van Gogh Sunflowers

Spring has finally sprung and I am longing for flowers and bright colours.




I did this project a while back with Grade 3.  This is a 3 session project, but that 3rd session is really short.















MATERIALS REQUIRED:

- substrate, we are using primed canvas but you could also use hardboard, cardboard, or heavy poster board
- drywall filler
- acrylic paint
- reference photos, here is one
- some recycled cardboard (cereal or cracker box)
- green paper, at school I ran the paper thru the shredder for stems. You could also just free hand cut them.
- scissors, tacky glue, glue gun
- black pony beads

PROCEDURE:

Session 1
 Take your substrate, we are using canvas, prime if needed with gesso or white acrylic paint.  I would only do this if I had marks or writing on it (recycled cardboard).

Using reference photos sketch out a vase and flower heads onto your recycled cardboard.

Cut out.  For extra dimension you can cut out some petals and flower centers.

Work on wax paper.

Spread some drywall filler on the substrate.  You can use putty spreaders, old plastic gift cards, or just a scrap of cardboard.

Add a layer of drywall filler to your vase shape and flower heads.

Using a pencil or toothpick draw a few detail lines.  I'm using an old knitting needle.


Set all drywalled pieces aside to dry. It will take about 6 hrs.

Session 2

Take your canvas and paint with a nice acrylic background colour.

Make sure to wrap your painting around the sides.
You can also add a table colour in the bottom 3rd of your canvas.  I did this with the students but not on my sample.  It's up to you.


Set aside to dry.

Take your other drywalled pieces and paint with acrylic.

It helps if you have a variety of colours.  You can also just add a little black or white to make a tint or shade to give you some variation in the colours.

For the vase I painted it brown first and then when it was dry I added some tan/white/yellow to make it look more like the original.  I dry brushed it on.
Leave pieces to dry.

Session 3

Now it is time for assembly.  You can see the table colour in this student's piece.

Using tacky glue and green paper for stems start gluing the pieces down.  It helps if you lay everything out first on the canvas before gluing.  It also helps to glue the vase on last to cover up the ends of the stems.
At school I cut strips using the paper shredder.

You could also cut them with scissors.  This way you can change the shape a bit.

Glue on some black beads for extra texture.



Finally when the glue is all dry, seal with Mod Podge.  The podge helps seal the drywall and prevent it from flaking.  It also makes the piece pop with a nice shiny finish.

Here is some of the student work.



Great work Grade 3.

I recently came back from my annual Maui break.  I did lots of painting this year and I stuck to my guns and went computer free.


Here is sampling of my work.




This is on Front street just after the break.

With this one it started to rain as I was painting but I got some cool texture happening in the sky from the rain drops.

This is done in my bound sketch book, I just add colour but it's not wc paper so it's just a quick rendering.

I did find this great little journal at the Barnes and Noble in Maui. It's Italian     hand pressed paper and I love it.  Takes longer to dry than my traditional wc journals but so much fun to paint it.

This is a row of kayaks at Kapalua.

I was reading 'Island' magazine while I was there and was inspired by a picture from Tobago.

Love how the cloud bank turned out on this one.

And this one I painted on the plane there in my sketch book using my Peerless Watercolours   (I prep a travel palette thanks to Jane Davenport) and a really small wc field kit.

That's all for now.

Gail

Mixed Media Turtle

I have been spending some time painting turtles this long weekend.

As I tried to capture that texture it wasn't long before I was making a textured canvas.

It's like a mosaic as you design each section.






















MATERIALS REQUIRED:

- cereal or cracker box cardboard, corrugated cardboard
- primed canvas or you can use a nice rectangle of cardboard as a substrate (base)
- acrylic paint, blue, brown, tan or linen, green, yellow, black
- gesso
- drywall compound
- found items or tools to add texture, (bubble wrap, foam, lego)
- wax paper
- tacky glue
- metal washers
- cheesecloth, crackle medium, optional
- wc or heavy paper (poster board, manila tag), white tissue paper
- mod podge, optional


PROCEDURE:

Take a piece of corrugated cardboard and cut out a turtle shell shape.

Gather some tools to texture the drywall compound.

I use bubble wrap, lego pieces work well, combs, I also recently found this textured craft foam.




Take some drywall compound and place on a recycled plate.

Spread on the shell.  You can use a plastic spatula (hardware store) or just your finger.

Because I will be adding individual pieces to the shell I don't texture it.

On some thin cardboard (cereal or cracker box) spread on some drywall compound and then use tools to apply texture.

You can do a big piece that you will later cut into smaller pieces.

or cut out the small pieces

and texture each one separately.  Here I am using plastic wrap to add wrinkles and a wooden skewer to add lines.




Set aside to dry.  It takes about 6 hrs.

While you drywall compound is drying paint your canvas or cardboard substrate (base).  If you are using cardboard prime with a coat of gesso.

I wanted some different textures for the flippers and feet.

On some light cardboard I did 2 different techniques.
On the first I painted it a light linen colour and then added crackle medium.  Set aside to dry.

On the other piece I painted it the same light linen colour and then laid a piece of cheesecloth on top.  I added more paint on top to 'stick' it in place.

Let dry.

I also wanted some textured paper for the kelp.

Using gesso I 'glued' tissue, streamer and old book pages to a piece of heavy paper.

You could also use white glue to do this.




Set aside to dry.

While my gesso was out I added some to my metal washers.  This will allow me to paint them with acrylic later on.

When my drywall compound dried I added colour to my shell pieces.

If you did one large piece cut out the individual shell pieces before you paint.  If you wait you'll find your paint gets scratched off as you cut.


Paint the large shell shape as well.  Make it a contrasting colour to your shell pieces, like grout on a tile floor.

I also painted my cheesecloth piece with watery brown paint.

I did the same with my crackle medium piece.  Be sure to follow the directions on the bottle regarding the timing for this.

I painted my metal washers black.

Paint the heavy paper as well.  I used green, blue and a touch of yellow.

I've been playing around with spray inks so I added a little as well.

From the heavy paper cut some kelp and glue onto the background with tacky glue.

From the cheesecloth and crackle cardboard I cut the flippers, feet and head.  I used the large shell as a guide to glue them in place.  I then glued the large shell piece on top.

Start to glue on your small shell pieces.  If you lay it all out first it is easier.  Start with your largest piece in the centre and then work around it.

With my sharpie pen I added some details to the face.

The background needed a touch of something so using a straw, end of a skewer and a cap I added bubbles in different sizes with white and silver paint.


Add a coat of Mod podge to seal and give you that nice shiny look.

That's it.  You could always add a poem or text to take it further.




See you next time.

Mixed Media Ducks

The Grade Ones are hatching duck eggs at my current school.

For an art project we are making these mixed media canvases.

You can see by this side view that there are elements that stick out from the canvas, lots of great texture.























MATERIALS REQUIRED:

- 8x10 primed canvas, I buy mine at Michael's in the 10 pack when they go on sale, you could also do this on foam board or heavy corrugated cardboard
- cardboard
- duck template, feel free to use mine
- drywall compound
- painter's masking tape (green or blue)
- blue, green, brown, and yellow acrylic paint
- white tissue paper
- posterboard or manila tag
- glue
- air dry clay
- printed text  "is for duck"
- black pony bead
- a few feathers

PROCEDURE:

Using my template or your own drawing, cut out a duck from cardboard.

Put some drywall compound on a plate and using a spatula or even an old gift card spread on top of your duck.


I buy my drywall at Home Depot in a huge container, (very heavy) for about $20.00.  It will last a long time if you are careful to keep it sealed.  One large container will do an entire school.

You can also buy it in smaller amounts.

Using a pencil or a chopstick add some texture to the body of the duck to represent the feathers.

Leave the head and bill smooth.


Set aside to dry.

Our ducks drying.

Take your primed canvas, lay it down horizontally, (landscape style).

Take some painter's masking tape and tape off the horizon line.

Paint the sky with blue acrylic paint.
Don't forget to do the sides.


Set aside to dry.

Take a small amount of air dry clay.  Roll flat about 1/2 an inch thick.

Using the "D" cookie cutter cut out a D.

Use a little water to smooth the surface if needed.

Set aside in a warm place to dry out. I put the whole art board on top of my fridge.

Because I only had one cutter and I found it a little finicky I pre cut all the D's for the Grade Ones.

When the blue paint has dried remove tape.

Take another piece of tape, place it right on the line but now on the painted blue side exposing all the white.

Most ponds around here tend towards the green side so I painted the bottom section green.  You could also do a dark blue or a greeny blue.

Do the sides and leave to dry.

When your duck is dry paint the body brown.  With the kids I taped off where I wanted them to stop.  The head and then the beak were painted in steps.


Some kids did a female duck.  We painted them light brown up to the bill and added some dark brown dashes when they were dry.

For the reeds I wanted to use some textured paper.  Due to this being Grade One and us being on a tight schedule I prepped the paper for them.


I took sheets of posterboard and spread glue over top.  While the glue was still wet I lay a piece of tissue paper on and smooched it in, creating lots of wrinkles.  Trim away excess tissue from sides and set aside to dry.

When the paper was dry I painted stripes on it with acrylic paint.

Leave to dry.

I cut the paper into squares for the kids.

Cut some strips out of the paper that resemble reeds.


Using the duck I figure out how many I need.

Glue into place.

Glue the duck into place.  I used hot glue, (adult operation only)  It made it easier to glue any ducks that warped a bit.

Glue a black pony bead on for an eye.

You can use a fine sharpie to add the hole in the bill and the dividing line between the upper and lower sections.

Paint your 'D' with some acrylic paint.

Glue into place and add text.

Mod podge the whole canvas at this point.

When the podge dries you can add a few feathers as well as some felt cat tails.



We added the touch of blue and white feathers on the wings.

That's it.  As soon as I have enough student ones to take photos of I will update this post.





See you soon.