kind of like a fence.  Leave some space in between each tape.  Draw a picture of animals, birds, etc. that you would see in a forest.  Draw right over the tape.  Use some bold colors for most of it and some lighter details for some.  Example- draw some animals in bold colors and some birds in trees in lighter colors.  Carefully remove the strips of tape.  The open spaces will now become trees. Draw in some lines and marks like bark on the trees.  Your drawings will now be partly camouflaged!

Here are some examples from our team

Aubrey, Age 12

Levi, Age 9

Aubrey and Levi's Mom!!

We hope you have a ton of fun doing some "Bev Doolittle art". 

 Please send images of your work!

Bonus Points for Parents:

As your child creates a work of art, she has begun the process of communicating visually, advises author and educator MaryAnn F. Kohl, writing for Barnes and Noble Kids’ Expert Circle. A youngster also builds problem-solving skills, fine motor skills and even social skills as she works with artistic media. The process of making her own creations and noticing other people’s creations provides important opportunities for the appreciation of other people’s strengths and acceptance of her own abilities. A child also learns that the ability to follow directions is an integral part of the satisfaction of seeing the final result when making a craft.      livestrong.com

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Other sources used:  Wikipedia, Great American Artists for Kids, Kohl and Solga

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WELCOME BACK TO ART IS AWESOME!

Week 3

John James Audubon

Even as a child, John James Audobon was fascinated with birds.  His father encouraged his interest by pointing out the elegent movement of the birds and the beauty and softness of their feathers.

At the age of 18 he moved to an area in New York that he considered "paradise" because of the hunting and fishing that were so close by.  He studied his surroundings carefully.  He spent much time roaming and painting in the woods.   He attempted to paint one page everyday.

He put together a collection of his paintings in a book called "Birds of America".  It contains drawings of slightly more than 700 North American birds.  He also did a book on mammels later in his life.

He mostly worked with watercolors but also added colored chalk and pastels.

You can read more about John James Audubon at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_James_Audubon

Your Audubon art project

Materials:

Catch a bug, butterfly or something else you'd like to draw

Put it in a clear jar with some foil over the top.  Punch air holes in the top with a toothpick or something small

Paper

Colored pencils, crayons, markers, or paint

Pencil

Project:

Observe the critter closely.  Notice colors, shapes, and details.

Draw the critter on paper using the whole page.  Add as much detail as you can

Use your crayons, colored pencils, markers, or paint to add color to your drawing.

When you are done observing the critter, you can let it go close to where you caught it.

Audubon liked to give his drawings a name and record the date.  Name your drawing and add the date and any other details you want to remember.  

Here are some Audubon art projects from the Young at Art team:

"Rainbow Centipede"   Kellan, Age 4

"Mystery Bug"     Emmett, Age 6

"Firelight"    Levi, Age 9

"Widow Bite"   Paden, Age 7

This is the perfect time of year to go bug hunting!!

Please send us images of your drawings, we would love to see them!
Join us next week for more art education and fun projects!

Bonus Points for Parents:

"As kids manipulate a paintbrush, their fine motor skills improve. By counting pieces and colors, they learn the basics of math. When children experiment with materials, they dabble in science. Most important perhaps, when kids feel good while they are creating, art helps boost self-confidence. And children who feel able to experiment and to make mistakes feel free to invent new ways of thinking, which extends well beyond the craft room."   parents.com

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WELCOME BACK TO

ART IS AWESOME!!!

We hope you enjoyed last weeks project with Norman Rockwell and now you are ready for a really fun assignment in week 2!

Artist:  WAYNE THIEBAUD

Imagine your very favorite treat.  Could you paint a picture of it?

Wayne Thiebaud is an artist best-known for his paintings of colorful yummy food.

He worked as a commercial artist in advertising and for a short time he was a cartoonist for Walt Disney Studios.   He also painted landscapes but is most well known for his paintings of pies, cakes, pastries, toys, and machines. 

This style of art is known as Pop Art and was very popular in the 1960's, but Thiebaud considered himself "just an old fashioned painter."

Thiebaud also taught in colleges and universities in California.  

His work inspired other artists to look at common objects in new ways.

Project materials:

paper

pencil

watercolor paints and brush

choice of food extracts or flavorings like vanilla, peppermint, or almond

choice of flavored powder mixes like jello or koolaid

sprinkles

Project:

On a sheet of paper, draw your favorite treat.  Draw it large enough to fill most of the paper.  Keep the shapes simple

Fill several different containers with water for painting.  Put a different flavoring or mix into each container.  Add a drop of vanilla to one, a drop of mint to the next a spoonful of jello to another and so on.  Enjoy the smells!  What treats do they remind you of?

Use watercolors mixed with the scented waters to paint your drawing. But DON"T DRINK! :)

After the painting is finished and completely dry, glue on sprinkles to decorate

Here are some projects by members of our Young at Art team

Levi - Age 9

"Cookie Yummy" - Kellan - Age4

Emmett - Age 6

"Together Forever" - Miles - Age 10

"Gumballs and a donut" - Paden - Age 7

Aubrey - Age 12

We hope you have fun with this project!  

Besides your favorite treat, look around at other objects

and find other things you can draw and paint.  Notice shapes and 

notice colors.

We would love to see your projects!!

Bonus Points for Parents:

Encouraging kids to do art projects helps them practice problem-solving skills and critical-thinking skills.  They discover that there can be more than one right answer and multiple points of view.

Good job parents!!

See you next week!

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Thanks for joining us for our very first week of Art is Awesome!!

This week we are learning about an artist named 

NORMAN ROCKWELL

one of the most beloved American artists.

Norman's grandfather was an English artist, Thomas Hill, who specialized in very  detailed animal drawings.  Norman's father liked to copy illustrations from magazines, and would pull up a chair for Norman to do it with him.  As a boy, Norman was very thin and awkward.  His pigeon-toed feet caused him to wear corrective shoes at the age of ten, and glasses at twelve--giving him the nickname "Moony".  Poor at sports, he found he could entertain his friends through his art.  When he was just five years old, other boys played with store-bought ships to have naval battles.  Since he couldn't afford them, Norman cut some of his own out of cardboard and painted them.  They became so popular, other boys asked him to make some for them!

He had his first paying assignment by the time he was sixteen.  By the age of nineteen he was the art director for Boy's Life magazine.  His first cover of Saturday Evening Post appeared in 1916, when he was just twenty-two.  He got the job with the help of his roommate who was already doing cartoons for the magazine.  Over the next forty years he did 321 covers for the magazine.  You can see more of his work at

www.nrm.org

PROJECT:

Design and draw your own magazine cover.  Your magazine can be about anything that interests you:  art, sports, cooking, animals, etc.

Your magazine cover should have:

Title of the magazine

Featured artwork or photo

Titles of a story or feature

Date

MATERIALS:

Any kind of paper

Crayons or colored pencils (you can even paint it if you want!)

Here are some magazine covers created by three members of our 

Young at Art team!

 Aubrey, age 12

 Levi, age 9

Emmett, age 6

We hope you enjoy learning about Norman Rockwell and we would love to see the magazine cover you create!  Email us a photo, we'd love to post it on our 

Facebook page!

BONUS POINT FOR PARENTS:

The New York Center for Arts Education lists many benefits for giving children opportunities to create art.  Just a few benefits are:

Your child learns to think creatively with an open mind

Your child learns to observe and describe, analyze and interpret

Your child practices problem-solving skills and critical thinking skills

Not bad!! 

Watch for more benefits next week!

Please feel free to forward

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Why Art?

Why Art you ask?  Listen to what these folks have to say about it...

"Fostering creativity won't just increase your child's chances of becoming the next Picasso. You're also helping him develop mentally, socially, and emotionally, says Ecklund-Flores. Creating art may boost young children's ability to analyze and problem-solve in myriad ways, according to Mary Ann F. Kohl, author of Primary Art: It's the Process, Not the Product. 

As kids manipulate a paintbrush, their fine motor skills improve. By counting pieces and colors, they learn the basics of math.

 When children experiment with materials, they dabble in science. 

Most important perhaps, when kids feel good while they are creating, art helps boost self-confidence. And children who feel able to experiment and to make mistakes feel free to invent new ways of thinking, which extends well beyond the craft room."

Parents.com, Why Art and Creativity Are Important, Paula Bernstein

     Looking for a gift that encourages time "unplugged"?  A Young at Art bag makes a great educational and creative gift!  It teaches and inspires and provides the tools needed, and best of all--it all comes in a sturdy canvas bag for storing, carrying, or traveling!

Young at Art Sketch bag is great for kids 3 and older!

Young at Art Sculpture bag is great for kids 4 and older!

   For special pricing go to our website at young-at-art.com !