Focus on Art

September brought the return of my Focus on Art program.  For the September session, we discussed collages.  After showing the two attendees some examples, we dug into the supplies and got to work.  I provided many different materials: markers, crayons, colored pencils, chalk pastels, oil pastels, watercolors, scrapbook paper, magazines, scissors, and glue. 

  

I made this. :)

In October, we concentrated on landscapes.  I showed samples of various types of landscapes before we started making our own.  I had decided to tie the October program in with the September one with our project: making landscapes out of magazines. The supplies were simple: scissors, magazines, glue.

I didn’t get any photos of the participants’ artwork this time, so you will just have to look at mine.

Focus on Art: Portraits

Last month I had the third in a new series of programs for tweens and teens called Focus on Art.  This time we focused on portraits.

I decided to put the program on hiatus for the summer so I could offer other programs and evaluate whether to continue Focus on Art in the fall.  I do plan to bring it back.  Each month I had more attendees and both the kids and the adults repeatedly asked when the next program will be.

Back to May’s event.  I had seven children attend: two seventh graders, one fifth grader, three fourth graders and one second grader (the younger brother of another attendee). 

We started the program by playing a game called Roll-a-Picasso. 

After about ten minutes of this fun activity, we then continued on with a discussion of portraits and looked at examples, several of which I had displayed on the wall of the meeting room. 
 

 I showed that portraits can be done in any medium and style.  I also showed them how one person may make an original portrait and another turn that into something different, using the 2006 photograph of Barack Obama by freelance photographer Mannie Garcia and the subsequent poster designed by Shepard Fairey in 2008.  This in turn led into a shot discussion on copyright.

We then started working on drawing portraits.  The attendees could draw a portrait of someone else in the room, from their memory, from one of the books available or from one of the examples on display.  For the next 40 minutes they unleashed their creativity. 

We will be planning our fall programs soon, so I am thinking of themes for future Focus on Art events.  I hope they continue to grow in popularity!

Here's my Pinterest board for Focus on Art: Portraits.

Focus on Art: Still Life

A few days ago I had the first in what I hope will become a popular series of programs.  The program, called Focus on Art, is advertised for students in grades 5-12.  I had five children registered for this month’s event.  Two attended.  While the group was smaller than I had hoped, we had a lot of fun.

The program’s focus will, of course, be on art; however, each month the topic will be different.  For the first three sessions the themes are, in order: Still Life, Abstract, and Portraits.

For the Still Life session I purchased several drawing pencils (B2) and art gum erasers.  Due to the Open Art Studio programs, I already had various sizes of drawing paper. 

The program began with a drawing exercise.  Each attendee is given a piece of scrap paper.  In this case they were storytime plans from a few years ago.  I give them a series of commands, such as write a letter/an initial, draw a line, draw a shape, color in a shape, make a border, etc.  This is done on the side of the page that has writing or a picture already on it. The commands can be anything dealing with drawing.  After each command they switch papers.  At the end, making sure every participant has a different paper than she began with, they rip up the page.  You can further the exercise by then making collages using the torn paper and magazines.

Next I talked about the topic, giving them an overview and showing examples.  I explained how art can often be learned and better understood by mimicking other works.  We then started the creative portion of the program by choosing one of the samples and drawing them in our own style.

I was impressed!  Both girls did a wonderful job of making their own versions of the artwork.  I only wish I took photos before they left.  Must remember to do that next month!

I found the book What is a Still Life? to be very helpful.  It is written for a younger audience, making it easy to understand, and has a lot of great examples of various types of still life.   

My Still Life Pinterest board.