You know those velvety tracksuits that were popular in the ’70s, and are making a comeback again in stores like Juicy Couture? We used that material this week for our pastel owl project! Even though velour is a fashion DON’T in many cases, it’s an art DO!

This project was a little different, because we didn’t start by outlining our drawing in Sharpie. We were drawing on black velour paper, so we used pastels right off the bat! I had the kids pick one light colored pastel to outline their drawing, and then we went back and colored in with the rest of the pastels.

The colors were the most important part of this project, because they stand out so much against the black background. I was so impressed by the color combinations the kids used! Every picture was different and beautiful.

After we finished coloring, we glued the velour paper to a piece of colored construction paper to make a frame. Then the kids could decorate the frame any way they wanted!

A new session has just begun and we have lots more fun projects coming your way! Stay tuned!

The kids LOVED this project.  They thought it was so cool to work on copper foil other than paper.  Usually, we work do a warm up on copy paper and then our project on an 10 x 13, but this time we had to work smaller.  Backwards and challenging!

The wood stick we used to draw with was different; too light and the line won’t show, too hard and the foil could rip! I told them, “If the copper squeaks, you’re drawing just enough to get the drawing down!”

The background was the most fun for the kids.  Using metallic paint markers (washable, and non-toxic, of course!) provided color on our black construction paper. Brainstorming for our background was really fun.  We had lots of gold coconuts, pink flowers and a purple/gold monkeys!

Thanks to Monica Latona for contributing to this week’s blog, as our usual blogger Sarah Hansel was serving jury duty!

This week we learned about negative space by drawing a cool black&white T-Rex! Grrrrrr! Negative space is a technique in which you use the spaces between and around elements in a drawing as part of the drawing. Often negative space is used in clever or tricky ways. One of the most well-known examples of negative space is this image of a vase/two faces:

Since negative space was a new concept for our young artists, we started simple and just drew a box around the T-Rex, and played with black and white contrast. The T-Rex itself was also a complicated image to draw, so we warmed up by drawing the outline of the T-Rex and then moved on to the real drawing.

Let’s be honest: black and white aren’t the most fun colors, especially for younger children. So I brought along some colored markers as well and let them use multiple colors. The drawings still turned out great! And a surprising number of kids still went with the black&white.

Some dinosaurs ended up with clothes, hats, bows…the kids’ imaginations were free to roam!

Here are some questions with our awesome Certified Instructor Tina Thorman!

What schools do you teach at? 

I teach some of the sweetest kids at Arnold Adreani Elementary, Elk Grove Montessori, and for the Visions homeschool program locally.  On occasion, I work at the studio for preschool projects and birthday parties, too.

How long have you been teaching at KidzArt? Why did you start?

I have been with KidzArt since the summer of 2010.  Two of the biggest reasons I started were because I love art and I love to teach kids, but another one is because I wanted to do something part-time so I can still homeschool my 2 boys.

What do you like about KidzArt/the KidzArt philosophy?

I think the KidzArt program is amazing because every child can feel successful.  There is no “one right way” and although the drawings are guided, there is so much room for the children to make their pieces unique and creative.

What do you do when you’re not teaching?

Well, being a homeschool mom, every moment is a teachable moment, but I relax and recharge by working in the garden and painting with acrylics.

Has there been a particular project you’ve loved since you started teaching? 

I have two:  One was Grandma’s Attic with webbing spray. . .the kids were so creative with the items they drew in their attic and everyone’s picture came out amazing.  The second one was actually a Father’s Day project with the studio preschoolers. . .the kids were asked to answer questions about their dads inside a card they had done their project on and the answers were the funniest and sweetest words.  We laughed when they guessed their dads were 10-feet tall and weighed 5 pounds and teared up when they said they are happiest when their dad says “I love you.”

What is your art background?

I have some general knowledge from art classes from high school and college and from my previous years as a first grade teacher, but I am mostly self-taught.  My favorite medium is acrylic paint and I mostly love to paint garden themes.

"Tranquility" by Tina Thorman

We started off 2012 with a beautiful project featuring Mount Fuji! Mount Fuji is located near Tokyo and is the highest mountain in Japan. It made for a great subject to test out our glitter liquid watercolor!

This week, we learned about perspective, which is how far away things appear to be in relation to other things in the drawing. In this drawing, the trees are bigger because they are closer to us, and the mountain is smaller–even though of course the mountain is literally bigger than the trees in real life. Using perspective properly is a key way to make your drawings look interesting and appealing.

The little artists colored their entire drawing in with artstix (colored pencils without the wood), except for the water. After everything was colored, we carefully painted blue glitter liquid watercolor in the water space. The effect was really cool and exciting! At first you can’t really see the glitter, but after it dries and the sun hits it, it’s super sparkly! It’s always fun to try out new mediums with the kids. They’re so enthusiastic!

Don’t forget to sign your kids up for the next session; it’s coming up soon! Happy New Year!

We drew people for the first time this week! This was a big step for our little artists, because drawing a person is much harder than drawing an object or an animal. Any mistake is very noticeable, because we’re all so familiar with how a person is “supposed” to look.

We went slowly and step-by-step and the kids did great. This week, we used flair pens instead of sharpie, so the smaller lines and details were easier to draw. We gave the little artists a choice of drawing a male dancer (a “guy with a tie”) or a female dancer  (a “girl with a twirl”). As one might expect, most of our little boys chose the guy, and most of our little girls chose the gal.

To color, we used watercolor pencils like we did last week, but built on what we learned before and colored smaller details with them. We used q-tips instead of paintbrushes for more accuracy. It was great for the kids to use a medium two weeks in a row and really get a feel for it.

Most of our classes wrapped up this week for winter break, so we’ll see you next year! Happy Holidays from KidzArt!

We took a trip to the arctic this week and created a picture of a walrus on an iceberg!

With the many elements involved–the walrus itself, the icebergs, the submarine, and the fish–this  is one of our more complicated projects. It is really drawing based and helps our little artists become more confident in their drawing skills!

We used watercolor pencils for this project, which are AWESOME! They work just like colored pencils, but when you add water, they become more vibrant and soluble and create a beautiful watercolor effect. The kids were delighted at how pretty their drawings became!

This week, we learned about proportion, which is how elements in a drawing relate to one another in terms of size. For example, the fish is smaller than the walrus in this drawing, so you get a sense of proportion. It’s a key element to know for any future artist!

Anyone else have “I Am The Walrus” by the Beatles stuck in their head? Koo koo katchoo!

This week our little artists got to decorate their very own sketchbooks to take home! We went with an underwater theme and learned how to draw tropical fish.

We played with the idea of drawing things not fully shown on a page–like a fish peeking out from the top left corner. Some of the kids even drew on the back of their sketchbooks to continue the scene.

With this project, we learned about “point of view”. Point of view means the perspective the artist has when drawing the picture. With this drawing, our point of view was looking down at the fish.

After the kids finished coloring their sketchbook covers with markers, they could take them home and keep the creativity flowing! Encourage your kids to draw in their sketchbooks and remind them that every drawing does not have to be perfect–that’s the point of a sketchbook.

Remember to sign your kids up for Session C! It’s right around the corner!

This was my favorite project yet! Not only did we get to draw a jaguar (awesome!) but we used liquid watercolors, which make every drawing color-saturated and beautiful.

Did you know that jaguars love to swim and often live around water?

We started by drawing the jaguar and background with Sharpie. This was a complex drawing–we had to include many different things like spots and plants. The jaguar (like any animal) was hard to draw in perfect perspective, but once the spots and colors were added any imperfections were camouflaged. We also learned about “balance” this week, and talked about whether the picture would look as good if the jaguar and all the plants were on one side.

Then, the kids colored in their drawings with crayons. They had to make sure to color really dark because any white spaces would be dyed with the liquid watercolor. I suggested that the kids use the white crayon to draw in stars in the background; this was fun because they were invisible until the watercolor was applied!

When they were finished coloring, we applied a layer of liquid watercolor. We used Coloration watercolors which worked amazingly. The kids could choose either green or purple (or both!).

After a few minutes of drying time, the drawings were complete and looked great!

Have a lovely Thanksgiving and stay tuned for our next project, Tropical Fish in sketchbooks!

We took a break from drawing this week and worked with clay! Everyone knows kids love hands-on activities, so this project was a hit.

We used clay in primary colors, so we warmed up by learning about the color wheel. The kids learned what “primary” and “secondary” colors were, and how to mix primary colors to get secondary colors. Then they could choose their clay colors based on what color they wanted to create. We used red, yellow, blue, and white clay, so the kids could make green purple, or a lighter shade of any of the colors.

Then we got to work! We used a small ball of tin foil to create the body of the cat, then covered it with clay. Then we created details like the feet, ears and face. The kids could add more details if they had extra clay, like a collar or whiskers.

All the clay cats were so cute and creative! It was great to work with a hands-on, three dimensional material, and the kids loved it. The clay was easy to manipulate and endlessly entertaining.