Blogs: A Faithful Attempt and That Artist Woman

I just discovered two art blogs this week: A Faithful Attempt and That Artist Woman, both of which are chockful of art projects and lesson ideas.

A friend clued me in to A Faithful Attempt, which is written by a K-12 art teacher who has taught all around the world. She provides background information for each project, step-by-step instructions and lots of pictures of students' work. Since the author is a school teacher, she uses simple easy-to-get materials that are used in new ways.

A Faithful Attempt had a link to That Artist Woman, which is also an art projects blog. I find the crafts to be a little more detailed and time consuming, which works well for homeschoolers who aren't beholden to 50 minute class times. As on the first blog, That Artist Woman provides clear instructions and lots of pictures. I like the layout of the posts better on this site, because there's more step-by-step images that walk you through the project. She also reviews books and has occasional contests and giveaways for her readers.

I think both of these blogs provide ample artistic inspiration, and I'm positive you can find at least one project your kids will enjoy. Go make some art!

Website: Art 21

I've written about the tv show Art 21 previously, but thought it was worth mentioning again as they recently launched their own website, Art21.org. Before they had a sub-site within PBS' monolithic website, now they've got an independent page with more resources. It's incredibly simple to navigate with four main sections. You can look through content by artist, browse through the numerous videos and educational resources. 

Season 5 is coming out 2012!

My favorite thing about the website is all the videos you can watch (there's over 100 as of this writing!). Some of them are just clips from episodes, but there's a lot of original content that never saw airtime on tv.
The educational section has many resources I think you'll find helpful, especially a glossary of art terms. There's also accompanying educators' guides to give background information on the artists and art spotlighted in the show. It takes very little time to browse around and find information as they've laid it out so nicely.

I recommend Art 21 in general for older teens, as there can be mature themes discussed. Some artists like to be shocking and disgusting simply because they can. Personally, I don't find any artistic merit or educational value in a piece of work titled "Captain Ballsack." It's not edifying or enlightening to me. I suggest just skipping artists like that. Most of the artist interviews that I've watched are entertaining and educational with little objectionable content. Art 21 has helped me learn how to talk about art in an educated and understandable way. I've learned there is no one "right way" to discuss art; what matters is engaging the mind and asking questions and seeking answers.

Art 21 also has blog full of depth and insight, though I find the language tends to be fairly scholarly and the discussions pretty academic in nature. The posts tend to not be very understandable to the reader who isn't well versed in art history.

Video: Daniel Eatock's Felt-tip Prints

This installation is currently on view at the Walker Art Center through January 22, 2012. I thought it was such an interesting way to make a "drawing." Your kids might like to try to recreate it on a smaller scale.

Author: Mary Ann Kohl

MaryAnn F. Kohl has written some of my favorite art activity books. She has published over 20 titles, from books focusing on American artists to a more global perspective. Unfortunately, I haven't had the opportunity to read all of her works, but the few that I have are wonderful. Each project is explained well with a short lesson about an artist or art history to go along with it. MaryAnn is a former school teacher with years of experience. She and I have the same view about teaching kids art: "Art is a process, not a product."  I highly recommend her books if you're looking for some inspiration in your art lessons.

I love this book. So inspiring!

And not only does MaryAnn write books, she also founded her own publishing company, Bright Ring. There are free online resources on Bright Ring's site: excerpts from some of the books, a list of project ideas, links to other websites and blogs, and supplements to Discovering Great Artists. They have a Facebook page as well with links to crafts and funny status updates, for those of you who are in to social media. And MaryAnn also has her own blog. There are a ton of projects posted on there with lots of pictures. She also links to other art blogs for more creative idea resources. This woman has a pretty prodigious output, I must say.

Resources: National Gallery of Art

I'm learning that major art museums usually have awesome websites with tons of free resources. The National Gallery of Art (NGA) is no exception. I don't even know where to start, because there is just so much awesome to write about. They have an excellent site that is very easy to use (would I really recommend anything else?). There's no superfluous icons or visual clutter, it's just simple and to the point. Everything is easily accessible from the front page, you don't have to click through multiple links to get to the good stuff. And the site is definitely full of good stuff.

I'll begin with what first led me to the site: the Children's Video Tour. This page contains 50 short videos about various paintings in NGA's collection. Unfortunately you can't link to any of them specifically or re-post the videos on another site, but I can understand them not wanting to strain their bandwidth that way. I've watched a handful of them and found each one to be engaging, piquing my interest in the painting discussed.

There's more to watch on the Videos and Podcasts page. The videos here are more documentary-like, longer in length, focusing on individual artists, exhibitions, and other areas. You can also listen to various podcasts as well, which include lectures on a wide range of topics, conversations about particular artists, art movements or works in the collection, and insight into the inner workings of the museum.

You can choose from a plethora of online tours, arranged according to artist, art works, and themes. These would be a helpful addition to your curriculum, giving a fuller understanding of art history. The tours are educational and informative without going over your head.

Speaking of educational, the Education page is probably what will pique your interest the most. The Children's Video Tour, NGA Kids, Learning Resources and Classroom links are handily grouped together under the Resources heading. NGA Classroom has online lesson plans and curriculum guides, ranging from art fundamentals to more specific subjects. The Learning Resources page is "a place to borrow, browse, and download more than 300 resources." What's really nifty is they have a free loan program for teachers and homeschoolers! You can request a catalogue to find out all the materials available to for borrowing. If you don't like teaching art or don't think you can do a good job of it, this is for you. Seriously, it's free and from one of the best museums in the country, how awesome is that?!

And NGA doesn't neglect homeschoolers, they have a page specifically for you! There's a little bit of redundancy here, as all the sections I've reviewed are listed on the Homeschool page as well. But I thought it was worth mentioning, because you can bookmark that one page instead of half a dozen.

Your kids might like this last section, since it's aimed specifically at them: NGA Kids. This page is really interesting in that you can make "interactive art online." I found it to be a bit of a visual overload, not as easy to find links as the rest of NGA's website. However, there are a lot of fun activities to be found here, and your kids might like playing around with all the different games.

Another good website to bookmark for further browsing.

Fun: Draw a Stickman

This is perfect for all of those who have told me they can only draw a stickman when it comes to art. Draw A Stickman is a cute website with a simple premise: draw a stick person and something will happen. I don't want to give it away, suffice to say it made me smile.

Project: Deconstructed Square

I saw this project in the October 2011 issue of Arts and Activities Magazine, and tweaked it somewhat. After making it myself, I have some suggestions to make it work better for you.

Materials:

-Cutting mat

-Glue stick (though I think spray adhesive would be much easier to use)

-Exacto knife (I ended up using a pen knife because its shorter blade makes it easier to use and less likely to cut too far)

-Ruler

-Sheet of colored construction paper

-Black construction paper cut into a square (use cardstock instead, it rips less and is easier to cut)

I would suggest this project for kids who have experience with cutting fine details. It was fairly easy for me, but I use an exacto knife frequently for my art making. You could use scissors instead for a simpler design. The point of this craft is to deconstruct the black square as much as possible without taking any paper away. I started cutting without any sort of plan, it would have made more sense to sketch patterns in pencil or chalk first.

It's better to not cut the pieces completely out, but leave them connected just a little bit so you can fold them over as you work. I prefer squiggly shapes, but geometric patterns would make for easier cutting.
When the square is as deconstructed as you like, glue the black cutout to the construction paper in the color of your choice (I chose red for dramatic effect). I used a glue stick, and it was hard to get all the little edges coated. Spray adhesive would be much easier--you can spray the black paper and just set the colored sheet on top of it.

Ta-da!

My picture looks like some sort of creature. I like how it turned out. I think I'll make one more:

Used scissors and spray adhesive--much easier!