Register for Spring Kids Art Classes

Spring Classes start  after spring break and are now registering. Still a couple open spots in the grade 4-6 class. All the details are on the classes page.

We drew my little moka pot in the private sessions, drawing for accuracy and value studies.

9th grade student

4th grade student

After school art classes now enrolling!

Kids after school art classes start October 1st and are now registering. Find all the details on our classes page. Just a couple spots left in each class.

What do you do with the left over paint at the end of a painting session? During the summer acrylic painting camp we started abstract paintings using what was left on the pallet. Students had about 15 -30 minutes at the end of each day during our 4 day camp.  Each student had a quick feedback session  to help them make  design  and composition decisions.  A fun way to end each day.

9x12 acrylic on canvas

It was our day of exploring the abstract expressionists. We started with Jackson Pollock. I put out a call for left over house paint and made use of some long canvas strips I had been saving. Each student did 2 long paintings.

Dribble, drip, splatter....

details...

Zooming in on a finished painting.

Acrylic Painting Camp and Fall Classes

Stay tuned for the fall schedule, it will be posted shortly! 

This summer's Acrylic Painting camp for artists age 9-12  was a huge success. I am slowly catching up with the photos of all the work we completed. Here's a few shots from one of our still life painting days.

Paintings are 5"x5" acrylic on wood panels

We started by doing contour line studies of the fig, followed by detailed sketches with shading, then went on to our paintings.

Group shot!

Our model, essential for observational drawings!

Paul Cezanne Apples

I love to have the students work from real life. For this lesson I set up a still life of apples on a plate with a colorful table cloth. We talked about Paul Cezanne and looked at photos of his apple paintings and then got started on our own apple still life paintings.

Week one, we penciled in our whole picture, painted the apples and outlines with a combination of tempera and acrylic paints so that they would be very rich color.

Week 2, students added some oil pastel pattern to the backgrounds and then painted with water color inks for a really saturated, vibrant finish.

I used 11x 14 multi media paper thats holds up nicely to the paint.

Students were encouraged to draw big and cover the entire page so that there was very little white paper showing.

Drawing lessons

Bicycle studies to kick off the fall session. This lesson is all about composition, different types of lines, creating value with charcoal, and getting messy. Once they have their 3 boxes drawn, i take away the erasers! Mistakes are opportunities to continue your drawing.

Students start by doing 3, 5 minute studies in pencil.

The first study is a contour line drawing of the entire bicycle.

The second study, I ask students to do a close up of one part of the bicycle.

Often, students do not zoom in very close, the 3rd study is another close up of a different part of the bicycle. A second chance to zoom in on details.

Students then have about 1/2 hour to do a detailed charcoal study of the bicycle on the rest of the page.

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....

Kids Spring Art classes now enrolling!

The Spring session is now enrolling, all the details are on our classes page.

The grey days of winter are the perfect time for life size colorful paintings.

Students worked in pairs tracing each other on large pieces of paper in a few different directions to create some abstract shapes.

 Starting with our primary colors...

...then mixing our secondary colors...

 Final step, outlining all our shapes in black.

Valentines inspired by american artist Robert Indiana.

Color wheels in the rain.

When we have left over paint its "free time!"

Drawing with charcoal

The days are getting longer and the winter session is under way. Time to post pretty pictures of what  my middle school students are up to in the studio.

Still life of the day in charcoal and white chalk on some beautiful handmade paper I scored at  Seattle Re-Creative.

Finished!

A delicate touch.

Charcoal is all about layers. Sketch, blend, add the highlights and finish with a few strong black strokes.

We started the session with quick 5 minute contour line drawings of sneakers.  Students were to try to keep their pencils on the paper at all times.