Plein Air Painting

We got to paint outside today! It was beautiful weather (a little hot, but in the shade it was just wonderful), so we went down to the creek behind Kent Gardens and painted the nature around the path there.

But, before we got to painting, we talked about the Primary, Secondary, and Complimentary Colors and how to mix them, as well as what tints and shades are. We also had a competition to see how many different colors the students could make in their sketchbooks. Congratulations to Rachel and Adrian as the winners of the most colors created in 20 minutes!

We learned a lot today and were able to enjoy a different part of nature than we had previously experienced.

Nature Collages Cont'd

After spending a lot of time in the newly refurbished / planted courtyard for the past week, we got our art juices flowing this morning by drawing pictures of how we thought it would look like in 30 years. Most of the students were very optimistic and showed trees growing taller and the plantings becoming more full and beautiful.

We also finished our nature collages that we started yeste

rday. I think the hard work paid off - they look great! The collages were also a great learning experience since most of the students had never used painted paper like that before.

After finishing our collages, we talked about landscapes and watched a short clip of an art21 video about Maya Lin, a landscape architect. She was the artist who designed the Vietnam Memorial, but she works a lot with landscapes, especially using topography. It was cool to see a contemporary artist who worked with landscapes in a non-traditional way!

Nature Collages

We finally started using our paper that we painted on Monday!

First, we made drawings of our favorite places in nature. It was exciting to see the students use the skills that we have talked about in previous classes for this beginning assignment! We then made thumbnail sketches of different scenes and items that we found in the courtyard. The weather was perfect for drawing outdoors.

Using these sketches, we started making collages with our painted paper. I am looking forward to finishing them and seeing the final products tomorrow. So far they are looking great!

Sketches and Shading

Today we talked about making things realistic and practiced using shading and grounding the figures that we drew. We also talked about creating thumbnail sketches prior to creating a final work of art.

At first, we practiced drawing simple objects that we found throughout the classroom. Then, we went outside and drew the nature in the courtyard. After shading our drawings, we used colored chalk to add some interest to the compositions. Some are not finished, but so far they are looking really good!

Drawing with Sticks

Today we explored a new form of mark-making....we drew using ink and sticks! We started off the day discussing different kinds of marks that we could make using different art tools. Then, we chose our own personal sticks from the area around the school and started exploring this different art method.

Probably the best part of the day was being outside in the garden courtyard drawing the nature around us. Even though it was a pretty hot day, the shade and breeze were nice for the artists.

Welcome to Summer Camp!

On our first day, we painted on paper with tempera paint and tried to make as many colors in abstract as possible in order to use the paper later for collages. It was fun to be able to be messy and free with paint and colors, because composition and color scheme didn't really matter!

We also celebrated Daniel's birthday, and made covers for our sketchbooks that we will be using for the rest of the camp. The covers had to incorporate nature and also describe something(s) about the student.

I am so excited for the art that will come out of this class, especially as a result of the skill and artistic nature that I have seen in the students, just on the first day!