Journaling and Sketch book ideas

Here's the latest YouTube video, this time around a look at a sketchbook  that I made for my son. He just graduated form high school,  so his last page includes his graduation announcement!

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These are the 8x10 basic black sketchbooks I have kept for my kids. They both had their first 10 years very well documented and then I did recaps a few times a year. 

The elephant card was the starting point for these 2 pages. I quickly covered the page with orange ink to match the card, carrying the ink loosely over to the other page. The scribbles were already there, so I wanted to keep the brush strokes messy as well. With large pages I generally block in color quickly, letting the brush strokes show.  I like to cut out photos of people really tight, so that they can become a part of their new landscape. White paper with notes on it was glued down before orange paint was added, the text becomes texture in the background.

The half face is my grandpa. I was working on a larger project and had a few extra xerox copies of him and collaged them on various pages. I decided to crop his face to line up with the center of the page. Using whatever paint was left over at the end of the day I blocked in the background. I also would have randomly painted a few more pages to finish the paint. Another cut out of my son so that he is looking into the page. 

Sketchbook pages evolve over time. I will go back through a book and add some color to a page or pages that were started many years ago, or add a bit of collage. If something doesn't turn out, it can be covered with collage. The sketchbooks are also filled with journal entries. Often the journal entry is the starting point. I'll write in any direction, any color. A color theme is one element that can bring  order to a page.  

There are lots of attachments in the books as well. The envelope has been printed with a map, another left over from an old project. I stuffed the envelope with a Christmas card and some school photos.

I usually have a few sketchbooks that I am working on at the same time. One is set aside for just travelling, another for daily journal entries and to just have with me so  I can sketch or write anytime.  

This was my last travel journal, the paint brush gives you an idea of size. I fit the journal, this small watercolor kit, 2 brushes , a couple pencils and a few markers all in a sandwich size ziplock bag. This was for a 1 month trip. We always travel light, so i just pack the essentials for art making. 

Let your sketchbook be a place to explore thoughts and ideas, and experiment with materials. What are you going to do in your sketchbook?

Ciao for now!

Matisse Inspired Collage

We are starting the year off with artist inspired projects. We read Drawing with Scissors and learned about Henri Matisse. Students created paper collages with their names.

Step one: breaking the background out into large shapes.

Step two: Medium shapes in the form of the students name. After moving around their shapes and trying out a few different compositions, students glued down their backgrounds and names.

Step three: Deciding on a "Matisse" inspired small shape and cutting out at least 8 of them to create pattern and repetition. Students also needed to include both positive and negative cutouts.

We had an extra 1/2 hour on the second day. To continue the lesson students worked on positive and negative cut outs. We started with simple geometric patterns in colors of their choice.

...and finished with more complex designs in black and white.

Drawing lessons

A few shots from the last few weeks with one of my private students. So much growth happens during private lessons, each lesson directs what we will do next. A spontaneous portrait in a printmaking project  a few weeks ago turned into a few weeks of observational drawing. Instead of tackling the whole portrait we focused on the individual features.

Week 1, the top left eye was the first attempt with no instruction, a 5 minute drawing. The larger eye took 45 minutes of very careful observation. The nose sketches were done the following week.

My 9 year old student did such an awesome job on his eye I decided we should turn it into a collage piece. We assembled a variety of elements and then edited to make the final composition.

This is the completed project as a collage. We considered composition, color palette, texture but making sure that the focus of the finished project was always  the drawing of the eye. Its really easy to get lost in all the pretty papers and possibilities.

Here's a shot of the engraving that started the whole project. I love the spontaneity of the drawing. It was also a good reminder to do a lesson on portraits.

Drawing with scissors

Spring session starts April 17th. A couple spots open in the Monday class for 6-8 year olds. Get the details here.

Musical instruments in our house double as models in the studio. Students were inspired by Henri Matisse and his Jazz series of paper cut outs.  

6 year old student's finished piece! I love how playful it is.

Busy at work...

Step 1: Cutting out all the shapes.

Step 2: Arrange your shapes, layer them. Try a few different compositions.

Step 3: Ready to glue. I use colorful matt board that I get for free from the scrap bin at my local frame shop! Thanks Annie's art and Framing!

Musical models....