Category Archives: Art

Bruegel Wedding Feast

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We have started our next famous artist ~

Pieter Bruegel the Elder

Because so many of his works feature peasants in everyday life, he was known as “Peasant Bruegel”.

My daughter chose this painting,The Wedding Feast, for our first art appreciation lesson.

The Peasant Wedding, a 1567 or 1568 painting b...

The Peasant Wedding, a 1567 or 1568 painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, with two men playing pijpzaks (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We both looked at all the details in his painting. He puts so much into his works that you can almost play “I spy” to try find the many characters!

I traced a fairly detailed outline of the painting.Bruegel Wedding Feast

Miss.L11 painted it with watercolors, carefully copying the colors. 2013-06-17 21.37.09

It took several short sessions before had she completed the entire painting, but it was a quiet and enjoyable activity.20130617_213723

Why don’t you give this art work a try?

  1. Find the painting online  ~ 
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pieter_Bruegel_the_Elder
  2. Download the outline ~ Bruegel Wedding Feast
  3. Color or paint the picture if you wish.
  4. Have fun!

Blessings,

Leonardo Baby Sketches

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English: Studies of Embryos by Leonardo da Vin...

My family were keen to do another Leonardo-inspired art activity after last week’s enjoyable Leonardo Pastel Portrait lesson ~

Leonardo da Vinci Baby Sketches

I tailor-made this lesson according to each one’s requests … printing out the specific size and copies of Leonardo’s baby sketches ~ here are your free copies ~ Leonardo da Vinci baby sketches

(Please note ~ approach this lesson with sensitivity – some children may find the idea that Leonardo da Vinci’s sketched and made notes of these baby sketches from cadavers rather disturbing.)

  • We looked at some examples of Leonardo’s baby sketchbook examples in our art book and online.
  • I used theses images and created black & white images using MS Word.
  • I enlarged specific sketches to print out for each artist.
  • We used a large A3-sized page for the collage, but normal printer-sized pages for the printouts.
  • We tore away the white edges around the large sketches and glued them collage-style with the rest of Leonardo’s special mirror-image handwritten notes as the background. Leonardo da Vinic baby sketches
  • Then we shaded over the entire page with yellows and oranges and browns and blended it in.  The torn edges ‘absorbed’ more pastel, making them darker.
  • Focusing just on one baby or the larger sketches we used our pastels to shade and highlight the baby’s contours.Leonardo da Vinic baby sketches1
  • Without working it too much, we were finished fairly quickly.
  • A spray of fixative and we were done!
  • A easy lesson with satisfying results!

Leonardo da Vinic baby sketches2

Here are some comments my kids made as we were clearing the table ~

“I like these sketches.  They don’t have to be finished, so there is no pressure to do the entire page.”

“I love the pastels.  They work to cover a large area quickly and they can mix and blend to make smooth shading.”

“I love to put more pastel over the mistakes.  It is completely hidden, so I am not afraid if it doesn’t look right.  I can keep trying until it works out.”

For me, my older children joining me is an answer to prayer.  For almost 2 years, they have declined to do most our art lessons.  Maybe I should have tried chalk pastels long ago?

And yet, this week my youngest declined … she didn’t really enjoy last week’s lesson and felt rather insecure.  No pressure.  I’m sure we’ll find something she will be happy to join us next week!

Blessings,

Leonardo Pastel Portraits

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Leonardo’s da Vinci’s portraits are beautiful.

Leonardo Pastel Portraits

Something about his unfinished sketches draws the viewer’s eye to the glorious shading and luminescence of these faces.

We used an extract picture from “The Virgin of the Rock” (because it was on the font cover of my Leonardo art appreciation book – just using what we have ;) )

madonna_detail

I made a simple outline drawing ~

Leonardo portrait 001

Free download ~ Leonardo da Vinci portrait

We all started our own “incomplete version” of a Leonardo portrait.

  1. Cover the entire page with orange, yellows and browns and ‘fist it in’ or blend it well.
  2. Do all the hair with dark browns and even black areas and cover the areas around her face with dark browns and blacks.
  3. Add shadows to the face – under the chin, the neck folds, the  lower cheek, the creases in the eyes, the bags under the eyes, the nose and lips – and blend lightly.
  4. Then add skin color or light beige or cream for highlights and blend slightly.
  5. Now it is time for details – dark, dark brown or black on the upper eyelid and the pupil of the eyes and the nostril.
  6. Add shading to the eyelids, the nose and the lips.
  7. Emphasize what is really dark and those areas that are light.
  8. Add light yellow swirls to the hair.
  9. Maybe add some white to her collar.
    Leonardo Pastel Portraits1

There were moments of frustration … add in “wanting to give up” … when fuzzy pictures were difficult to ‘pull out’.  We also all struggled  for a moment when the picture was ‘almost done’ and it became fuzzy again and we ‘lost it’.  (It is best not to “over-work” this type of   pastel art.)

But pastels are wonderfully forgiving and you can just layer on top of the colors or textures you need to change.Leonardo Pastel Portraits2

It is phenomenally difficult to capture the pristine beauty and luminescence of the original … but we all felt quite happy about our efforts.

A spritz of fixative and our portraits were done.

Blessings,

Sketch Tuesday ~ Favorite Food

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This week’s Sketch Tuesday‘s theme is

Favorite Food

Favourite Food 002

A bowl of soup!

Soup?

I was shocked.  I really thought it would be something with chocolate … a pudding, or a cake, or some sweets … or Chinese food … or fruit …but, she really surprised me with this sketch :)

Favourite Food 001

I love Chinese food … but my hubby doesn’t, so we rarely eat out of my beautiful china Chinese set.  I enjoyed painting a quick watercolor of a still life.

Stir fry is on the menu for tonight!

What’s your favorite food?

See you at the slide show!

Blessings,

New chalk pastels!

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Last week we did our first chalk pastel tutorial

and I realized our pastel set was under-stocked and inadequate.

So I splurged on 2 sets -

a 24 set of chalk pastels

P1160663

& my waited-so-long-on-my-wish-list set of pastel pencils!

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When I put both sets out

and opened a new Hodgepodge chalk tutorial ~

Wind in the Tree

EVERYONE joined!

My older girls seldom do art with us,

but the new array of beautiful colors drew them closer …

P1160668

and we all enjoyed a relaxing time with our pastels.

P1160678

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(The pastel drawings done from top to bottom by 10-year-old, 13-year-old, 18-year-old and me.)  

Several of us did a 2nd pastel picture not shown here.

Thanks Tricia for making our first lessons so easy!

Here are some pros and cons of chalk pastels ~

Pros ~

  • bright colors
  • covers a large area with very little effort or work
  • layers of colors can cover up ‘mistakes’ or smudges
  • limited colors layered on each other produces new shades and tones
  • blending with finger or paper nub makes beautiful shading
  • quick lessons because you can’t ‘work it too much’

Cons ~

  • smudges easily
  • lack of fine detail frustrate some kids
  • can become messy if not careful
  • chalk pieces break very easily
  • some popular colors are often finished before most the other colors

Even if you only have a small set, or limited time, go ahead and try a chalk tutorial!

Blessings,