This weeks BEST OFS

Educating the Kids on Australia

So this week's theme is AUSTRALIA. Our first project is exploring the ancient aborigine cave art that is found throughout Australia. 

I always, if I have the time, try to make a few examples of the activity to One: make sure the project works, and Two: Give students a springboard to generate ideas. 

There are almost every time, at least two students who just copy your work. This is, of course, not ideal...but nevertheless the Copying process can be beneficial also, so I usually just let it go. Not to mention, that that's how humans learn cognitively. I also, initially taught myself how to draw by copying comics. It isn't easy to generate original ideas when you are young, not enough life experiences yet. Once a person knows who they are, once some personal stories have been accumulated, original content comes a lot easier. 

I also almost always try to include an example that references current kid pop culture. Here is a drawing from the 'Aboriginal Dot Painting' activity we will be doing this week, featuring Perry the Platypus from 'Phineas and Ferb'.

Post Lesson Assessment: The kids freaked out when they saw Perry.

The very first 'BEST OFS' entry!

If you've been following along you probably know by now that part of reason the posts slowed down in posts the last two years or so have been mostly due to my pursuit of a career in A being not only an artist, but also a certified K-8 Art Teacher, gotta pay the bills (and now student loans) don't you know? With this in mind, I'll be transitioning the blog to cover not only my own art work, but also some of my experiences in the classroom and some student work.

With that said, I'm starting a new category of posts titled 'Best Of's' and it will feature strictly the work of students. Here is the very first batch!

 

Art projects for kids!

Working with kids is a really great and rewarding, but funny thing. When ever I am designing a project for kids, I try to make a prototype. There are visual thinkers, auditory thinkers, and spacial thinkers. With that being said, I try to make a model of the project, show how it was made, and talk about it as I demonstrate the methods I employed to make the piece.  

This summer, I'll be working as an Art Instructor as I previously mentioned, at Smith College up in Amherst, Massachusetts. This is one of the projects we will be working on. As always, this project was a joy to create, but for kids whose motor skills are not quite developed, there can be a lot of frustration involved. 

There are many steps involved in the process, but nothing too complicated. The most difficulty should arise out of kids hands just not quite doing what they want them to, and generating ideas. Kids often have trouble grasping that their frustrations are a matter of their motor skills being underdeveloped, and take their difficulties as a failure on their part, and tears can sometimes be a issue. But, worry not kids, these sort of things will be a breeze as you mature into your grown up hands, hearts, and minds. Engage and persist.

I'm apologizing again...

So the website is under construction hence the long delay. Expect new updates soon! I can't wait, I'm like a kid on Christmas Eve!

In other news: As I prepare for my summer job as the Art Instructor at Oasis Camp located in Northampton, MA, I am busy making signs and trying out projects for my curriculum. Here is my go at the Antarctica Collage assignment.

Life Drawing @ The Book Club in London.

Pretty rad.

VINTAGE documentary shorts about ANIMATION!

This is a must watch for any Fleischer Animation Studio fans, animation geeks, or Popeye fans!

I've always loved old documentaries from the 1930s and 1940s. Wether you are talking about war effort propaganda or news reels, there is an aesthetic quality to the films from those eras that I find very appealing. For example, the stoic narration is just consistently awesome in most documentaries coming from those eras. The cameras shots are wide and epic, and the edits are not too overwhelming, nor do they happen too quickly, even the credits of film are shown much respect and care. The result is often more times than not, quite beautiful, and this one is no exception. So coupled with the fact that its about the process of animation and stars Fleischer studios and also has this awesome 1930/1940's aesthetic quality going, I was in geek out heaven upon discovering this gem.

In my childhood I loved watching cartoons and I was pretty lucky to grow up in the 1970s and 1980s when cartoons  just were at their height both in popularity and awesomeness! Other than the amazing Saturday morning fare of Thundercats, He-Man, Dungeons & Dragons, Gummi Bears, Looney Tunes, Voltron, Tom & Jerry, Topcat (the list just goes on and on), these Tex Avery satirical documentaries totally made an indelible impression on me. They're just so funny, creative, and awesome. I just loved the humor that they found in future totalitarian designs. Here's a fine sample of what I'm talking about...

Here is another...

New Work!

Hello dear readers. I have some new work for y"all to take a gander at. I am posting the process of creating this one Rosannadanna piece (alias Gilda Radner) in steps here now for your viewing pleasure. The other good news is that I have been on a total comic making high as of late, so you should definitely be on the lookout for new postings.

                                              



                                             
                                 

                                      

New Logo!

It's a brand new Artist You Should Know entry...RON MUECK

                  If you have been actively following the Contemporary Art Gallery scene or if you've picked up a copy of Art Forum magazine at all in the last five years or so, chances are you came across the work of Ron Mueck, a UK sculptor, who's hyper realist aesthetic just boggles the mind face-to-face. This is mostly due to it's near flawless authenticity, and shear scale! I mean, his works are not life size, they are gigantic! Literally giants. Here is a sampling. Due to copyright laws, I am only allowed to legally post one image of work that is not my own, so I highly encourage you reader, to look further into his work, as each of his pieces are just as stunning as the last.

 In Bed, 2005

Visit his online studio, and check out his process:  http://www.gautierdeblonde.com/portfolio.lasso?categoryID=4

New comics are coming!

Here's a page from a story I've been working on that is part of series of stories for mature audiences only. Maybe you'll be lucky enough to see a limited edition at your local comic book store.

And here's another!

It's a new comic!

An Homage of sorts. Thanks Mr.Schultz for the inspiration.

The kid is on fire!

Even more new work!

Oh, see, I'm on a roll now. Look out readers!

3-D Fun!!!

     A couple months ago, I tried my hand at some 3-D work. These two pieces were my first attempt since childhood to create any sort of models from scratch. Initially, my thinking was that it would be breeze since I am now a trained artist and all... 

     However, once I began working, I soon realized that it's not rocket science. Basically, my feeling now is if you can work an I-pod, you can build a robot out of cardboard or a tiny record player just like I did. My art training really had little to do with any success I achieved in creating these works. So, I encourage you also to give this project a whirl.
               
                       


    Also, I must say both of these works were so much fun to create! I think it was liberating to put away the ink and paint for a minute. I don't just step out of the box, I foxtrot out of it.

New work!

Here at long last, is some new work. The second piece might look familiar as I also made the image into a three color screen print some time ago. This digital version is new. More coming by the way. So much work to get uploaded. Please stay tuned!

                                                    

Work to be dug.

Must plug. Feeling the street installations of Mark Jenkins. Great social commentary with a unique sense of humor, smart stuff.  

                  Mark Jenkins website!

The art of kids

I really cannot stress enough how genius some little kids are. Here are some standouts of student work. These are five and six year olds people, eat your heart out Juxtapoz.