Weekend Paint Parties

Here are some photos from LuAnne's Birthday Paint Party and a six year old's unicorn birthday party. It was a great two days of creative fun!

hard at work on tree

proudly displaying her great painting

group shot, 2 painters are missing

Adding details

happy unicorns

great job!

Paint Party - January 23, 2015

Here are a few photos from Friday's Whimsical Tree party.  This tree continues to be a favorite!

working on the sky

whimsical tree

beautiful, finished paintings

So Cute!

I love this fun winter painting geared towards kids, but I think a lot of adults would enjoy this cutie!

December Paint Party

Finally, here are some photos from December's paint party at the Boys and Girls Club in Lansdale. It was a great pre-Christmas night out!

working on backgrounds

beautiful paintings

winter version

great job!

Abstract Name Design

Sadly Tuesday November 25 is our last art class for this session.  Most of the students are still working on their "What Makes Me Scream" lesson inspired by Edvard Munch's "The Scream".  I have a quick project for those that finish early or those that want to finish at home.

We will be using our names to create an abstract design.  Abstract is defined as art that does not attempt to represent reality but achieves it's effect by using shape, form, color and texture (some of our elements of art).

Students will be given a square of paper and write their names in large block style.

block style name

The letters will be colored in with marker in one color. We will take care not to scribble with the markers, but to color with even strokes to fill in the letters.

letters colored in with marker

Next the paper will be folded so we get 16 rectangles.  These will be cut up into individual pieces.

cut up name

The pieces will be assembled together to create an abstract design. We do not want to put the name back so we can read it, but play around with the pieces until we achieve an interesting, balanced design.

putting the pieces back together

Students then have the option of adding some color to the background using crayons.

color using crayons

Famous Artist Study - Edvard Munch

"The Scream" (1895) by Expressionist artist Edvard Munch is as famous as van Gogh's " Starry Nights".  Both artists are very similar:  both suffered from mental issues, used bold exaggerated colors and simplified figures and shapes and these two pieces are the most reproduced pieces of art in the world.

Munch, born was born in Norway in 1863 and died in 1944.  He produced four versions of "The Scream" in various mediums. He was an expressionist artist. Expressionism was a modern movement originating in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. Artists typically presented the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect to create a mood or idea.

We will be focusing on Munch for this lesson.  Although the work may be a little disturbing or scary when viewed, it is a great lesson for perspective (the bridge) and creating movement (sky and fjord) and feeling through color.  We will be putting our own twist on the work by replacing the figure of Munch (it is a self portrait) and adding "things that make us scream".

Here is one of the original four that Munch painted.

Here is my background done in oil pastels.  Students will create a simple background focusing on the bridge and bold use of color.

What makes me scream?  Large amounts of laundry!  I hope the kids have fun expressing themselves with this project.

Playful Puppy Birthday Paint Party

Three adorable pups personalized with spots

Cubist looking puppy

Birthday girl's puppy