An artsy giveaway

A new website to me,  Katydid and Kid, is having a cool art products giveaway from a Stubby Pencil Studio, a company that is also new to me.  Come join me and maybe one of us will win!  I'd love to put these goodies in my Sm'Arties bag. 

Stencils and Leaves

I was inspired by this project from Artsonia.    I liked how the project was on a skinny piece of paper.  (Note to self:  Later we must use even skinnier paper, landscape direction to make comics.)  The Artsonia students sponge-painted in the stencils with tempura, but after two weeks of sending out ART SHIRT ALERTS, I just wanted to get back to using oil pastels or colored pencils or something.   

Sketch a half-leaf on folded cardstock, and cut it out and unfold to reveal a stencil. The idea of cutting a hole in the paper was hard to grasp, and I did not anticipate what would happen.  Though I showed them exactly what I was doing and how the stencil  looked when complete, several students added a stem that reached to the bottom of the little piece of paper, resulting in a re-do or a tape fix.  No, no, DRAW the stem in later - the stencil needs no stem.

Figure out how the leaves will "fall" down the page.  (We did this project on posterboard.  I recommend using some other paper for this type project.)   Then we colored them in LIGHTLY PLEASE with fall colors.  I found that if you color with the yellow last, and kind of harder over the top of the other colors, it blends all the colors nicely.  If you color hard to begin with using the other colors, then coloring with the yellow pulls the other colors off the page, resulting in frustrated young artists. 

Now go back and outline and vein with black  Add a drop shadow. (I forgot to tell the Sm'Arties to use a drop shadow.  Maybe the moms will see this post and show their Sm'arties)  Accent the leaves with white.  Wow!  Doesn't that look cool?  Earthgirl went back and added the drop shadow under each leaf so I could take before and after pictures.             

Before adding drop shadow

After adding drop shadow

Now add swirls to represent the wind - black, white accents, then a little glitter glue accent, too.  Can you really see the wind?  No, but you see the effects of the wind.  Quote John 3:8.  For extra credit, quote it in King James version: " The wind bloweth where it listeth..." ) I forgot this part, too.  No extra credit for Miss Sm'Artiepants.

The girls found a tree frog on the window screen.

 He wants to be a Sm'Artie, too.

 

School's out!!!!!

 

Falling Leaves

 Last weekend the leaves were beautiful in Athens, GA. I brought home red maple, turkey oak, and ginkgo leaves for an autumn art project.

Did you know that "gingko" and "ginkgo" are both considered acceptable English spellings?  I didn't either. 

 

 

Tracing leaves on manila drawing paper (like lightweight construction paper).

 

The children worked with overlapping some leaves. 

 

After tracing, they would line the leaves and draw veins using my brown scrapbooking pens.  It was difficult to draw spidery veins instead of straight lines.  Next time I would explain that better. 

 

Coloring with chalk pastels in streaks.It's hard to not color it completely!

 Smudging with fingers to blend colors.

 

All the pictures are bordered, also with smudged chalk pastels.

All done!  I spray with fixative so the chalk won't all rub off on the way home.

 

 

Ginkgo leaves

 

Maple leaves

Operation Christmas Child Part 2

Having completed artistic lids last week, we painted boxes this week - solid colors only!  (The lids last week took more effort than I had anticipated, so we went for simple and, well, finished.

Art Shirt Alert!

 

Color choices limited to red, green, or blue really speeds up the decision-making.  Notice the moms in the background actually had time to relax this time!  Can't see them?

There they are!

 

Ready to stuff and send out to children who need them.

Operation Christmas Child

Our Mini-Co-op (still trying to come up with a cool name that does not make us wonder if we should use 1 dash or 2)  - anyway, our Mini-Coop (?) is getting ready for Operation Christmas Child.  Our larger Homeschool group's Good Works Club is gathering shoeboxes filled with gifte to be distributed locally, and my church is gathering shoeboxes with toiletries and gifts to distribute through Samaritan's Purse . 

Instead of wrapping boxes, we are painting boxes - Kadinsky and Mondrian-style.

Love the use of the abandoned toddler toy.

Painting these boxes was more mom-intensive then I had thought.  I sent out an "ART SHIRT ALERT," but didn't think moms would need an art shirt, too. Careful, Peg!

I have a whole stack of Sm'Artie rulers to use in art class - Go ahead!  Get Sharpie marker all over them!   

 I had preprimed with Gesso and painted the boxes white. The children penciled in some boudaries, then went to town with acrylic paint.

This week we just painted the lids.  Next week we paint the body of the box a solid color.

Kadinsky-inspired masterpiece.

Fall Festival

Who is that Movie Star with Earthgirl?

It's a Sm'Artie in disguise!(her couture dress was much more impressive than the photo communitcates.)

 

 Science Geek comes as.....HERSELF!  -with Union soldier JD.

 

Loved the frog.  Gotta get me some of those glasses!

 

What happens when an Indian Maiden surprises a soldier?

 

They are a couple of hams.

 

What is he about to say?