Classroom
Thanksgiving Turkey Pop Up Card/Place Marker
This festive Thanksgiving craft is fun to assemble and put together, revealing a popup turkey in the end that kids of all ages can enjoy. Give away as cards or work on it together as a whole family in order to make individual place markers for that special Thanksgiving celebration. Here are the instructions. Follow…
Read MorePerspective Drawing Made Easy!
“There’s something wrong with my drawing!” You recognize it. You can’t quite pinpoint what it is. The chances are good that the perspective is off. Many great artists find their work lacks professional polish because of one reason alone. They do not have a good understanding of perspective. Perspective drawing is one of the few…
Read MoreFireworks Craft
This simple craft is perfect for your middle school art students. It’s very easy to do, and I have found that even non-artistic adults have enjoyed doing this. However, one word of caution, this is a hands on project… you will get messy. Supplies Paper –You can use either pre-colored paper, such as a construction…
Read MoreHow to Draw a Leprechaun Activity Sheet
As a St. Patrick’s day gift to you, we have created a free fun, step-by-step tutorial on how to draw a Leprechaun. Great for school aged children. The instructions start with “Draw two fish bowl shapes.” That’s all I’m going to say for now. To find out more and to get started with your St.…
Read MoreClassroom demonstrations
I just finished teaching my “Painting with a Broad Brush” class. Always a lot of fun. My landscape painting class begins in five weeks and anybody can sign up for it by going to the Glendale YMCA for more details. These are two of the more successful exercises that came from that class. The first…
Read MorePainting Classes
“Painting with a Broad Brush,” “Painting Landscapes” and “Anybody Can Cartoon.” These are the three exciting classes I am privileged to teach starting next January at the Glendale YMCA. You do not have to be a member or a resident to sign up for these classes. These classes are great for home schooled kids, retiring…
Read MoreA Day in Plein Air
Since I will be teaching plein air painting in a few weeks, I realized that I had better get back to the swing of things and start painting on location again. My last paintings have all been studio paintings, where I’ve had the luxury of working from photos, taking my time, and listening to the ball…
Read MoreForcing the big shapes
Because I struggle with zooming out and painting the big shapes first, I forced myself to conduct a little exercise. I wanted to see how loose I could go while still maintaining recognizability. So I grabbed an Anthropology ad and found a great photo to work with, and I let go, trying to paint as…
Read MoreColor comps: The key to good art
Below are five good reasons why one should create color comps in the same media as their final illustration or painting. One mistake I used to make was doing my color comp in a medium other than the one I was going to use for the final illustration. But after looking at Rockwell’s color comps,…
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