Category: Blog
Fauvist Self Portrait Inspired By Von Werefkin
I am always searching for interesting ways for students to create a self portrait. I found a fauvist/expressionist artist Marianne von Werefkin (1860-1938) as perfect inspiration. She was born in Russia, she studied in St Petersburg and Moscow. She came Munich and soon belonged to the circle around Kandinsky and Der Blaue Reiter. She had… Read More
Artist Wayne Thiebaud Still Life
I was lucky enough to study under Wayne Theibaud when he spent a semester at the University of Minnesota. Thiebaud is an American painter whose most famous works are of cakes, pastries, toys and lipsticks. His last name is pronounced “Tee-bo.” He is associated with the Pop art movement because of his interest in objects… Read More
Audubon Great Grey Owl
One my favorite items to draw or paint is birds, and I am most inspired by John James Audubon. Audubon (1785 – 1851) was a French-American ornithologist, naturalist, hunter, and painter. He painted, catalogued, and described the birds of North America in a manner far superior to what had gone before. In his later years… Read More
Artist: George Rodrigue “Blue Dog Speaks”
Whenever I think of creating dogs in unreal colors I think of George Rodrigues’ Blue dog series. Rodrigue is a great advocate for kids art and donates his time and money to bring blue dog to sick children. For our inspiration we use a work from George Rodrigue’s book “Bue Dog Speaks” called “ In… Read More
Georgia Okeefe “Red Poppy No. VI” Project
Georgia O’Keefe is one a favorite artist of mine, I show students how she painted flowers first how she felt about them and then how she saw them. (1887 – 1986) was an American artist. Born near Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, Georgia O’Keeffe was a major figure in American art from the 1920s. She received widespread… Read More
Artist: Modigliani Style Self Portrait
Students either love or hate self portraits, so i tried having them do a self portrait in the Modigliani style and they all loved it. Amedeo Modigliani (1884 – 1920) was a late-18th century European artist who never lived to see his success, but his paintings are some of my all-time favorites. He settled in… Read More
Artist Bateman – Saw-Whet Owl
My students love drawing birds and their favorite is bird is owls. I recently used a Robert Bateman Owl painting as our inspiration. Bateman was always interested in art, but he never intended on making a living from it. He was fascinated by the natural world in his childhood; he recorded the sightings of all of… Read More
Senufo Spirit Drawing
I like to mix geography and cultures into some of my lessons. The Senufo Spirit Drawing project is perfect to learn about the small Ivory Coast county of Cote d’Ivore. The Senufo people of West Africa’s Ivory Coast are renowned for their cloth paintings. They believe their artwork has special meaning and helps protect them… Read More
Henri Rousseau: Bird drawing
The students love to draw animals, especially birds, For this lesson we use Henri Rousseau Merry Jesters for inspiration. Henri Rousseau (1844 – 1910) was a French artist did not start painting until he was in his 40’s. Ridiculed during his life, he came to be recognized as a self-taught genius whose works are of… Read More
Getting Started: Three Letter Word
We all have days where its difficult to get started drawing, so i have a number of exercises to get the pencil moving. A exercise I used with my teen art journal class was the three letter word. I have the students list a bunch of three letter words that have some action to them…. Read More