Goodnight Geckos

Yes, I often go into my children's bookshelf and pull out a book to create my latest art lesson. Well, "The Goodnight Gecko" was a souvenir from a vacation to Hawaii back in 1999, when my son was 4 years old. I have collected children's books since, well, I was a child. On any given trip to our local book store, my husband knows 9 times out of 10, to find me in the children's section. (And yes, I do read grown up novels :D)

I decided to adapt an art lesson for this book creating a 3D gecko over a nightime Hawaiian background. First the children looked at different varieties of geckos. I like to do my homework and give them some interesting facts. There are over 900 varieties of geckos from 3/4 of an inch to 14 inches in length. The have tiny velcro like bristles on their feet that allow them to walk on walls, glass and even ceilings. They have invisible eyelids that they clean with their tongues. Geckos are nocturnal and hunt for food at night.

After showing them several types of geckos, the children used Sharpie and watercolor to create their own. They then painted Hawaiian flora with acrylic on black board. I encouraged them to double and triple dip their brush in analagous acrylic colors to create more 3 dimensional landscapes. The geckos were cut out (admittedly a bit tricky) and glued to small strips of foam core and then glued over their nightime landscape.

The geckos shown were done by ages 5 thru 10.

Salt Dough Experiments

In the week I have in between art class sessions, I am busy "test driving" art projects. I'm all over the map: Jim Dine, David Hockney, Impressionist fall landscapes and these salt dough inspirations. I was experimenting with texture and watercolor with the flower and shell. I used an actual shell to make a fossil-like creation while the flower was hand formed. The snake and sea turtle were inspired by the gorgeous work of Australian artist, Bronwyn Bancroft. (But I did see some similar creations in clay from Apples Love Oranges that really caught my eye.) I just picked up Bancroft's children's book at the library, "Possom and Wattle, My Big Book of Australian Words." Her work is so wonderfully bright and graphic.

You may be seeing some more similar creations from my classes soon.

Technicolor Dinosaurs

During the summer, my Children's Book Art campers did a project based on the book,"How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?" by Jane Yolen and Mark Teague. They turned out so well, I thought I'd try it again with some of my students. I adapted a direct line drawing lesson from the cover T-Rex, complete with blankie. After going over their giant pencil dinosaurs in permanent marker, they used watercolor to give it some personality. Some children used colored Sharpies for smaller details. While still wet, they sprinkled salt on their work which gave the dinosaur skin a bumpy reptile effect. (You know they loved this part!)
Once dry, the dinos were cut out and glued to black posterboard. The final step was to add some stars and a moon.
This was a favorite project for many of my students(Kindergarten thru 5th).

My Monster and Me

Art projects based on "Where the Wild Things Are" are about as common as Rainbow Fish lessons these days. But they are both kid favorites, incorporate lessons in line and color, and allow a variety of ages to feel successful. So my Kindergarten thru 3rd graders created an extra large monster with Sharpie and watercolor based on those of Maurice Sendak. We talked about ways to change the expression of their monster's face: happy, angry and sad. Then I took pictures of each child reacting to their monster. I explained that they might be their best friend and would look up to them smiling, they could be defiant, afraid ect.. We went through a lot of, "What's my motivation?" :D Funny how most of the boys chose an angry monster that they were NOT afraid of while most girls created happy monsters that they smiled at adoringly. Lastly, each child placed their cut picture to create a scene with their monster.

Dia de Los Muertos Skulls

These beautifully detailed skulls come from my talented group of 3rd and 4th grade girls. After learning the significance of the holiday in Mexico and other Latin American countries, they got to work creating some really uniquely decorated skulls. They did a fantastic job with the added challenge of trying to create symmetrical designs on both sides by just "eyeing it". After cutting their skulls out they had the option of adding more flowers and designs with oil pastel to their black background. Lovely work girls!

A Tribute to Ben Morris

Ben Morris fashion sketches from the New York Times, 196o's

I just received a postcard in the mail from my alma mater, The Savannah College of Art AND Design. It encourages students to share stories and contribute to a scholarship fund in the name of my absolute favorite professor, Ben Morris. He would have been 80 this year. His style of teaching by approaching "drawing in a free light-hearted way" resonates with me to this day(even after graduating 20 years ago).

Ben was an extremely accomplished fashion illustrator who worked with Givenchy, Paris, Womens Wear Daily, Elizabeth Arden and The New York Times(to name a few.)

The trademark of Ben was to focus on the simple beauty of line. Most of his classes required just a tablet of newsprint and a box of chalk pastels. He would send us to the local market to buy fresh produce to bring back to class to draw. Or in my Fashion Illustration class we would head to the local mall to draw the latest shoes, sitting right there outside Belk's department store window. He had a quick wit and the amazing ability to keep you both on your toes, but loose enough to do your best work. He was not afraid to (gasp!) draw directly on your paper, which was of great value to me. I truly treasure the time I spent learning from him! I try to create the same atmosphere of enthusiasm in my own classes of young children.

"Only One You" Inspired Fish

Lacie (7) chose to paint over her fish with watercolor to make them look "like they were really under water."

Toby, my 1st grader, really got the message,"Blend in when you need to, stand out when you have a chance."

My multi-age group looked at "Only One You" by Linda Kranz. I have done salt dough fish inspired by her book before. The book has great messages for children like "Find your own way. You don't have to follow the crowd." Her illustrations are composed of bright and graphic painted rock-fish with full red lips (no fins or tails) combined with underwater photography. I always love it when a project brings forth so many varied approaches and results.