Inspirations from Hubble

We have been in a bit of a space frenzy around here lately. We had the wonderful experience of Endeavour's fly over several weeks ago before making its way to its new home at The California Science Center in LA. And my daughter was so excited about her studies with the solar system, she brought home her science text book to show me everything she was learning. (Thanks to her Fantastic 5th grade teacher, Ms. Long for igniting her curiosity and enthusiasm in exploring the world of space and astronomy!)

So when I stumbled on this fantastic art lesson from Make It....a Wonderful Life, I knew I had to give it a try. I showed my students pictures from the Hubble website. We talked about Supernovas (exploding stars) and Nebulae (clouds of dust and gases in space). They were as impressed as I was with how incredibly beautiful and amazing these discoveries are. Treat yourself and visit the HubbleSite gallery here.

 The Endeavour fly over - What a treat!

My experiment for the lesson

 This artist wanted to show an exploding supernova

We created our pieces on black construction paper with chalk pastels. We used the side of our pastels and blended lightly to create the look of the feathery nebulae. Stars were added with acrylics using toothpicks as well as splattering with brushes. They could choose to add cut planets that were shaded with dark on one side and light on the other to give them dimension.

Good Dog Carl

 (this pup is waiting for his balloon 

string to finish the piece)

 My experiment for the project

Inspiration page

I haven't done an art lesson inspired by a children's book for a while, so I thought it was time to give it a go. I found Carl's Afternoon in the Park by Alexandra Day in my shelf, and thought it would be perfect for my Multi-Media Art Class. The children created a textured back ground using acrylics and sponges to mimic Day's beautiful painted illustrations. The dog and balloon were done separately using chalk pastels and charcoal. Emphasis was on shading and shadow for these elements. The children followed a line drawing lesson for the puppy, but were encouraged to make adjustments to make it their own. Cut out balloons and dogs were added to their painted background and last a balloon string was added to bring their piece together. Cute pooches guys! Artwork by ages 7-9.

Multi-Media Leaf Art

 Alexa, 2nd grade 

 Calvin, 2nd grade

 Jenna, 4th grade

 Sonja, 2nd grade

Sierra, 2nd grade

My experiment

"Autumn is a second spring when every leaf's a flower"  Albert Camus

Even in seasonally challenged SoCal, where the temps hit the 90's here today, there are signs of autumn all  around. I love the twisted shapes of the fallen leaves and the change in the shadows. I combined the watercolor printed leaf project from Groove is in the Art with the observational leaf drawing with cast shadows from Color Collage and Much More to kick off my new Mixed Media Art Class..

Leaf prints were made with leaves and watercolor (fresher works best for this part in order to get the veins and details). These were left to dry over night. I had my students take one leaf and use their best observational skills to create a contour drawing. I like to go over the difference between a stylized drawing versus a contour drawing and show both on the whiteboard. Line work was gone ever in thin Sharpie and chalk pastel added for color. I gave them free reign with this. A cut cast shadow was added and glued underneath for an added punch of emphasis. I think this is a great project for a variety of ages and skill levels.

Playing with Monotypes

.

 Monotype using stamps and bleeding tissue with drawing in chalk pastels

Alexis - 9

Monotype, bleeding tissue and acrylic with drawing in colored pencils

Savannah - 10

I stumbled across the work of artist Rachel Pank and fell in love with her series of monotypes with birds. I set out to do some experimenting using acrylic paints on the back of a baking sheet. I painted a thin layer of acrylic paint in several colors and removed some of the paint using stamps and sponges to create texture. This was printed onto a piece of poster board. I also added some pieces of bleeding tissue on some parts for more layer of color. I played around with a variety of media to see what I liked best. My daughter and her friend even joined in on the fun with me. My mixed media art class this week will be creating monotypes with reduction prints inspired by Panks' work. I will be posting those as they finish them.

Monotype with Sharpie and pastel

Sharpie and black acrylic

Monoprint and bleeding tissue with a reduction printed bird,

pastel and thin marker

with a reduction printed bird and stamps, thin marker drawing

This was cut in half to create the above two pieces

Blog on Pause

This may just be the longest gap between posts I've had since I started Marymaking. I had my Mother urge me to hurry up and post something new and even a fellow blogger check in to see if I was ok. Thanks Pat! ;) Here's just a bit of what's been going on in my neck of the woods.

ART

My after school classes have been a little lean this fall.

(This tends to be a very busy sports season for families around here)

I have been doing some of my summer favorites with my new crew.

LIFE

Our lives begin and end with water these days.

Getting my son to sunrise surf sessions each morning with his high school surf team.

Sunset lap swims for my daughter at the local pool.

MILESTONE

Tomorrow my husband Tyree and I will celebrate our 20th anniversary.

We have had many unique experiences and adventures together.

We have weathered Hurricane Hugo, rocked and swayed to more than a few earthquakes, taken a cross country road trip in a Dodge Daytona...with a dog, experienced the horrible L.A. Riots, helped one another recover from surgery following shattered limbs - an ankle for him, an elbow for me, catered weddings and events together, and of course welcomed our two children into the world. And this is just the abbreviated list!

I hope to be cranking out blog posts in a more timely manner in the near future.

Thanks for your patience!

Chinese Lion Dancers

I can't take credit for any part of this wonderful Chinese Lion Dance lesson other than the fact that I had the good sense to "borrow" it from smART Class. Thank you Natalie! This was the perfect finale to my Art Across the Globe classes this summer.

After the children watched some wonderful lion dancers in action, they followed Natalie's fantastic draw along lesson. Background fireworks were created with oil pastels and line work traced over with black oil pastel before painting their lions with watercolor.

I had a wonderful time this summer with my 6 art class groups. Thanks to all the children who joined me for some creative time!

Egyptian Tint and Shade Landscapes

It's always interesting to me to learn which projects end up as favorites with my students. Sometimes I just know, other times, I'm surprised. Such was the case with these tint and shade landscapes with Egyptian pyramids - a real crowd pleaser.

After using acrylics to paint our subjects, the children created three different patterns on colored construction paper using Sharpie and oil pastels. We looked at some of the colorful blankets that often adorn camels in the Middle East as inspiration. These were cut up into squares to create a border for their paintings. Work created by 5-10 year olds.