Guest Artist: John Woolley, 5th Grader

Recently I learned about an amazing young artist named John Woolley, a 5th grader who lives in Temecula, CA. He is obviously very passionate about drawing, and has already developed a flair and talent far beyond his young years. I invited him to be my first guest post artist, and below is his description of how he drew his picture titled “Young Tiger”.To draw this tiger:1. I used my Rapidograph Pens and large moleskin sketchbook.2. I started with the bottom part of the tiger first.3. Then I drew the outline of the body and the head.4. I had to draw most of the tiger upside down. I would turn it over once in awhile to check the drawing and...

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David Hockney Landscape

David Hockney, a contemporary artist living in Los Angeles, created photocollages in the 1980s, compiling a 'complete' picture from a series of individually photographed details. You can get a similar effect using one photo, cutting it up and putting it back together again.1. I started with a trimmed photo from an old National Geographic magazine. Using scissors, I cut the picture into small square and rectangular sections, taking care to keep them still in order.2. After I was happy that I had a good mix of vertical and horizontal squares and rectangles, I glued them to a white paper. Glue sticks work best as they minimize wrinkles. My goal...

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Hundertwasser Landscape

I was inspired by one of Friedensreich Hundertwasser’s paintings to make this abstract landscape.1. I cut a wavy rectangular shape of green tissue, large enough to cover the bottom 2/3 of the paper. A 50/50 mixture of water and glue was brushed under and over it to attach it to the paper.2. I cut a bunch of round blue circles, and also glued them to the paper, overlapping a bit at times.3. After the glue was dry, I used Sharpie markers to draw the tree trunks and lots of organic lines.4. The sky was filled in with watercolor pencils, and then painted with wat...

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Winter Cardinal

I’ve been looking for a nice colorful winter image for a holiday fundraiser, and was inspired by an image I found in a stock photo site. 1. I made cardboard wing templates for students to trace to keep the scale of the bird from starting out too small. The rest of the drawing was done with step-by-step instructions on the board. I described the wing as needing to be tilted a bit, a “shark fin” was added on top, and a belly below. The black face looks a bit like half of a butterfly, and the beak extends directly to the right of it. A tail is added below, along with feet. The branch is behind the feet so it’s lines jump over the feet and tail.2....

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Positive/Negative Drawing

The words “positive” and “negative” can be used to describe both shapes and lines. This is a simple exercise which uses examples of both.1. Give each student a tall white rectangle, and a black piece of paper that is half the size of the white. The black paper is to sit at the bottom of the white paper. Ask the students to draw three lines to make a smaller black square, the top edge being one side. Have the students cut out the square out in one clean cut (not several pieces).2. Show how the smaller black square is to flip up, matching corners. Glue down the bottom "negative" shape, and the top "positive" square, leaving a "negative" white space...

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Geometric Print Man

When introducing printmaking to young students, it helps to keep things simple. Sometimes the most striking images are the result. 1. Each student should receive one 9" x 12" chipboard, a smaller piece of posterboard for the body, scissors and white glue. Instruct the students to cut geometric shapes from the posterboard to make a figure from a circle, squares and rectangles. Circle templates help to make round heads, if desired. Encourage students to make arms and legs with two sections that can bend and show action. After a figure is made, it is to be glued down firmly to the center of the chipboard.2. Each student needs a brayer, rolling plate,...

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Clothespin Horse

Even though this little horse looks simple, it takes a bit of finessing to make the legs stand and to clip all the pieces together. Gluing in stages should help reduce any frustration.1. I started with a couple of jumbo popsicle sticks and cut out two 3" strips. These were overlapped just a bit and glued together to make the belly.2. Next I cut a round end about 2.5" long for the neck, and a strip about 1.5" long for the head. These two were glued together, and a little ear was added on top.3. For the tail, I found some of the thinnest sticks and cut them with the grain to make some long irregular shapes.4. Open the clothespins to clip onto the...

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Art Journaling 119

You can make your own art journal for just a few dollars, with just a little binding help from a Staples or Kinko's store.1. I like to use the cardboard from the backs of drawing pads as it is really sturdy. Cut two 6" x 9" panels, and cut lots of 9" x 12" paper in half to go in between. Take this to a business that will bind this together for you. The coil binding works best as it allows for the pages to open and lay flat.2. My journal cover was made from some donated iron-on applique...um, things. I'm not sure what you call them. I glued them onto the cardboard, let it dry, and then covered the entire cover with black acrylic paint.3. When...

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“Little Blue Horse” Mural by Franz Marc

Franz Marc, whose career was cruelly cut short by the First World War, is considered the most popular of all the German Expressionists. This mural of his “Little Blue Horse, 1912” painting features color callouts listed on every page, so this sample may be reproduced as shown. Many layered colors are also indicated, to imitate Marc’s bright bold colors.My mural has 28 pages to color and measures 48" x 40". You can purchase my pdf file with instructions for just $5. Click the “Add to Cart” button below to make your payment and receive download instructio...

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Archimboldo “Fruit Face”

Giuseppe Archimboldo was an Italian artist from the 1500s who spent years working as an official court painter. He developed a style of composing portraits from fruits, vegetables, etc., which was uniquely his own. There's a great book about him called "Fruit Face" which is what I used to introduce this lesson.1. Find lots of large, colorful images of all kinds of fruits and vegetables from either magazines or stock photos online. I found that www.iStockPhoto.com has lots to choose from and are not too expensive.2. Make color prints or color copies of all the images and distribute to the students, along with a scissors, glue stick and black construction...

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Art Journaling 118

I think my biggest goal for my upcoming art journal class is to have kids embrace the loose, accidental art that can happen when you let yourself just create. Fourth and 5th graders especially tend to get more judgmental about their abilities, so I hope this un-fussy journal page will let them have some fun.1. I started by tearing small leaves from tissue paper, and planned out three flowers on each page. Using 50/50 glue and water, I wet the journal pages and arranged the tissue flowers on top. Let dry completely.2. Drawing with one continuous line, I started at the bottom with a Sharpie marker, traced up and around each petal 2 times, added...

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