Giveaway Results

So there were 38 comments and 20 emails for a total of 58 entries for the  "Calligraphy Magic" book giveaway.

The entry picked by Random.org is:

Random Integer Generator



Here are your random numbers:

28


Timestamp: 2011-07-14 14:11:14 UTC

So that makes the winner :
 The Modern Art Smock who said "I would love to have a book like that.  Thanks for doing give-a-ways." 
 July 11, 2011 5:59 pm

Please email me your address: thatartistwoman@shaw.ca

Thanks everyone for entering and all the great comments.

"Calligraphy Magic" Book Review and Giveaway

So you've got the sketchbook, you're painting and sketching like mad capturing those summer memories, why not add some fancy lettering.

The gracious folks at FW Media have provided me with another book to review and giveaway.

"Calligraphy Magic" by Cari Buziak is a more technical manual.  I have only perused a few calligraphy books in my time and I must say I am quite happy to have this one in my collection.

Highlights:

- 15 alphabets showing you all the strokes (I love the versals)

- nice tutorial chapter to show you how to make all those calligraphy strokes

- like most painting/craft books it includes a chapter  on tools and supplies, usually I find these chapters redundant however in this case I really liked it.  It was fairly short and had some good tips, like proper care of your dip style pen.

- there is a whole chapter on ornamentation, gilding and coloring.  This was my favorite part of the whole book as I have always been fascinated with illuminated manuscripts.  The Celtic Knotwork instructions were great and I can see myself adapting this into a project for school.

- there is also 12 step by step projects for you to try.  I found the presentation of the projects a little formal. I think there are so many applications here it would have been nice to see some examples from contributing artists on how they incorporate lettering into their work.  But hey maybe that's an idea for another book.

- I was very interested in the chapter on how to create your own computer fonts as I would love to create a personal handwriting font

- practice papers for photocopying are also included

Like everything in life it just takes practice.


This is my ink box.  I don't do a lot of ink work but I love adding white ink details to paintings as well as metallics.

After reading this book though I realize how badly I want to be able to add that fancy lettering......so practice I will!

So if you are interested in this book you can enter the giveaway by leaving me a comment on this post or sending me an email at thatartistwoman@shaw.ca

- giveaway open till Wednesday July 13th/2011 at 11:59pm.  The winner will be picked by random integer.

- open to US or Canadian residents only

- I'll post the results on Thursday

If you are interested in purchasing the book "Calligraphy Magic" you can check it out here at the FW Media Bookstore. 

It's on sale now but I also have a coupon code (40% off) for you:

               July 11CM

Good Luck everyone! 

(Disclaimer: Review copy provided to me by FW Media)

How to Make a Color Wheel for your Sketchbook

You have probably seen these color wheels in the store.  I pull mine out occasionally when designing a project but when I'm out and about painting I need a tool specific to me.

One using colors of my palette and on the paper I am using.

Now at home I have a binder filled with test sheets for reference and you can put in a little test swatch right on one of your sketchbook pages but why not take it a step further.

Trace and cut out a circle that will fit onto your sketchbook page.  Make it out of the same type of paper or as close as you can get.  If you have a coil binding you can just rip out a blank page to use. Trace on a smaller circle so you have an outer rim where the colors will go.

Using the your palette, here I'm using my field kit, make a color wheel.  I like 12 sections:
-  3 primary (Red, Yellow, Blue)
- 3 secondary  (Orange, Green, Purple)
- and 6 tertiary ( primary and secondary mixed together, i.e. greenish yellow)

On a page of your book draw a window that will show 4 analogous colors at once. Analogous colors are colors that sit side by side on the wheel.

Also make a little window that will only show one color directly opposite the middle of that other window.  I used the same circular objects I used to trace out the wheel.  You want your windows to be a bit smaller width wise that the actual color segments.

Using scissors or a paper cutter cut out your windows.

Poke a hole thru the center of your wheel, put it in place on top of your window page and mark the center thru that hole.

Poke a hole thru that page, insert paper fastener, put color wheel on at the back of that page.

Now you have a very useful tool.  It shows a 4 color analogous scheme as well as a contrast or complimentary color that goes with them and it's right in your sketchbook at your fingertips.

Turn the wheel and you get another color scheme. 
Applications:
- have your students construct this color wheel tool and then picking a color scheme paint a composition limited to these colors.
- paint side by side color sketches, one with only analogous colors and one adding in that complementary color.
- use the complimentary color for the focal point
- use this tool to analyze how other artists utilize these color schemes.

How to Make a Color Wheel Gecko

The color wheel is a fundamental concept that is introduced in Grade 1 and then further discussed in later grades. So I am always interested in developing projects to help teach Color Theory.

Now Color Theory can get quite complex but we'll start with the basics.

For this project the kids make a color wheel that becomes the basis for a fun interactive painting. 

With a turn of the wheel........

......and the gecko changes color.



So let's get started and once you know the technique you can adapt this project in numerous ways.

















MATERIALS REQUIRED:

- tempera or watercolor paint
-  2 sheets of watercolor paper
- fine sharpie
- template, (use mine or better yet come up with your own)
- scissors, pencil, eraser
- paper fastener
- glue, tape
- transparency (optional)

Take one sheet of watercolor paper and trace out the largest circle you can.  I used a plate.


Cut it out and save your scraps.

In order to spin the wheel the circle will have to stick out a little on one side.  To figure out where to place your gecko you can lay the circle on top of your other piece of watercolor paper.  Make a few pencil marks on the paper underneath so you know where that wheel will be.

 Mark in pencil the center of that wheel on both the cut circle and where it would lay on that other paper. Now hold the paper up to a bright window and make this center mark on the back as well.
 This helps out a lot later.

If you are using the template or a pattern that you have made yourself, lay this on the marked out circle on the paper.  It's hard to see in this photo so I'm leaving the wheel in place to show you.


You want the gecko to be inside that circle and you also don't want to cover up the that center pencil mark. You'll have to fiddle with your image to get it in the right place.

Trace out that pattern or just free draw in your image.

Now you want to create your window so you need to cut away that image.
Instead of fussing with exacto blades or tears from trying to make these difficult cuts I just get the kids to cut their paper in half thru the drawing.

They then can easily cut out both sides of the drawing.

We then turn the 2 sides over to the back, fit together and tape into place.  Much easier and safer.

Now let's start painting.  Get the kids to paint in the primary colors leaving white space between them.

Then start mixing the primaries together.  It's best to mix these together on a separate palette or plate and then add onto your color wheel.

Add a little water on the edges of each color so they mix a little rather than having such definite stripes.

Let dry.

Now paint in your top sheet. 

If you are pressed for time with this project you can also just use black paper, draw in some background lines with white pencil crayon and then you can skip this painting step. 

Outline your painting if you want with sharpie or black pencil crayon.  You can also outline the cut out section (older kids).

Now I like to hide the paper fastener.  In order to do this you need a scrap piece of wc paper. (remember those scraps from cutting out our wheel).

Cut a circle, square, what ever will fit.  You'll understand in a minute.  Punch a hole through it with an awl, scissors, or knitting needle and put the fastener in hole.

Now glue or tape this onto the back of your cutout sheet. (Prongs sticking up at you)
  You want it to be approximately where that center mark is that you marked out.  You don't want any of the scrap paper showing thru the window so sometimes you have to cut it to fit.

Now you could just stop at this point but if you want details on your gecko take a transparency sheet.

Lay it on the back, you'll have to poke a hole to let the fastener get thru.

Now you don't have to use a full sheet, I know transparencies can be quite expensive.  You just want to cover up that cutout.

Tape into place.

Put Color wheel face down on fastener and fold back prongs, a little loose for easy turning.


Now you can add details in sharpie right on to the transparency.

Here is a smaller one I made that does not have the transparency.

It also was cut out leaving the head and the feet on the front sheet.  This is a good option with young kids where they only have to cut out the body shape.

I added googly eyes.

You can also make these in your journals and I hope to show you those next time with more color theory.

Keep cool!

Giveaway Results

HAPPY CANADA DAY everyone!!

And here are the results of the giveaway

#48 which worked out after adding in all the email entries to be Rebecca who wrote: Thank you so much for the chance to win this book.It looks amazing. I would love to win this.

Thanks everyone for entering and have a great holiday weekend!

I'm at the cabin trying to post this from IPad so I hope this works!

GAIL

How to Make a Clay Owl

Every year grade 4 does a book study on Farley Mowat's "Owls in the Family".  Last year they completed macrame owls.   This year we decided to do another clay project.
Now this owl design has been around for decades, I did a similar one when I was in school, so I'm not claiming ownership.  If you want to check out some other clay owl projects you can check out these:

- 4 Crazy Kings version
- Mr's Picasso's Art Room version
- Jeryl Hollingsworth La France Elementary at Incredible Art Dept. version



If you don't have access to a kiln you can check out my other great Owl Projects:
Owl Assemblage
Pastel Resist Owl
Mixed Media Owls
Pom Pom Owls
Mini Macramed Owl Necklaces


MATERIALS REQUIRED:

- low fire clay
- penny nail
- rolling pin
- piece of canvas to work on, can also use a paper towel
- circular items to create imprints
- electric kiln
- low fire glaze
- hemp or leather cording for hanger
- water

Roll out a slab about 1/2 an inch thick and cut out a circle using your penny nail.  We used a chinette dinner plate as a template.  Using a little water, (I get the kids to dip their finger into a little cup), smooth out and rough edges on the circle.  If you leave those little crumbs and they make thru the bisque fire they become very sharp.

Using your circular items create feather detail on the lower half of the circle.  We got some great results with one of those little wooden ice cream spoons, like from a dixie cup.

You can see the spoon and the results on this student's owl.

Fold over both sides of your circle to create the wings.  Squish it down into place a bit.

Fold over the top of the circle to form the head.

Using your circular items create imprints to form the eyes.

From the leftover clay  cut out a triangular beak.  Scratch both the back of the beak and where you are going to place it, add a little water and then  stick into place.

Add some detail on the wings.  Make sure to take that penny nail and make a hole thru the top all the way through for hanging.

Some student work in process:

Leave to dry out.  I waited 2 weeks as we were pretty damp here in Calgary the last while.

Bisque fire in the kiln.  For me this is cone 4 on our SKUTT.

Glaze with low fire glaze, we use Mayco Stroke and Coat. I buy my glazes at Ceramics Canada.  I ask the kids to put on at least 2 -3 coats.

Let dry and then glaze fire.  I use cone 6 on the SKUTT.  (it depends on the clay and kiln what you may use)

Add a loop of hemp or leather cording thru the hole for a hanger and that's it.


Here is our parliament of Owls.  Great job Grade 4!!

 Don't forget you have until 11:59 pm on Thursday to enter for the Book Giveaway.


Today is our first official day of Summer Vacation! 

Stayed tuned for lots of new projects over summer as I will have some time to get organized.

Also I am co teaching a workshop in Fernie, B.C  for 8-10 yr. olds "Writing and the Visual Arts".  If you are in the area and interested check out the website for registration.
As well I will be in Lloydminister at the end of August presenting an Art Education workshop for all you wonderful teachers in that neck of the woods.