Halloween at Averyboo Arts

Here is some spooky fun from the studio  last month. We definitely had a mummy theme going on! … The holidays are a great time to try some classes. Click here for our current offerings, many starting this week>

1. Little Picasso’s (Age 4-6), mummy drawing
2. Drawing Studio (Age 6-10), pumpkin still life/shading techniques
3. Pee Wee Art (Age 2-3), paint a batty sky
4. Beginning Art (Age 6-9), Dia Del Los Muertos patterns & resist painting
5. Halloween Party 10/31
6. Pee Wee Art (Age 2-3), paint-a-pumpkin
7. Open Studio – opened ended art & play time, age 2-8.
8. Beginning Art (Age 6-9), mummy sculptures
9. Paint, Play & Music (Age 2-4)
10. Drawing Studio (Age 6-10), Mummy Portraits
11. Paint, Play & Music (Age 2-4), Mr. Pops gets into the spirit
12. Open Studio (Age 2-8)
13. Beginning Ceramics (Age 5.5-12), Halloween Chimes
14. Kids Canvas Workshop (Age 7-12), acrylic paint handling
15. Halloween Party 10/31, Batman paints a pumpkin plaque.

 

 

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Abstract Rainbows – St. Patrick’s Day

I’ve seen A LOT of rainbows since opening Averyboo Arts. It’s the #1 subject that children like to make when they come into the studio; and with good reason – they’re so happy and colorful 🙂

For St. Patrick’s Day I decided to introduce the Little Picasso students (age 4-6) to “abstract rainbows”. I wanted to show them that rainbows don’t always have to be depicted with 6-7 bands of color spanning over a house and a flower (although there’s nothing wrong with that). Abstract rainbows can be found all around from oil slicks to paint splatter.

Little Picasso’s – tape resist, abstract rainbows

(1) lay down 3-4 pieces of painter's tape across a piece of tagboard. (2) Use a variety of drawing tools in "rainbow colors" to fill in the shapes created by the tape. Encourage kids to "overlap" & use 6 colors in each space. (3) Save one space to be painted with gold acrylic paint, sprinkle with gold glitter. (4) Carefully remove tape. (btw - it looks like a black pencil slipped by me while setting up, drats.)

Pee Wee Art (Age 2-3)
The littlest artist got to have some St. Patty fun too…

Color Mixing...kids mixed green on their papers then stenciled a shamrock on top. Fascinated by the process & the different shades of green.

With a little help from Mom, our creative tots tried their hand at abstract rainbows also (substitute gold acrylic paint for glue & glitter).

Open Studio (age 2-8) available W/F/SAT
One of our regular students came in during Open Studio to make a rainbow painting. I set her up with a canvas board and some acrylic paints ….

By Clara... 5x7 canvas board available for purchase during Open Studio hours.

Jim Dine Hearts – Valentine’s Day

Student work from Jim Dine lesson

This year for Valentine’s Day, we made art in the style of artist Jim Dine who has made lots & lots of paintings of hearts. I really wanted the kids to focus on their brush strokes and keeping the colors separated. The age range for this project was 4-8years old. Typically the younger kids tend to want to use their brushes in a scrubbing motion & will finish quickly. I came up with a fun way to get them all to slow down and keep the colors from mixing (too much)…

First, we folded a piece of tagboard in half. Students traced a heart-half stencil then cut the shape out. This is a challenge for the younger but they all did a great job!

 

Next came the painting... I used a timer & the rule was that each child had to take turns and use ONE color for ONE minute. This really helped them make small dabs with their brush & distribute the paint all over their heart.

 

The final step was to decorate their black background paper with oil pastels. I asked the kids to cover the paper (especially the edges) with "Scribble Scrabble". They were all very excited to hear the term & show me how well they could scribble.

 

The project still left room for personal expression.

 

The final step was to mount the heart onto the background using double stick foam tape. You can use glue, but the foam adds a 3D effect. I think the kids did a great job! Below is an actual painting by Jim Dine…

Jim Dine, "The Circus"

December

The studio was busy during the month of December. Classes made holiday themed art, kids had gift-making in mind during Open Studio and we also participated in a couple community events. Here are a few pictures I have to share…

class: Beginning Art (Age 6.5-9)
project: Glitter Winter Paintings (click image for large photo)

Students learned about abstract landscapes, composition, planning a design, monochromatic color, tints/shades; used acrylic paints, oil pens & glitter on 9x12 canvas board. This project took 3 sessions to complete.

what: Open Studio Re-cap
I usually don’t take many photos during Open Studio, but I snapped a few this month…

Gingerbread Lollipops, Free Card Swap, open-ended art & gift making, natural ornaments, recycled snowmen & more.

class: Little Picasso’s (Age 4-6 years)
project: Poinsettia Collage

Students used collage technique to make poinsettia pictures. Talked about how flower petals radiate from the center, worked on fine motor skills.

what: First Fridays Community Art Walk

The Girl Scouts had a homemade bake sale at the studio for December First Fridays. "Bixby Belle" stopped in with candy canes while the kiddos made holiday canvases.

Thanksgiving Indian Corn

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving holiday!
Here’s a cute project our “Little Picasso’s” made (age 4-6)…

I purchased some Indian Corn at a pumpkin patch last month wanting to tie it into a class. I love the colors of the kernels & had originally wanted to do a drawing/watercolor project with the Beginning Art  kids, BUT as usual, I changed my mind 🙂

*This* was an opportunity for a sculpture project with the 4-6 year olds!

 

Real Indian Corn

First we built the armature. (1) Crunch up newspaper into a long oval shape. (2) Wrap w/ 1 more pc of newspaper burrito-style & add a few pieces of tape to help hold together.

After you have your newspaper form ready, wrap it in a piece of heavy duty aluminum foil (sorry, not shown). Once wrapped, start to sculpt  the corn shape. Pinch in one side to make it smaller than the other. This is also a good time to let the kids feel the real corn, so they can make their armature feel similar.

Next, paper mache the armature with brown paper. We used torn up recycled paper & faded old construction paper. Torn up paper bags would also work. *Let dry.

 

Paint the kernels with a cotton swab or the end of a pencil. Provide a variety of Fall colors and also talk to the students about patterns.

 

For the final finishing touch, hot glue a small bunch of dried corn husk to the large end. I've had a bit of corn husk lying around for a while & finally got to use it up! Tie together beforehand with a natural piece of twine or raffia. It makes gluing quicker & adds extra cuteness.

 

This is a 2-day project. If you plan properly, the kids can bring home a lovely handmade decoration for Thanksgiving.

One last note… I was happily surprised that the painting kept the attention of the students for about 30 mins. Sometimes tedious, repetitive tasks can bore this age group so you may want to break things up with a Thanksgiving story.

 

Halloween Projects

Hope everyone had a fun Halloween! Here’s what we worked on in the studio last month…

class: Pee Wee Art (Age 2-3)

Spider handprints, pumpkin puzzles, and mini pumpkins

class: Little Picasso’s (Age 4-6)

Goofy Pumpkins (color mixing, cutting skills) & Autumn Spider Webs (patterns in nature, lines, cutting/pasting).

class: Beginning Art (Age 6.5-9)

Witch Legs, Haunted Castles, Finish the Spider Drawings, Black Cat Portraits

class: Halloween Art Party

Halloween Art Party: bug goo, free art, storytime, bat puppets, yarn monsters, & squishy eyeballs!

Klimt + LB Parks & Rec Classes

Our Little Picasso’s Class (Age 4-6) is now available through Long Beach Parks & Recreation beginning TH, June 9th. This class is my favorite to teach. I love to see the kids delve into the projects and come out feeling confident about what they made.

Here is an example of what we made last week… We looked at some kid-friendly works of Gustav Klimt and focused on his use of pattern and the color gold (ooooh, gold!). Students and parents really loved this project. It had a little of everything… drawing, painting, shapes, patterns, cutting, pasting and ,as always, room for a little self expression.

1. The kids were given a piece of transparency film and painted one side with gold acrylic.
2. Then we placed the film –wet side down– onto a black backing (the paint has to be wet to stick).
3. Dry side up, we drew our patterns & talked about alignment.
4. Lastly, students added more Klimt-like patterning & colors using paper.
Go to this link for LB Parks class info:
http://www.longbeach.gov/park/classregistration/pre_school.asp