Did you see our new graphic? We are often asked which order to take the classes in..and for differences between all of them.. here are all of the online workshops at a glance! Of course you can head over to my workshop page to get the fat skinny on every course. Click here for more info.
My creativity is all over the place. Last week I was shooting senior portraits, making plans for a graduation balloon arch, filming course material, consulting on a film project and helping clients understand their DSLR cameras. There is a lot on my plate, but I don't know any other plate I'd rather have in front of me.
I struggle with labeling my creativity...am I an artist? A photographer? Truth is I don't care anymore. I'm happy. Call me what you want...living the dream.. haha Oh..I almost forgot the bee hive in the back yard the other day....indeed. Good times.
My daughter is graduating from Kindergarten. I am so proud... I shot all of the kindergarten class yesterday for graduation photos we are presenting to the parents..the kids were thrilled to put on the "college gown"..which is what a lot of them called the cap and gown. Their eyes totally lit up.. (I've been capturing events since PK with this group..I make a DVD for the parents every year and it has become quite the production).. the images came out great and I feel awesome to have "photographer" on my resume these days.
What's keeping you busy?
11x14" Acrylic and graphite
Blogging has taken a back seat to creating last week....I'm loving every minute of it! The new online course is coming along fantastic...it's going to be loaded with goodness....and totally different than anything I have ever offered online..I can't wait until I can show you the promo..
It's sci-fi weekend here. We watched ET last night and tonight we'll hope for good conditions so that we can see the eclipse tonight... Good times. Hope you are having a great weekend!
Hi there! I just wrapped up filming half of the latest online course for artists...still a lot to go, but I am going to pop in today and offer you a Mixed Media for Kids lesson. We're on version 2.9 now..that means there are a lot of back issues available for you to peruse. I teach art to two six year old girls once a week. The lessons are no longer than 50 minutes each and we've covered so much ground! The girls love the time we spend together every week.
So many people ask me if I can teach art to their children. I don't offer group workshops, but I write these lessons so that anyone can follow along. Spend time with your children. With so many art and music programs being cut nationwide......the choice is simple.
Last week we started a two-part lesson on artist Mark Rothko. I picked Rothko for this lesson because I knew the girls could emulate his painting style without much difficulty. (I'm not down playing Rothko's genius by any means...) We began the lesson by cruising through Google images of Rothko's works. I picked no. 16 as our guide and I instructed the children how to mix paint.
For our process, we imagined the painting in layers. I asked the children what colors they thought where on the bottom of the painting. We started by painting the entire canvas panel light red. Next we penciled in the rectangles and started to fill them in with the colors of the sample painting.
Using acrylic paint and one paintbrush, the girls looked at Rothko's work and tried to copy his stroke style. We noticed that most of the strokes were in the same direction and that each addition of a new color allowed some of the previous color to peek through.
The 6 year olds have an attention span of about 50 minutes, especially after a long school day, so we'll pick up this lesson again today and add some finishing details. They are very excited to get these panels up onto their walls!
Thanks for visiting today. I hope you can spend a little time with your child creating every week...they will love you for it...much better than having a stranger teach them lessons in a group of kids..I think in that environment learning becomes another chore. To see all of the rest of the lessons, click here.
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Filmed Monday, May 8, 2012
Thank you to the 356 visitors who entered to win the stencil giveaway! This morning, the random generator picked Kathy R in MI to win the package. Hooray Kathy! Here's what Kathy had to say about the giveaway:
Thanks to you and cw both for the opportunity!...would love to win! I am just beginning mixed media painting and would use the stencils as a tool for backgrounds, raised elements etc.as taught in your textures class....hope to take another class very soon!
Thanks for visiting. See you soon!
If you're new to online workshops, don't let the price of this one fool you! At $52 it is one of the best deals on the internet. Julie Prichard has served over 2,600 classes online. This workshop will take you through quick and fun techniques to add to your art journal...many students say that the techniques are really relaxing and they get in the groove and complete numerous lessons!
You get to watch the videos as much as you want.
You get to post your art and get UNLIMITED instructor feedback.
You get beautiful download instruction to keep! Watch this video:
Click here to register and see the supply list.
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Expedition, 2012 - Archival Mixed Media on Illustration Board, 16x20
$175 includes domestic shipping
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Grab your kids. Grab your camera.
Today we picked up the DSLR and a copy of Vogue and headed to the living room. The change of scenery was good to stimulate the children's creativity. I had them look through the advertisements in the front of the magazine and spoke to them about the model poses and especially the light. We talked about where the light was hitting, whether it was diffused or harsh and why the photographers light this way.
Next, I had one child play the model and the other play the photographer. Positioning the children and teaching them how to work the camera's focus, they took turns moving our light closer and away from the model to mimic the vogue ads. We were shooting tethered to the laptop and the girls were very interested to see their shots as they came up. They were surprisingly good at this! The photos above are cropped by me...but straight out of the camera otherwise.
You don't need a fancy camera or studio lights for this lesson. Take your point and shoot or iPhone and talk to the children about composition. What do they see..look for everything in the viewfinder. Have them study pictures of you (or another sibling) taken in harsh sun and in the shade. Stand them next to a white or light colored building that the sun is shining on and have them watch how the building reflects light onto their faces..a natural reflector. Have fun with this and print them out some images to show their friends when they are done!
I am always happy to hear that people are following these lessons and sitting down with their children for some creative time. My daughter loves this every week.. if you have any stories to share about your time with children, drop me a line.
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Last week I happened upon my ol' 2Peas rubber stamp gallery... as I traveled down memory lane, I remembered some old supplies. Mica tiles? Yes please! Love how they enhance the yellow of the vintage paper...and also their sheen...beautiful.
I'm off Pinterest...I had such a love hate relationship with it..it was fun..but the idea is creeping me out these days. Why should someone gain popularity for image collection? I guess that's the thing that matters the most to me.. I don't think it's right to host images on blogs, boards..tumblr for that matter...reposting what someone else has posted. I don't get it. I don't understand why the same feature cannot be accomplished by simply bookmarking things..remember bookmarks?
I'm not hoping to start a fight on the ethical questions regarding Pinterest.. just stating why I don't use it anymore. When sharing is so easy...is it possible that we are sharing too much?
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...and we're back! Easter break and my trip to NY derailed my "Teach Art to your Children" series...but we're back now..with some simple coloring techniques that you can try. It's easy. I am so proud of my 6 year old students and how they grasped this lesson. The lesson will not only teach these coloring and blending techniques, but it also teaches them to think about color and tonal values. To begin, I showed the girls some flowers from the garden and got them thinking about how things are not "one color". Some petals fade from light to dark and others had two colors blended seamlessly together.
We used Prismacolor [link] pencils. (Please don't buy these for regular price at the craft store. Use a coupon or buy them on sale.) I used permanent ink to stamp some images they could color on cardstock. Cut the cardstock to roughly the size of a postcard and tell the kids that they can mail it to their friends when they are finished. (They will take extra time with it and want to make it perfect.)
Have the child decide on what color they want to use and have them select three shades of that color.. a light, medium and dark shade. Start by pressing firmly with the lightest shade, and then add the medium shade to part of the image. Use the dark shade last. Use a blending stump, or one of the shades of the color to push the pigments into each other creating a blended area of color. The wax in these pencils will build up on the image and it will be able to move more so than a crayon or generic colored pencil. Have the child press firmly so that the color builds up and all of the image is covered.
The lesson will get the children thinking the next time they color something whether it's with crayons or pencils, they will have improved their skills and we are building their art foundation..I hope you give it a try.
See you next week!
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