Summer Workshop Series: Winslow Homer-Inspired Pirate Ships

Winslow Homer (1836-1910) was an American painter known for his seascape paintings.  When looking through his artworks, we see cloudy, windy skies, waves in motion, and dulled colors.  When we browsed through project examples, I came across a project from Deep Space Sparkle that inspired the summer workshop project for this lesson.


Materials
-14" x 16" 70# white paper
-10" x 16" white poster board
-Blue, black, and white tempura paint
-Brushes
-Water
-Water containers
-Your fingers
-Colored construction paper
-Scissors
-Glue
-Pencils
-String
-Images of ships for reference

Objectives
The students will create their own mixed media sea scape using paint and assemblage of paper.  They will create foreground, middle ground, and background in their seascapes.  This project was created for students ages 6-9.

Directions
This project was completed during one studio class in a 2 hour length of time.  We started with creating a paint wash sky on the 14" x 16" paper.  We used blue for the sky, then painted in white and black strokes to blend in for cloudiness.  Once the paper was finished, we put it aside to dry.

Next, the students created wavy texture on the poster board using their brushes, then their fingers! These two steps took about a 1/2 hour to complete.

Once the poster board was painted, we put it aside to dry.

We then created our pirate ships/sailboats using colored construction paper.  Here are a few examples I found on Google and shared with my students for ideas in creating their ships:

Construction of the ship took around 45-50 minutes to complete.  Once the main body of the ship was completed, the students took their "mostly dry" sheet of poster board and cut four strip apart.  Each strip was sit to resemble waves in the water.  We then glue down each layer, placing the boat in between the wavy layers.

Once the layers were glued down, students created the mast, sails, and glued down the roped using string or yarn!

Here was the example I made to share with the students:

And here are my students' amazing creations!

Summer Workshop Series: Gyotaku Fish Prints

Today I had the opportunity to teach one of my favorite projects, gyotaku fish prints!  Since I had a three hour class and only one student, I introduced three different projects during the two hour class.

Gyotaku (gyo=fish, taku=rubbing) is a traditional Japanese method of printing fish.  This practice dates back to the mid-1800's, when fishermen wanted a way to document the fish they caught at sea.

(images found on Google)

Gyotaku Fish Bowls

We started off with the first project, which is a simple gyotaku print fishbowl.  The directions for creating this project can be found here.

For the other two projects created, we used these silicon rubber fish purchased from Nasco, Triarco, Dick Blick, or any art supply catalog that carries gyotaku supplies…minus the real fish!

Traditional Gyotaku Prints

For this project, we used black tempura paint, one sheet of 10.5" x 16" rice or handmade paper, and the student chose one rubber fish to paint on.  The objective of this mini project was to practice adding the paint to the fish to create the print.  Too much paint will not copy the details of the fish (fins, scales, etc.), and too little paint will only pick up brush strokes and empty spaces.  The student practiced adding the paint to the fish and pressing the paper down to print the fish.

I found a perfect video which explains the process here.  The video (from Sakura) also introduces another project that can be made with the fish molds!

Here is the final product we made from the traditional print!

For the last project, we stuck with the same process as above, but designed a more detailed background using crayons and heavy weight beige paper. Like the fish bowls, the student designed an underwater picture, but added more attention to details with highlights and shadows in the seaweed, shells, rocks, and coral.  Once the background was colored with the crayon, the student chose three colors to paint her rubber fish for printing.

After the student pressed the paper to the fish for the print, she then went back in to fill in additional details, such as the eye and areas the paint did not print over.

Here's her finished product!

One happy student leaving the class with three different projects!

Summer Workshop Series: George Rodrigue-Inspired Blue Dog Paintings

George Rodrigue was a Louisiana-based artist known for his trademark "Blue Dog" characters in all his paintings.  Sadly, George was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in October 2013 and passed away in December 2013. He is known for his creation of the Blue Dog series of paintings, featuring a blue-hued dog. 

Wikipedia states that George used the shape and stance of his deceased dog named Tiffany and was primarily influenced by the loup-garou legend (the first painting in the series), which holds the title "Watch Dog," painted for Bayou, a book of Louisiana ghost stories.  The blue-hued, ghostly spaniel/terrier is often featured with a white nose and yellow eyes.

"The yellow eyes are really the soul of the dog.  He has this piercing stare.  People say the dog keeps talking to them with the eyes, always saying something different.  People who have seen a Blue Dog painting always remember it.  They are really about life, about mankind searching for answers.  The dog never changes position.  He just stares at you.  And you're looking at him, looking for some answers.  "Why are we here?," and he's just looking back at you, wondering the same.  The dog doesn't know.  You can see this longing in his eyes, the longing for love, answers."

-George Rodrigue on the Blue Dog

 

Materials
-Pencil
-11" x 14" canvas
-Acrylic Paint
-Brushes
-Water
-Water Container
-Paper Towels
-Images of George Rodrigue's Blue Dogs
-The book "Why is Blue Dog Blue?"

Objectives
The students will create their own paintings similar to the style of George Rodrigue's "Blue Dogs."  Students can choose their own background and their own color for the dogs.  The students will learn the term "monochromatic" while painting the dogs.

Directions
This project was created during one class which was 2 hours in length.  We began the project by reading the story "Why is Blue Dog Blue?" written by George Rodrigue, and went over the different colors the artist changed for his trademark dog image.  After reading the book, we started drawing the dog step by step.  Here are the steps I took in creating the dog:

Step 1: Draw the nose
Step 2: Draw the white spot
Step 3: Draw the eyes
Step 4: Draw the head
Step 5: Draw the ears
Step 6: Draw the front and back legs
Step 7: Add the details

The details consisted of adding fur to the ears, points in the eyes, and marking the different colors within the dog (where it would be light, dark, or the base color).  This step, with reading the book, took about 30 minutes.

After drawing the dog design, the students began painting the background color.  The students were encouraged to choose their own background, and all three wanted the blue sky and green grass.  Once the background was painted, they were asked to fill in their dog with the color they chose.  The only areas they were asked not to paint were the eyes, inside of the ears, white spot, and the nose.  After applying their base color, we mixed the colors with a touch of black or brown to create the darker tone and added patches of the shadows.  Once finished, we added a touch of white to the base color for the lighter tones.  We then filled in the white spot on the face.  These steps took around an hour to complete

For the last half hour, students were asked to trace their dog with black paint, using a thin brush.  We filled in the eyebrows, cheeks, shadows, and ears, while tracing the entire dog's outline.  Once completed, students had time to touch up any areas needed!

Here's the finished example I made for students to follow along:

Here are my students' finished projects!

Summer Workshop Series: Watercolor Owls

The next workshop was titled "Watercolor Owls."  We invited students ages 6-9 to attend this one day,  workshop to create their own patterned owl design.  To kick it up, students created their owls in 3-D!  The above image was the example I had made for my students to use as a reference when creating their own owl project.

Materials
-11" x 14" watercolor paper
-13" x 16" illustration board for frame
-pencils
-markers
-Crayola watercolors
-Brushes
-Water
-Water cups
-Styrofoam
-Hot Glue Gun

Objectives
The students will create their own owl design (using black and white owl designs as references).  Through drawing the owls, students will practice their symmetry and patterns.  Their owls will also be placed in a background environment using a 3-dimensional method.

Directions
For this 2 hour class, we began by looking at different owl designs and having students practice drawing the design they liked the best.  All I did was Google "black and white owl clipart" in images and there's a ton of ideas to choose from!  Once students had their idea drawn out, the took one sheet of watercolor paper and began drawing the branch and owl design.  Once the owl was drawn out, they were encouraged to enhance the owl with patterns.  Some students preferred to keep their owls realistic,  so they focused on a feather pattern.  On a second sheet of watercolor paper, students were asked to draw a sun or moon, with any additional details for their background.  Once completed, they traced both papers with black marker.  This took about 30-40 minutes to complete.

Next, students began using the watercolor paint.  In tracing the owls with marker, students had fewer issues with paint colors blending together.  Students were given 60-70 minutes to paint both the owl paper and background.

Once students completed painting, the were asked to cut out their owl and branch.  For the final touch, I hot glued styrofoam to the back of the owls.  Before I attached the owls to the background, I hot glued the background paper to the illustration board first, then applied the owl on top.  The finished products were amazing and students loved their works of art!!!

Here are some of the finished examples created today!

These classes are taking place at Pastiche Studio in Mokena, Illinois.  To view details about the studio, classes available, and paint parties, please visit their site!