The birth of an artist

This was originally posted at Pearmama's World on February 13, 2011.

The one question Michael and I always get asked after,

are they all yours?

and

how old are they?

is most definitely

are they artists just like their mom and dad?

When the chil'rens were really young, we didn't know how to answer that. We were just your typical parents who ooohed and aahhed over their child's cute drawing. They didn't really show any particular promise. We just hung it up on the fridge anyway.

But now that my son is ten years old, I'm beginning to really see Sol's artistic talents starting to flourish. It's a beautiful thing to contemplate that my son is an artist. Michael and I get excited when we see his work and we realize, he's going to be ten times the better artist than we are!

The kid is amazing. And I'm not just saying that because I'm his mother.

Heh.

At ten years old, he paints, draws, does graffiti, designs his own vinyl stickers and can operate the vinyl cutting machine and he is learning how to use computer programs like Photoshop. Oh, and he knows how to airbrush, too.

Shoot, I was doodling on my Peechee folder at his age.

When I saw this video of Ernesto Yerena of Hecho Con Ganas, a young Chicano activist and artist, I couldn't help but think of Sol and his art. I let him watch the video and I saw his eyes light up when he heard the soundtrack. And really, how could he not? It was RATM! He was very interested to learn about this young man who grew up working with his father in the garage. When he got to see Ernesto share his creative techniques, Sol was inspired by his fellow artist.



I told him, "Mijo, you could do all of these things. You are a gifted artist. Imagine what you'll be creating when you are this dude's age!"

Which is approximately twelve years or so because Ernesto is a youngster himself.

And Sol just smiled that little Sol smile, dimple and all. I love my little king. I'm in awe of my son. Here is some of his artwork so far:

Mixed media collage with oil pastels, color pencils, tissue paper and magazine clippings, a project we created on Modern Art 4 Kids.

His first try at painting Bob Marley. My Dad literally pulled it off my livingroom wall and took it home.

Sol's workstation. He's working on another Bob Marley painting.

Sol and his 10th birthday present: a respirator to use while he uses aerosol cans. Most kids just want a new video game, right? Not Sol.

The artist, working on a wood panel.

While I'm working on my own painting in the background, Sol is working on an airbrush portrait of his Dad in our kitchen/art studio.

A piece in Sol's black book.

A Frank Stella-inspired relief sculpture he did in art class.

A Van Gogh-inspired still life drawing made with oil pastels.

Sol found these random wood shapes in the garage, so he decoupaged drawings he liked onto the wood, then he added some color to it with paint and/or marker.

Working on a painting of Frida Kahlo to augment the report that he did for art class. I helped him out with the drawing and then he painted it.

I really felt the need to document some of Sol's artwork. He's gonna want to see this someday. And what can I say? Sometimes a mother has to brag about her kid's efforts just a little bit.

Claes Oldenburg: Large Papier Mache Sculpture

Claes Oldenburg is the perfect artist to share with children. Who wouldn't love his giant ice cream cone leaning precariously over the edge of a building? Or his monumental swiss army knife? And what about his huge floor cake made out of soft fabrics?

My students loved it all! Drawing inspiration from Mr. Oldenburg himself, as well as a lesson from Art Projects for Kids, respectively, I thought we would create our own giant letters from papier mache. It was most definitely an ambitious project, especially when your class is only one hour long and you don't have a sink in your classroom.

But anyhoo, we overcame our obstacles and completed this papier mache project in four class sessions. The classroom was loud, a little chaotic and messy. This is definitely the day when you will need to find several mom helpers to assist you because you will need as many hands as an octopus to ensure you finish each step when you should.

Since you can easily find step by step instructions for papier mache here and here, I won't reinvent the wheel but I will share how I broke down this project into manageable stages.

• Collect as much cardboard, newspaper, computer paper and masking tape as you can haul with you.
• Day #1: This class should be dedicated to drawing, tracing and cutting out your letter from cardboard using scissors. Use your letter as a stencil and create a second letter. Cut it out. We decided to go with a bigger sized letter (around 11 X14 inches) so it could stand up to the papier mache process.
  
• Start constructing letters using styrofoam cups and masking tape. Wrap in computer paper and tape it with masking tape in preparation for papier mache.
• Day #2: Time to papier mache. Make sure your student takes special care to get into all the bends and folds of their letter. It will look neater in the end.
• Let dry.
  
• Day #3: Paint one coat of white primer paint or spray paint them with a white primer color.
• Let dry.
• Begin to add color by painting your letter. Base colors first, to ensure even coverage. Smart Craft paint is inexpensive craft paint that comes in a huge variety of colors. And it costs .99 cents, so what is there not to love?
  
• Day #4: Finish painting fully constructed letter with acrylic paint.
  
• You can use an old hairdryer to speed the drying process. Once its dry to the touch, you can add patterns, multiple colors, you can design on it with markers, or in the case of my art student, you can splash paint all over it.

The sculpture above was created by a fourth grader.

New artwork, new banner

I decided to make a new banner for Modern Art 4 Kids. You could say I sort of have a prejudice against computer-generated art. Sure, Photoshop and Illustrator and all those programs are fine and dandy and yes, it takes a great deal of skill and talent to create magic with them but....there is something to be said about art that you make with your hands.

I always encourage my children to draw instead of just making something up on the computer. I feel if they cultivate their drawing skills, then it will only add to their technical skill on the computer.

I was working with some paper the other night and so I decided to make my own Modern Art 4 Kids banner out of cut paper--a collage. It was fun. I love that you can still get the tactile sense of the paper cut and glued onto paper. This is what happens when you buy a huge box of scrapbooking squares on clearance at Michael's for $5.99. Yay, me! It's been screaming at me to open it.

The original artwork is fairly small, around 8 X 11. I wanted to make it small enough to fit on my scanner. So, what do you think of it?

Open House art display

The fall semester at my homeschool co-op is just about over (one more class--wooo hooo!) We've had a great semester thus far. I had a whole new crop of students this time around. I'll admit, not seeing all the little familiar faces that I've grown accustomed to made me a little wistful. But by the end of this semester, I grew to love my entire class. They are an awesome group of little artists. They made my job easy.

Displays are always a challenge because there is always so much stuff. What I decided to do was pare down to the most interesting projects and display those.

Overall, an awesome night and an even more awesome fall semester.

I took the best projects from each lesson we covered. Klimt, O'Keefe, Oldenburg, and Van Gogh were a few of the artists we studied this semester.

My students were also assigned a presentation on their favorite artists. I plan on featuring that really cool cell phone sculpture soon. Also, I totally loved the Bob Ross report. Completely unexpected but so much fun. "Happy little trees..."

My son decided to do his report on Frida Kahlo. Okay, okay, I have to admit I had a little bit of influence on his decision-making, but it turned out really well.

A few of the papier mache letters that took us nearly a month to complete!

Amazing collages, sculptures and drawings.

Brotherly love and fun on open house.

My two sons and budding artists, Sol and Cyan, who took my class this semester.

Andy Warhol: Pop Art

If you've never heard of Andy Warhol, then you've been missing out on the one of the queerest, most avant garde, most groovy artists of the 60's. He believed that you could elevate something as mundane and common as a soup can and it could turn into something visually interesting. He began to experiment with silk screening, and his celebrity portraits--most notably, Marilyn Monroe--are some his most beloved works. I decided to have some fun with this project, and we embarked on our own Pop Art portrait.

This project requires some preparation beforehand. Before the students left class for the day, I had them line up against the wall one by one, and I took a black and white photo of them.

• 
  Then I copied and pasted them four times, to form a grid pattern.
• Once I have uploaded and cropped all of the images, I then proceeded to play with each individual portrait on photoshop, upping the contrast and then posterizing them, giving them a paint by numbers quality.
• After printing each one, I got to serious work.
• Each printed portrait now has to be decoupaged onto a piece of watercolor paper. Decoupage is basically a gluing technique.
• I use Matte Medium for all my collage/decoupage projects.
• Decoupaging will prepare the surface and will give it a matte finish.
• It's up to you, whether or not you want your students to decoupage on their own. Since I have a time crunch, I decided to do it at home beforehand. I also couldn't bear the thought of the students sloshing their way through my beloved bottle of Liquitex Matte Medium, which costs me $19.99!
• That afternoon before class, everyone had their black and white portrait of themselves primed and ready to go!
• Encourage each student to be creative within each grid, using contrasting colors and patterns but following the basic posterized shapes.
• Each student was given a palette with 4-5 colors of acrylic paint in each well. Make sure each student has their own water container as well, it just makes it easier for each student to keep their brushes clean and their paint from getting too muddy.

This is one of my favorite projects because this is a technique that I employ in alot of my personal mixed medium paintings. You would not believe some of the stuff the students came up with! Although it involves a good deal of preparation, the results are worth it! Every student was excited to take their portraits home. And for once, this was a keeper!

The portrait above was created by a seventh grader.