more kids abstracts

Abstracts from Taylor and Rowan.

Here are abstracts from Emily, Felicity and Aimee.

Kids class--abstract

Our kids class did a small and simple abstract idea that was a simplified version of what Sandy taught us about the "good white shape." I'd give credit to the artist who teaches this, I think his name is John Salminen, but I'm terrible with names.

We started with four items...a Coke glass, a kids curly straw, an egg beater, and a clothespin. We drew each on a 7 x 9 piece of paper, filling the whole space. Then we redrew each one onto a piece of watercolor paper, rearranging the shapes to our own design.

Next, we miskited out shapes we wanted to keep white and spattered with miskit. We tried to find a "path a mouse could take" that could begin or end on three sides of the paper; as if the mouse could walk a maze from one side of the paper to the other. After the miskit dried we applied a layer of light to midvalue colors that we liked.

After the first layer dried, we put in areas of darkest dark of different sizes, using our drawn shapes as guides. We don't want to overwhelm the picture with too much dark. Make sure some of the darkest darks are right next to the white areas. Then we painted in some of our shapes with more of a middle value.

We removed the miskit and made adjustments for the way we wanted our painting to look. See some of the kids' work in next post.

20 minute challenge week 3

Here are images of a 20-minute challenge that our class has taken. Sandy Maudlin challenged us to paint 3 20-minute paintings a week. (But she promises to up the ante later on) She got this from another artist that you can find on Sandy's blog. The rules are simple: set your timer for 20 minutes and paint FROM A 3-D OBJECT IN FRONT OF YOU , not a picture. Drawing is an option, but that has to be part of the 20-minutes. So most of these are not drawn first--the only one I drew a little on first is the candle and sconce. These are in the same order I did them. Note the basket is a bit torn...Katy's dog truly ate my homework!


I found some advantages. For one thing, anyone can commit to 20 minutes. Once you've done that 20 minutes, you're "in the zone" and want to paint more. Another is that you're freer to experiment with papers and paint--it's just a 20-minute investment. So some of these are on regular paper, some on yupo. (The ones that look really shiny are yupo). Some are watercolor, two are watercolor pencil.

So...if you're up to the challenge...Try it! (these are posted in the order that I painted them.)

Sister Cahoon & Sister Ferrin

This was Sister Ferrin's first time to paint, and she did a great job.

Some day I'll actually remember what this is called, but it's a great technique for a first-time painter. You can paint wet into dry or wet-on-wet. You just start with three primaries; paint small amount of one color, then let another color bleed into it. It's a good way to teach about charging color, learn to control the amount of water you use, and decide which you like best. Sister Cahoon went for the bold look, and Sister Ferrin opted for a more subtle look, but they both looked great. Recognize the Young Women's symbol? It's a nice project for the YW program.

Missionary Christmas Cards

Here are some of our favorite missionaries, Sister Holbrook (now a civilian), and Sister Cahoon right before Sister H. left to go home. They wanted to have a last art fling. Sister H. did one of a sister missionary preaching to the birds; Sis.C's was of a snowman teacher, because both her parents are teachers.

It's great fun to paint with the missionaries, something I've done off and on for about two years.

A Christmas Card

Emily wanted to do a poinsettia and had a general layout in mind: a poinsettia in the corner and a star over a snowy hill in the background. So we came up with this.

I think anyone would be happy to get this card!