Art Camp Success!

Van Gogh Inspired Acrylic Paintings

What a group to end my Art Camp summer. The palette colors in this session are subtle compared to previous sessions. The work turned out beautiful! My age range was first through sixth graders. My favorite experience for this week was watching the results of the Van Gogh inspired flower painting. We started with a blank paper canvas  and minimal direction. The only thing I told the kids was to draw the horizon and the vase. They picked and mixed their own colors, decided how many flowers and what the flowers were to look like. I did emphasize layering the paint. When the background dried then they did the vase. When the vase dried then they painted the stems. Then the flowers.

In between the drying acrylic layers we worked on the wood pile watercolor resistance painting. When I do my art painting workshops in the future, I'll continue that and people will end up with two completed pieces by the end of the class.

I overheard some parents during the art show laugh and say "Well this camp certainly wasn't about finger painting." I took it as a compliment. Depending on how things go, I want to do these camps again next summer, only twice as many and I'll do a bit of advertising to boot. There are so many starving young artists out there, starving to learn and create art. I feel a sense of joy knowing I can provide my experiences and practice to help them improve their skills and discover more about who they are through their artistic expression.


Reflection - Color Pencil, Watercolor
Fourth grader



Flower Vase, acrylics - Fifth Grader

 

 

Rooster, Watercolor Collage - Third Grader

Cupcake, watercolor pencils - Sixth Grader

 

Flower Vase, acrylics - Fourth Grader



Dinosaur Point of View, colored pencils - Fourth Grader

Woodpile, Watercolor, Crayon Resistance - Fourth Grader

Cupcake, watercolor pencils - First Grader

 

Flower Vase, acrylic - First Grader



Reflection, colored pencils, watercolor
Third Grader

Session Three Art Camp

Four of my students and their week of creativity

Each art camp session bodes new and exciting creations. This past week I had a wonderful group of artists not only visually but verbally as well. When a glue stick ran out, one student said we should have a gluneral for it. Of course this idea stuck and so when a marker ran out we gave it a markuneral.

I know I've written before the glory of watching students explore who they are through their art, but every day I work with kids I'm reminded of it. Every child is different. How they see color, shape, design is different. Never is it right or wrong, it just is what it is and no one can help but be successful every day when they have that attitude.

So, enjoy this sampling of children's projects. One week and so much brightness and life!


Watercolor Pencils - 6th Grader

Marker and water - 1st Grader

Marker and water - 4th Grader

Acrylic Paint - 3rd Grader

Acrylic and Crayon - 2nd Grader



Watercolor and Salt Collage - 3rd Grader

Watercolor and Crayon and Glue - 6th Grader

Acrylic Paint - 4th Grader

Watercolor and Crayon - 1st Grader

Last Week's Art Camp

Wow. Kids are so creative. One of my favorite parts of working with students of all ages is when they alter and interpret a piece to make it all their own. You'll see repetitive works and yet how the students choose their colors, patterns, how dark they make something, how light, represents them. I always have an example of the project posted, a jumping point, and the fun is watching them add their personality often very tentatively. I usually get asked if it is okay to use a different color or set of lines from my example and that always brings a smile to my face.

I liked having boundaries to break when I started exploring my artistic talent. I firmly believe all artists need the basics to grow from and I tell my students that. So many think more is more, or I'm an artist I can ignore you and break all the rules. Well, yes, artists should break the rules, but they need to understand them first to break them better. Picasso broke all the rules, but he learned them first.

I become a better artist every day I nurture young artists. I'm lucky that way.

Amelia (4th grader) Watercolor, glue on the black crayon barrier 

Brian (5th grader) Watercolor, glue on the black crayon barrier

Gabriela (1st grader) Watercolor collage rooster

Grace (3rd grader) Acrylic (Mixing colors, learning
about warm vs. cool and compliments.)

Hayden (5th grade) Wave

Katelyn (2nd grade) Watercolor pencils

Katie (fourth grader)

This is my example for a marker project. The kids drew trees on
half a piece of paper then colored them with markers.
I sprayed it with water and folded it in half,
making the reflection. so cool.

Natalie (2nd grade) Crayon, colored pencil and oil pastels
on black construction paper. Inspired by Paul Klee.

Zoe (2nd grade) Rooster in a Boat

Keira (1st grade) Walter color pencils

Art Camp Friday

Silly me to think I'd have time to post projects each night. My late night prepping, mounting and project creating, left took me to the wee hours. 

We had a very busy week, as shows in the display panels for the art show. I totally enjoyed watching the kids glow as they told their parents how they created their projects. 

As promised to my students, I am posting one piece from each of them. Here are my six other masterpiece makers from the week.

Aliah (4th grade) Mixing Acrylics and Painting Flowers

Katie G. (4th Grade) Mixing Colors

Julia (3rd grader) Watercolor Pencils and Patterns

Julia (3rd grader) Kandinsky inspired oil pastel

Naomi (Kindergarten) Watercolor pencils

Nick (4th grade) Tissue paper and glue

Value ART ELEMENT - Elementary Art Project

Artwork Provided by a Kindergarten Student 

This Project was split between two class periods. The goal was to introduce students to the effect color value has on the mood of a piece of art. 

I was very specific on their colors, separating the light colored pencils from the dark colors so they weren't confused. 

Artwork Provided by a Third Grade Student

I drew the butterfly on a computer with Adobe Illustrator and printed it on card stock two-up so that each butterfly could be completed in a class period.

I encouraged the students to create patterns in the wings of the butterflies. When asked if they felt a certain way while working on each piece, quite a few mentioned they felt happier working with the light colors. I know that the colors effected me when I produced the sample. I was much happier working with the lighter colors.