Drawing Games!
Recently I've been thinking a lot about the problem solving aspect of art. All art is problem solving to a degree (which is why it's so unfortunate that art is often vulnerable when it comes to budget cuts) and the reason it's so important to developing minds! In a world of instant gratification it's become even more crucial a skill to practice. I make a effort to include as many problem solving projects as possible at the studio. Some favorites of mine and one that is easy to do at home, in the car, whenever are..... Drawing Games! The beauty of a drawing game is that you don't need special materials or even the ability to draw well. Simple imagery and stick figures work fine! Here are a couple of fun drawing games for the next time your child is bored at home, in the car, or at a restaurant!
Drawing An Adjective! (ages 5+)
I learned long ago that if you can add an element of chance to any game it's instantly more fun! That's why any time we can pull folded paper from a cup, we do (however, it's not necessary). Here's how you play,
Materials:
empty cup of any shape or size
paper (computer paper folded in half works fine, it'll give you four spaces to draw on so you don't end up wasting paper)
pencils
scissors
Cut small paper slips and clearly print adjectives on them (hot, cold, tired, heavy, smelly, and so on) then fold and place in cup.
Next pull a piece of paper from the cup. Once you have your adjective it's time to draw the word (if playing with kids that can read it's fun to keep words a secret to guess once finished)
Here are some examples of adjectives and drawings!
Tiny
Hot
Smelly ( a lot of kids had the same idea about this one!)
Wooden
An Animal's Perspective!
Materials:
Pencils
Paper
In this game you simply draw something from an animals perspective (bugs can be included). This game can be slightly more difficult but children as young as six did wonderfully at it. Here are some examples!
Bee
Bird (note the feet and birdhouses)
Ant
ENJOY!
New Project for Little Ones!
Here's a easy, fun project designed for young children! I did this project with two of my younger classes last week (ages 3-5) and loved the results! It's easily modified for older students as well!
I used illustrations from Elmer the Patchwork Elephant by David McKee as inspiration. Elmer is the story of a colorful elephant celebrated for being different!
Materials:
*Bristol Paper
*Practice Paper (for older students who will draw their own Elmer)
*Pencil
*Oil Pastels
*Watered down Acrylics
*Brushes
*Markers, Colored Pencils, or Crayons
*Scissors
*Glue
(This project can be done with only paper, Elmer print out, scissors, glue, and crayons/markers. Paint, Bristol, and Oil Pastels are not necessary, it's just how we did it at the studio!)
Step One:
Start by creating a background for Elmer. Draw lines from one end of Bristol paper to the other with different colored oil pastels. Next turn the paper and draw another set of lines from one end to the other. You should end up with a grid of squares. (make sure lines go all the way to the end of the paper for complete squares).
Paint squares with different colored acrylics. Encourage lots of different colors in different squares, colors will bleed into each other, that's OK!
Step Two:
While background is drying start coloring in your Elmer print out with markers, colored pencils, or crayons. Encourage stripes, patterns, or just lots of color. This part should be fun and left up to the artist! To modify for older students just have draw Elmer instead of using print out. Any type of paper will do!
Step Three:
Once Elmer is completed, cut out and glue onto background. Feel free to add jewels or sequences! Check out these cute Elmer's!
Savannah Children's Book Festival!
The Children's Book Festival is this Saturday Nov. 10th, 10am-4pm in Forsyth Park.We were blown away by the festival last year and are super excited to be included this year! Stop by our tent to say Hi and pick up a complimentary gift bag! We'd love to see you!
Our very talented student Lauren Shweiky won the poster contest! Her adorable artwork of a bird reading will be on display through out the festival.
In October we collaborated with Dick Blick and Live Oak Public Libraries to create a TWIGS Portrait Show. Some of our students were chosen to contribute to the new TWIGS coloring book.This Saturday drawing sheets featuring their TWIGS drawings will be available at the festival.Don't forget to pick some up!
Lastly, check out the wonderful Rocket artwork created in last month's free art class at Southwest Chatham Public Library. How Rocket Learned to Read by Tad Hills is just one of the fantastic books you'll find at the book festival!
The Story of Henny Penny! Creating an Art Show!
We are so excited for our upcoming art show, The Story of Henny Penny at Foxy Loxy Gallery & Cafe! This has been an especially fun show to put together! We used Paul Galdone's illustrations as inspiration!
Here's a look at some of the wonderful artwork that will be on display and the techniques we used!
Foxy Loxy!
Students started off practicing drawing Foxy Loxy's devious face. Next we re-drew their faces on Bristol and started inking using red, yellow, grey and black ink! Students were encouraged to layer their colors, paying attention to how underlying colors affected top colors.*This was the first time a lot of students experienced working with ink/ink pens and most of them really enjoyed it!
Storybook Illustrations!
The illustrations were so wonderful, it provided a great opportunity for students to work on their drawing skills! Although they weren't the easiest illustrations to imitate, with a little work everyone yielded fantastic results. These illustrations were drawn on Illustration Board and rendered in watercolor, ink, and collage!
Goosey Loosey!
No show would complete without a chance to incorporate personal flair! Students drew Goosey Loosey in profile and painted them with a limited palette. Next students "dressed" their paintings! They couldn't be cuter!
