Proud Painted Peacocks

I grew up just a couple miles from the Los Angeles Arboretum (located in Arcadia). It was home to a number of peacocks and peahen imported from India by a wealthy investor, Lucky Baldwin back in the 1880's. It was not uncommon for them to stray once in a while and end up in the backyards of friends. Looking back now, I have a much greater appreciation for being able to enjoy these gorgeous birds up close, roaming freely. A number of their offspring still remain and my daughter can now enjoy them as well.

To create our peacocks my K-2nd graders first painted their board with a mix of tropical blue and green. After our base had dried, the children followed a simple direct line drawing of a close-up bird: bowling pin shape body with a skinny oval behind it. The feathers were painted in layers: yellow, orange, green and "peacock" blue. The feathers were connected to the body using oil pastels. Finally, beaks, eyes and head feathers were added using a combination of paint and oil pastel. This project was a favorite amongst my Animal Art Mini Campers.

Blue Dog and the Legend of the Loup Garou

(The following "Blue Dogs" were done by my Animal Art Class Children - ages 5-8)

My 5th -7th graders took a look at the work of Cajun artist George Rodgrique and his many versions of "Blue Dog", modeled after his beloved deceased dog, Tiffany and based on the French myth of the Loup Garou. The Loup Garou is a human who can change into a wolf at his or her own will (a werewolf). Legend has it that anyone who sheds the blood of the Loup Garou will turn it back into human form and likewise become a wolf themselves for 101 days.



Given their age and the popularity of the Twilight series (with it's human/wolf parallels) , I thought this would be a fun opening project for our summer course. Rodrique continues to paint his Blue Dog and in many different colors. So I encouraged them to choose their own color (after a direct line drawing lesson) and add their own spin. I haven't had this "older" age group in a while and I'm finding it almost odd not having to chant, "1, 2, 3, eyes on me." and other attention getters I sometimes use for my little ones. :) It is a wonderfully humorous, diverse group and I'm looking forward to all of their artwork to come.

Savannah in Monet's Garden

(A Variety of Monet Gardens by Children's Book Art Class)

My Children's Book Art Camp will be taking a look at Linnea in Monet's Garden by Christina Bjork and Lena Anderson. It's a wonderful book that combines illustrations with Monet's actual paintings. It follows the little girl, Linnea as she learns about the life of Monet as she visits his pink house in Giverny and stands on the Japanese bridge in Giverny that he painted so many times. To create our Impressionist pieces, we will be adding layers of paint and experimenting with a variety of brush strokes. The children will first create a watercolor wash of the water and sky. I always encourage them to use a couple colors to add dimension rather than just a solid blue sky for example. While the paint is still wet we will as our colors for the lily pads and water reflections as well as all the lush folliage in the backgroud. They will double and triple load their brushes in blues, greens and yellow to mimic the Impressionistic effect. The bridges are cut from large pieces of construction paper (glue together 3 curved shapes and 4 small rectangles) and can be painted over lightly as well to help them blend into the painting. I will take a picture of each child waving (great idea Savannah) and cut them out. They are slipped behind their bridge and glued to the piece.

Voila, each child can be a part of their own Impressionist landscape.

Toothpaste and Lotion Batik a la Phyl

Before rinsing phase

A BIG thanks to Phyl over at There's A Dragon in My Art Room for this fantastic project. (Be sure to check out the wonderful work her students made as well as some photos of the process.) When she posted this project a while back, well, let's just say, she had me at "toothpaste". It's half science project, half art lesson. I taped a piece of muslin to a square of cardboard. The children lightly mapped out their design. I gave them free reign, they could do an abstract design or something representational. A mixture of equal parts toothpaste and aloe vera lotion (both readily available at the dollar store) is applied in an empty glue bottle, tracing over the pencil lines. Everywhere this mixture is applied will remain white in the end. This needs to dry completely before the painting step. The following week I offered a variety of watered down acrylic colors. (Phyl used non-washable tempera paints with very vivid results). Once the paint has dried simply rinse the fabric in the sink, clearing away all toothpaste/lotion mixture. After haniging to dry and a quick run of the iron, I mounted their work on black poster board. They each signed under their batiks with a gold metallic marker. Most of the students in this class were kindergarteners. I think each of them did a fabulous job and they all loved the process. This will definitley be a project that I return to again and again. These would also be great turned into pillows for holiday gift project.

Tree Of Life

The above piece was created by a very talented 9 year old. It looks a lot like an Aboriginal dot painting to me. All your patience payed off Alison - Beautiful!

I have done a few art projects based on Austrian artist, Gustav Klimt's Tree of Life painted in 1909. There is something so wonderfully decadent and luxurious about his gold leaf tree full of spirals and swirls decorated with jewel-like forms. I adapted this whimsical version from one I found on Artsonia. The first layer involves a gold tempera sky with a green and brown ground. Next a black tree trunk is painted going off the top and bottom of the page. Next the children will paint his trademark swirl and spiral branches extending from the trunk in different directions. I will encourage them to use different sized brushes to create thin and thicker branches. While this is drying we will create simple bird shapes on a separate piece of paper or card stock. Their pencil drawings will be gone over in permanent marker and then filled with color using markers or paint. After the tree and ground have dried we will add our jewel shapes with a variety of colors of tempera paint using a small brush. Dots can be added with a q-tip to the branches as well as the shapes. After this paint has dried some of these shapes can be outlined using a black permanent marker. The birds are then cut out and glued to some of the tree branches.

More Klimt inspired trees on the way!

Rhinos Who Surf

These just make me smile :)

This student just turned 5. Great job Delaney!

Sonja (6) insisted on using a small brush, despite my tired rule of thumb, "big space, big brush, little space, little brush." Well, all that white showing adds a lot of dimension to her piece. Sometimes, you just need to get out of their way and let them do their thing. :)

A couple of my summer art classes are doing a piece based on the book, Rhinos Who Surf by Julie Mammano.My mom (and always big supporter) gave me the book specifically with an art project in mind. Mammano's illustrations are wonderfully graphic and whimsical. My class this week is off to a great start with their pieces. After following a direct line drawing and going over their work in permanent marker, they designed their own, one of a kind swim trunks and surf boards using markers. They painted their rhinos with gray tempera (gray oil pastel would be another option). Next week they will go back over their lines with permanent marker and add waves with watercolor. I look forward to posting them soon!

(Mammano has 3 other books in her series: Rhinos Who Skateboard, Rhinos Who Play Soccer and Rhinos Who Play Baseball. These would definitely be kid favorites!)

"Only One You" Salt Dough Fish

A wonderful family friend and fantastic elementary school teacher gave me the book, "Only One You" by Linda Kranz some time ago. She thought it might inspire an art lesson. I finally got my act together and am using it in some of my summer art classes.

The book follows Mama and Papa fish as they share their wisdom with their son Adri as he goes out into the world. Here a few of my favorite lessons:

"Blend in when you need to. Stand out when you have the chance."

"Find your own way. You don't have to follow the crowd."

"Know when to speak; know when to listen."

Kranz uses painted "rockfish" to illustrate her messages. For my inspired lesson we will create salt dough fish. Using my easy recipe of 4 cups flour/1 cup salt/ and 1-2 cups water we will kneed a soft dough (This recipe created 4-5 fish). The dough is simply mixed by hand and a fist size piece is shaped into a pointed oval fish shape. Next a v-like shape is created and added for a tail fin. Kranz's distinctive human-like lips are created with a small piece of dough. The fish will bake for about 3 hours at 300 degrees. When cool paint with bright acrylic colors and graphic shapes, such as stripes, zig zags and polka dots. I brushed a layer of Mod Podge when these were dry to add a nice shine and protective coat.

A big thanks to you MaryAnn aka "Mrs. Mac"! It is such a great book with many wonderful messages to pass onto children! :)