November

I try to post the blog by Friday night every week, and every week I don't seem to be able to find the time until Wednesday or Thursday the next week. For this I do apologize. The original reason for the Blog was to inform missing students of up coming sketchbook assignments, and to show our parents & community what our little club is doing. At least the blog is taking care of one of these. But it's the Art Club students that warm my heart, they have become a very close group of "friends". They share information with students that missed class, they share ideas for upcoming sketchbook assignments and I have even scene them hanging out together in the school (since they range from grade 5-12 is truly amazing).

For this I am truly 

However, I do want to test if any students do check the blog without me having to prompt them. 

So I will have a special treat (a chance to win something truly special) if any Art Club student draws an extra drawing (no sketchbook required, just on any piece of paper) of something they are thankful for this weekend! 

Please bring the drawings to me before 3:30 next Thursday, December1.

November 10th

This is week we are finishing off our clay "James DeRosso"-ish monsters, and starting to design our next project. 

But I accidentally forgot to take pictures of our monsters, and my sample monster too. Wow I had a paparazzi forget me moment! I will post pictures next week, sorry for the delay.

Our next project is more crafty than artsy! But there is a method to my madness and a reason I picked this project, which I will explain afterwards. 

Our next project is:

String Art

Difficulty: Advanced

Difficulty: Advanced

Difficulty: Medium

Difficulty: Medium

Difficulty: Easy

Difficulty: Easy

All sample photos were found on Pinterest under the search category "string art".

I would like each artist to come up with a design that means something to them and chose a background that suits this design. 

Here is the one that I've been working on:

This is my cats paw print, he's a polydactyl cat, which makes his paw print unique. I used an actual photo of his paw to make the design.

So your design can be completely original!

Last week's sketchbook assignment was to draw "somewhere you want to go". 

Some of you totally thought outside the box! Way to go!!!

Of course they wanted to be a part of my photos. But really was just trying to get photos of the sketchbooks.

Here are this week's winners!

So our next sketchbook assignment is to draw:

A Weapon

And remember to think outside the box! See you next week!

November 3

Well I'm sad to say that we did not win the Halloween Door Decorating Contest, but we did get "Most Artistic" Door in the competition!

Congrats to all the students that helped put the door together. Here's a pic of the door, just in case you forgot what it looked like!

Last week was a special week for the Art Club, we had our clay monster day. We learned all about James Derosso, a ceramic artists from Portland, Oregon. We had a few technical difficulties and will watch the video in class this week, but here it is to anyone that checks the blog beforehand. 

James DeRosso's Ceramic Monsters

Here are a few examples of James DeRosso's monsters.

Salt & Pepper Shakers

Pencil Cup

Plant Holder

So we were inspired by James DeRosso and we made James DeRosso-ish monsters. But there were a few requirements in order to be James DeRosso-ish. The artists monster required large bulging eyes, an over-bite or under-bite with teeth. The rest of the details are up to the artists. 

Here are a few that they came up with:

Love the freckles!

Great teeth!

Love the 3 eyes

Next week we will be painting them to make them look complete.

This week's sketchbook assignment was to draw your favourite Villian! Here are the winners:

Zero:

Sally:

Oogie Boogie:

Jack Skellington:

This week's sketchbook assignment is:

Draw a place you want to go!

Make sure you think outside the box or "map"

Our Halloween Bell Spider Display

Our Halloween Bell Spider display is officially up in the office for all to enjoy. I'm so impressed with all the hard work, the artists put into these spiders. Check out our display!

There are 10 spiders that were finished by the end of our last class, that are part of this display. If you have time after current projects are finished you can finish your spiders so they can be a part of the year end art show still. You are welcome to take them home to complete as well, but please bring them back to be a part of the year end show. 

I finally found a spider that I am not afraid of:

Green Gold & Black

Black Pink & Gold

Silver, Gold & Clear

Purple, Blue & Gold

Black, Purple, & Blue

Dark Purple, White & Clear

Silver, Red, Pink & Gold

Orange, White, & Black

Purple, White, & Gold

Blue, Turquoise, & Clear

We have received a lot of compliments about how beautiful our spiders are. You all should be very proud of all your hard work.

October 27th

Today is the last day to work on our Bell/Bead Spiders. 

All finished spiders will get to be a part of the display I will be putting up in the school office for Halloween. 

Make sure to check out the display on Friday!

We will be doing a one day project next class, working with clay. I have mentioned in another class that we would be making clay monsters. And even though Halloween is now over, I still think it would be good to make these monsters. It also allows us to learn about a new artist from the Seattle area.

This week's sketchbook assignment was to draw a zombie, and you all sure were creative with your zombie's.

Here are the artists waiting to see our zombie's.

Zero:

Zombie Soup (Way to think outside the box)

Sally:

Oogie Boogie:

I love that this is a Zombie in a human costume!

Jack Skellington:

And my Zombie Teddy Bear!

Since this is our Halloween class, our next sketchbook assignment is to draw:

Your Favourite Villian!

Halloween Door Decorating Contest

The Halloween Door Decorating Contest

This week we had a few of our Art Club artists ask our Principal if we could be a part of the school's Halloween Door Decorating contest. And she said that yes we were welcome to do the Art Room door. So they grabbed a few of the art club members they could find to start brain storming ideas.

Of course this was all done without me knowing a thing at first. I did get to help give ideas for the door from a subject they had in mind. I'm so glad they took our Art Club theme to inspire our door design. Then they sat down to figure out who will make which parts, and started working.

Here is the finished door for the contest!

My mind is blown that 1 artist started this, 

then it became 4 artists to work out the plan. 

Then it grew again to include 8 of you working together to create the finished piece. 

I'm very impressed and proud of all of you! 

The door looks amazing!

October 20th

Art Club is back and is in full swing! I'm so happy to be back with all you lil' artists that are so eager to learn anything art! There are many new faces, so let's make sure to welcome them, and help them feel like part of our little group.

So today we started to make Bell/Bead Spiders. The original inspiration came from a pin on Pinterest, check it out:

Bead Spider Tutorial

But unfortunately purchasing the large beads for this tutorial were out of the Art Club's budget. So I remembered some Bell spiders I bought 10 years ago from Hallmark and thought we could give the tutorial a twist.

And this is what happened! The spider in the middle is the one I purchased many years ago, and the other ones I made as samples. I can't wait to see how the rest will turn out.

Our first sketchbook assignment was to draw our favourite character:

Everyone from the Mad Hatter to Wall.E!

Here are this weeks winners:

Zero:

The Mad Hatter

Sally:

The Queen of Hearts

Oogie Boogie:

Pascal playing Hide 'n Seek

Jack Skellington:

Starfire from Teen Titans

Congrats to our Winners!!

Next week's sketchbook assignment, please draw:

 A Zombie 

Mainly because I'm a huge fan of Halloween!! And what is Halloween without a zombie or two?