Dots with Line and Color

I love the messages in Peter H. Reynolds' books, particularly for older kids (4th and 5th) who suddenly decide they "can't draw". Makes me nuts!!! The Dot and Ish are a great way to start the school year and set the tone that we ALL can make art.

What I didn't know, until reading it on Hope Hunter Knight's blog here, is that September 15 is "International Dot Day"!! My art classes start on September 12 so the timing is perfect for a lesson based on The Dot.

I have the book so I may read it to classes or, it is also on YouTube, so we may just watch the animation.

There will be 4 classes of 4th graders and 1 class of third graders participating in this lesson focusing on the color wheel. I am planning on several different options of "dots" for each class. Some dot makers will be using colored markers and permanent Sharpies, some will use paint (tempera cakes) and permanent markers,

I like to tape over the black and white to limit the palette to the 6 main color wheel colors.

some will use just paint

I like this idea from the book to teach positive/negative space!!

One class may use oil pastels and baby oil (see technique here). I haven't quite decided about that yet. Whatever the media, I will be asking students to use their knowledge of the color wheel to plan their art AND for those using concentric circles and Sharpie markers I will be focusing on repetition of line patterns. This will be a good way for me to find out what students remember from last year.

It feels GREAT to be back in the classroom even if the kids aren't in here with me yet!!!

Vacation's Last Days

I spent the last few days of vacation in Carmel, California, where the Tour D'Elegance was in full swing. What a stunning display of beautiful cars!!

We spent time viewing the cars, eating, walking, eating, going in and out of art galleries and, you got it, eating!!

My friend let me try out some of his new Holbein water soluble oil paints. All I can say is that I on my way to Dick Blick's tomorrow to get some!!!!!

I did spend some time photographing examples of pattern and repetition (more on that later in the school year). I especially liked this line up of motorcycles in town for security during the car parade.

Summer Winding Down

We are having hotter than usual weather around here so it was time to "hole in" and finish a project that has been waiting patiently to be finished for quite awhile. The quilt top has been done for a year or two and I FINALLY quilted it and I'm ready to use it this Fall!!

And, sadly, last week I ate my last Blenheim apricot and baked the last apricot pie of the season. It's one of my favorite aspects of the summer! When that was done it was time to get my class schedule ready for the 2012-13 school year -- almost done with that!! It was a productive week!

Lines & Color

I still have some unfinished summer projects I'm working on (my classes don't start for a few weeks yet) but one corner of my brain has started thinking about school. I'm thinking of a review of lines and primary colors for primary grades.

Using tempera, the lines come first.
Next, when the tempera is dry, we add primary colors.

This could be finished here, but if you've been following my blog for any length of time, you know I have what seems like an endless supply of pre-cut foil that I bought last year at Smart and Final. So, if I have an extra day to devote to this, we might cut our paintings, spread the pieces, and insert foil in the spaces -- like this:

We'll see....
Now, back to my quilting project....