Last month, I started a Craftsy watercolor class with the fabulous instructor, Kateri Ewing. That being said, I’m only halfway through the course. I still have a lot to learn, but I’ve been wanting to work on a picture of Big Ben for the last six months. Let me emphasize that this is watercolor practice. I can see that I made a lot of mistakes. The completed picture doesn’t have the right “feel” to it, I think. I need to loosen up a bit, but I haven’t quite figured out how to do that!
The reference image and painting prompt is from the book, No Excuses Watercolors by Gina Armfield .
I was also using a large (size 14) synthetic watercolor brush for the background and it was the first time I used it. Lesson learned. Test ALL of my brushes first. My other brushes are size 2 and size 8, both sable (or something similar).
For the past year, I have been returning to my ‘fine arts’ roots. I’ve always “made” creative things while sewing, knitting, or quilting, but it’s only recently that I’ve been dedicating time to drawing. Last year, I took a color pencil class through Craftsy which forced me to draw more. I discovered that I loved it…and missed it. A lot.
Since I wanted the drawing practice, I chose to sketch out Big Ben rather than copy the line drawing from the book. It was fun to figure out how to add the shading with cross-hatching. I think this is an area I can work on in the future.
I love using ink and watercolors. I like it better than trying to replicate an exact picture.
I’m looking forward to tracing this Big Ben outline and trying again with a different approach. But, I should probably return to class. Or maybe not.
This entry was posted in Me and tagged drawing, Watercolors on June 27, 2017 by ArtisanEducation.
When I was pregnant I had dreams of all of the cool things I would do with my child. We would sit together and color, go for long walks and do a lot of drawing. All of the parents can see where this is headed, right? My first child was born and he hated to color; he refused to pick up any writing instrument. He wanted to build, destroy and take things apart. He was fascinated by machines, noisy toys and television. So, I quietly put away my own interests (art and drawing) for his interests. We bought him wood blocks and spent hours building. We jumped into legos and computers. We taught him to create with these things, rather than to passively consume them.
Drawn by R, age 11. We’ve done some prep work from the book, Drawing with Children.
A few years later, we added another son to our family. He seemed quieter and more willing to pick up a pencil, but he was enthralled with his older brother’s antics. And so I waited. My older son showed an interest in drawing (around age 8) and my younger son (now age 7) is also showing a strong interest in drawing and art history. I can’t say that I am an especially patient person, but I am thrilled that their interests are finally dovetailing my own.
C, age 6, drawing an Atlanta building for the city project.
Four years ago, a friend turned us onto Mark Kistler’s online video lessons. Since we’re homeschoolers, we buy a yearly subscription through the Homeschool Buyers Co-op. The videos are separated by skill level and novice artists can stop the videos as much as they want. He takes the students step-by-step while infusing his lessons with the language of art. He speaks of perspective and shadowing. He addresses the importance of direction and the size of foreground objects. He does all of this while drawing – it’s his natural language and the students don’t realize they are picking up art terms. It gives them the confidence to add these elements to their own drawings.
Drawn by C, age 7. Instruction by Mark Kistler.
Although I incorporated art into our daily life anyway – it was to help the kids learn to love art – not really to increase my own drawing ability. During their younger years, I felt like I needed to become an expert educator/parent and so my art took a back seat for the past eleven years. But, after a little bit of soul-searching this past year (mid-life crisis, perhaps) and thanks to a few other resources (the book Essentialism, and the web site, Craftsy), I have brought art to the forefront of my life. I am drawing more and refining my ability. Thankfully, my kids are on board.
Drawn by Liz looking at a color picture of a lily.
This entry was posted in Kid's art, Me, Parenting and tagged art & tech on January 16, 2017 by ArtisanEducation.
:: Ronan and I singing – as per his request this morning.
There will be a lot of singing and thunder rumbling in our morning. As a kid, I loved rainy days – it meant the perfect excuse to lay around all day and read, read, read.
And, when we get tired of reading, I think some gluing may be in order.
What are your rainy day plans?
This entry was posted in Kids' Craft Projects, Me on July 20, 2009 by ArtisanEducator.