Try something different--go outside the box.
It's easy and comfortable to stick with what we know. Trying something you're not familiar with can be awkward, there's more possibility for failure (see Art Tip #1); you might feel stupid as if you should somehow already know how to do this. You have no problem whipping through a lesson on history, helping your kids concoct a science experiment, teaching them reading and writing...but when it comes to art, you're all thumbs and you don't know how to come up with interesting projects.
We can't be experts on everything, dear readers. And making art is not relegated to a few select individuals who can draw a straight line blindfolded.
Like I've said before, just try to have fun and don't over think what you're doing. Just try something new, shake up your status quo.
If you always pull out the colored pencils and drawing paper, try letting your kids play around with some watercolors instead.
A lot of kids like building things with Play Doh, take it one step further with some cheap modeling clay; most craft stores carry the easy bake or air dry varieties.
If your children like drawing, take them to a museum and have them pretend they're apprentices during the Renaissance, learning from the great masters' works.
If you're into sewing, let your kids play around with scraps and thread, let them create something on their own. When I was in junior high, I made some leaf shaped pins out of felt scraps one day just for fun.
If you always visit the same art museum for field trips, go to a different one even if you don't like the art. I really love going to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, and I'm not a huge fan of the Walker, but I visit both regularly because it widens my understanding of art. (Just looking at their websites' front pages, you can tell they're very different institutions) And sometimes I'm surprised and discover a piece of art that really inspires me where I least expect to find it.
I could go on, but you get the idea: shake things up, don't settle in a rut.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Art Tip #3: Have a home base
Create a home base for art making.
At my house we have the Craft Cabinet, the home of all our art supplies. Over the years the materials have changed as my sibling and I have grown up, but it's still in use today, getting raided by my sister for assignments for her college classes and by me for my art projects. The Craft Cabinet has been a source of amusement and creative self-discovery over the years for us. If we wanted to make some art, we'd just open up the cabinet and pull out some crayons, pencils, glitter glue, whatever struck our fancy. And when the art making is done, all the supplies have one place to go back to, which makes cleaning up pretty easy.
At my house we have the Craft Cabinet, the home of all our art supplies. Over the years the materials have changed as my sibling and I have grown up, but it's still in use today, getting raided by my sister for assignments for her college classes and by me for my art projects. The Craft Cabinet has been a source of amusement and creative self-discovery over the years for us. If we wanted to make some art, we'd just open up the cabinet and pull out some crayons, pencils, glitter glue, whatever struck our fancy. And when the art making is done, all the supplies have one place to go back to, which makes cleaning up pretty easy.
Art Tip #2: Encourage a mess
Allow and encourage making a mess.
This goes along with my previous post on failure. If things are getting messy, your child is making something and (hopefully) having some fun. Now I'm not advocating paste smeared on the walls and play-doh stuck in the dog's fur, but when the creative juices start flowing things can get a little messy. If art is so regimented and neat-nick that there's no room for error, then there's not really much room for fun either.
This goes along with my previous post on failure. If things are getting messy, your child is making something and (hopefully) having some fun. Now I'm not advocating paste smeared on the walls and play-doh stuck in the dog's fur, but when the creative juices start flowing things can get a little messy. If art is so regimented and neat-nick that there's no room for error, then there's not really much room for fun either.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Art Tip #1: Failure is good
Failure is a good thing.
Yes, you read that right. Your kids have to be allowed to try something and possibly fail at it. This is true in other areas as well, but especially so in art.
I still distinctly remember one particular art teacher I had at a homeschool co-op when I was little. She would come around, look at students' drawings, and then erase something she didn't think was right and re-draw it! I would get frustrated, because I thought it looked good and then all my hard work was replaced. There's a difference between helping students improve their skills and doing their work for them. What would have been better for this teacher to do: come around to look at the drawings, then suggest ways to improve my drawing myself. A student can't truly learn something if the work is done by someone else.
I didn't understand perspective, scale, shading, proportions when I first put crayon to paper. But I was allowed and encouraged to draw, doodle, paint, cut, paste, build, sew...and through the process of creating I learned. Not everything I made as a 7-year-old and make as a 24-year-old are masterpieces. I try new ideas and they don't always work. And that's okay. I take what I learned and I create again.
Yes, you read that right. Your kids have to be allowed to try something and possibly fail at it. This is true in other areas as well, but especially so in art.
I still distinctly remember one particular art teacher I had at a homeschool co-op when I was little. She would come around, look at students' drawings, and then erase something she didn't think was right and re-draw it! I would get frustrated, because I thought it looked good and then all my hard work was replaced. There's a difference between helping students improve their skills and doing their work for them. What would have been better for this teacher to do: come around to look at the drawings, then suggest ways to improve my drawing myself. A student can't truly learn something if the work is done by someone else.
I didn't understand perspective, scale, shading, proportions when I first put crayon to paper. But I was allowed and encouraged to draw, doodle, paint, cut, paste, build, sew...and through the process of creating I learned. Not everything I made as a 7-year-old and make as a 24-year-old are masterpieces. I try new ideas and they don't always work. And that's okay. I take what I learned and I create again.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Resources: Altered Esthetics' Drawing Night
Altered Esthetics is a gallery in Northeast Minneapolis that I've mentioned before. They're a non-profit art organization that gives many artists their first opportunity to show work in a gallery (myself included). They have monthly art openings, artist talks, workshops, mentor programs for new artists, and more.
One of their new events this year is Suit Up Ae. Every third Wednesday of the month 6:30 - 8:30pm Ae provides an evening of figure drawing. Volunteers dress up in costumes and anyone is free to come and draw for two hours. There is a suggested donation of $3, which is very reasonable. If you have a student who wants to further their drawing skills this is a fun and low key opportunity to do so.
There's just something special about making art in the company of other artistically inclined souls. And there's no comparison to drawing from real life--you can obsess over the details from a photograph ad infinitum, but a model can only hold a pose so long. Life drawing teaches you to focus on the important details and not worry about the little things so much. It can be challenging but it's a lot of fun.
One of their new events this year is Suit Up Ae. Every third Wednesday of the month 6:30 - 8:30pm Ae provides an evening of figure drawing. Volunteers dress up in costumes and anyone is free to come and draw for two hours. There is a suggested donation of $3, which is very reasonable. If you have a student who wants to further their drawing skills this is a fun and low key opportunity to do so.
There's just something special about making art in the company of other artistically inclined souls. And there's no comparison to drawing from real life--you can obsess over the details from a photograph ad infinitum, but a model can only hold a pose so long. Life drawing teaches you to focus on the important details and not worry about the little things so much. It can be challenging but it's a lot of fun.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Article: More Drawing Advice Than Anyone Wanted
The artist of a webcomic I follow recently wrote up a great essay about drawing and learning to be yourself as an artist.
"Anyone who has any aptitude at drawing will be asked at some point “how do I learn how to do that?”, and it seems to me that when people care to go into a more elaborate response than “Practice all the time” they are usually advising people to read up on a lot of Hogarth and Loomis, and learn all of the fundamentals before they start trying to get creative. I think one of the best pieces of drawing advice for beginners I ever saw was once upon a time on DeviantArt when Modus Operandi’s artist Tish Doolin told someone that if you were just picking up a pencil and trying this drawing thing out for the first time, it’s going to benefit you more to draw things that you have fun with than struggling with dry fundamentals right out of the gate."
You can read the rest of her post here. It's pretty long, but it's good reading. Expressing yourself artistically takes investing some time and effort into the endeavor. She uses the analogy of learning a new language--you don't expect to be fluent after paging through a few pages of a Spanish textbook, likewise you're not going to be Monet after painting once or twice.
She references and links to several helpful resources, one of which is this essay/tutorial.
I've come across similar guides in the past, but I found this particular one to be very well done and quite informative. It's surprisingly academic (but not in a over-your-head incomprehensible way) in that it's not simply about drawing. To draw well, you have to understand some basic ideas. To draw really well and to own your artistic style, you also have to know some art theory, which is not as scary as it sounds. I've referred to the landmark graphic novel Understanding Comics by Scott Mccloud in the past. This essay paraphrases a lot of his ideas into simpler, shorter form. I'd suggest reading the book for a fuller understanding of symbols and the styles of representation in art.
"Anyone who has any aptitude at drawing will be asked at some point “how do I learn how to do that?”, and it seems to me that when people care to go into a more elaborate response than “Practice all the time” they are usually advising people to read up on a lot of Hogarth and Loomis, and learn all of the fundamentals before they start trying to get creative. I think one of the best pieces of drawing advice for beginners I ever saw was once upon a time on DeviantArt when Modus Operandi’s artist Tish Doolin told someone that if you were just picking up a pencil and trying this drawing thing out for the first time, it’s going to benefit you more to draw things that you have fun with than struggling with dry fundamentals right out of the gate."
You can read the rest of her post here. It's pretty long, but it's good reading. Expressing yourself artistically takes investing some time and effort into the endeavor. She uses the analogy of learning a new language--you don't expect to be fluent after paging through a few pages of a Spanish textbook, likewise you're not going to be Monet after painting once or twice.
She references and links to several helpful resources, one of which is this essay/tutorial.
I've come across similar guides in the past, but I found this particular one to be very well done and quite informative. It's surprisingly academic (but not in a over-your-head incomprehensible way) in that it's not simply about drawing. To draw well, you have to understand some basic ideas. To draw really well and to own your artistic style, you also have to know some art theory, which is not as scary as it sounds. I've referred to the landmark graphic novel Understanding Comics by Scott Mccloud in the past. This essay paraphrases a lot of his ideas into simpler, shorter form. I'd suggest reading the book for a fuller understanding of symbols and the styles of representation in art.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Artist: Kendall Bohn
I met Kendall Bohn the other day at the California Arts Building where he has his studio. My attention was grabbed by his paintings displayed in the hallway, which reminded me a lot of Henri Rousseau's. Kendall's paintings have that same dreamlike quality with vivid colors and undulating shapes. But he doesn't only paint, sculptures and ceramics are also part of his repertoire. And he's a graphic designer on top of that. That's what you call a jack of all trades!
What I really want to share with you is Kendall's series of coloring books, Kaleidoscopia. So many coloring books these days are overtly simplified and dumbed down, as if publishers think kids can't focus enough to color in even the most basic shapes. If your child loves to color and gets bored with the typical fare available, the Kaleidoscopia series is for them. There is no way you can finish these pictures in just a few minutes. The Abstract books caught my eye the most, but there's also dinosaur and fantasy titles available. There's a free coloring page from each Kaleidoscopia title available for download.
You can buy the books online at the Kaleidoscopia site, and they're available at a number of retailers, like Creative Kidstuff, as well.
You can also visit Kendall's studio in the California Arts Building during the open studios event every second Saturday of the month. He showed me some of the original drawings he did for the coloring books, which was pretty cool. I also got to see the work for the next Abstract coloring book coming out this summer, which is going to have twice as many pages as previous titles.
And now, if you'll excuse me, I'm inspired to go doodle in my sketchbook.
What I really want to share with you is Kendall's series of coloring books, Kaleidoscopia. So many coloring books these days are overtly simplified and dumbed down, as if publishers think kids can't focus enough to color in even the most basic shapes. If your child loves to color and gets bored with the typical fare available, the Kaleidoscopia series is for them. There is no way you can finish these pictures in just a few minutes. The Abstract books caught my eye the most, but there's also dinosaur and fantasy titles available. There's a free coloring page from each Kaleidoscopia title available for download.
You can buy the books online at the Kaleidoscopia site, and they're available at a number of retailers, like Creative Kidstuff, as well.
You can also visit Kendall's studio in the California Arts Building during the open studios event every second Saturday of the month. He showed me some of the original drawings he did for the coloring books, which was pretty cool. I also got to see the work for the next Abstract coloring book coming out this summer, which is going to have twice as many pages as previous titles.
And now, if you'll excuse me, I'm inspired to go doodle in my sketchbook.
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