Baby Doll tomatoes

This pastel portrait was something I did a few weeks ago for my adopted grandma at the frame shop. I spent about five hours and was working from a very old 1"x2" photo (and I didn't even draw the whole photo).  I have pretty good close up vision, but I definitely had to scan the picture into my computer and enlarge it so I didn't go crazy trying to see the details. :) I also had to make the woman look happy and not like the sun was in her eyes like she did when the photo was snapped. That was a fun little challenge. "Grandma" was very happy.

I love doing portraits, and if you or anyone you know would like a portrait done come talk to me! I usually work in pencil, charcoal, pastel and oils (full color and oil wash). 

Bug drawings

Main purpose of the bug drawing project
1. Learn and develop drawing skills
2. Continue working on blending and shading
3. Draw items that the students enjoyed
4. Sources MUST be used for this project or they will not be learning how to draw a tarantula that looks like a tarantula etc.

This project was slightly adapted from an idea I found on an art teacher's blog that I cannot find again so I cannot give credit unfortunately.
Every student drew three insects/spiders/bugs and then cut them out. I helped with the cutting some with my xacto knife. I printed lots of pictures that I will be able to use for other classes down the road, and some of the students brought pictures of their favorite bugs. I taught them about observing what they were drawing and drawing accurately. I did not allow ants to be drawn as three circles with lines coming out of them.... anyone can do that, but we are learning to draw. We also worked with shading and blending with the colored pencils.
The other teacher had them draw a bug jar with some sticks and leaves on a large piece of paper and then paste their bugs on to that piece. I decided to just have them draw a "habitat" for their bugs instead of a bug jar. I provided pictures of leaves and sticks and flowers for this part of the project. The bugs can either be pasted on flat or with the wings etc. popped out  3-D.
We spent at least 3 to 4 hours on this project and by the end I was definitely seeing an improvement in the students drawing ability. Everyone enjoyed this and there was a good balance between me as the instructor telling the students what to draw and the students choosing themselves what butterflies/insects/spiders were their favorites.

They turned out beautifully, but I only have pictures of two because I never remember to bring my camera to class....  Next year I will be better about that.

This was done by one of my stellar 5th graders. I took this picture before he was finished with the background. Some students do try to stop with blank space between the grass and the sky, but I always remind them to think about where their horizon is and make sure that there is no empty space on their page.

This was done by another 5th grader that "draws a movie" every week :) Here the tarantulas and scorpions are having a battle on a basketball court. He could be a comic book artist and writer.

Rhododendrons

This is a painting that I am working on. It is actually moving along pretty quickly, and I am really enjoying painting it. So many pretty pinks!  Oil on canvas, 12x12. I wasn't getting the right pinks with just my alizarin crimson and cad red, but fortunately I happened to have some rose (rose something?) oil paint that was perfect.
I took the photo for this in the spring up at Raven Cliff Falls. It's a very dramatic picture, one of the best I've taken. As soon as it's finished I'll put it up here!

Oil Pastel: Underwater Fish Drawing

I don't remember which blog I was on, but I saw a project using oil pastels on black paper, and this is the project that I morphed that idea into. Oil pastel colors are very bright, and the black paper makes them seem even more vibrant. While this combo is fun/creative/different, I wanted to start doing some projects with more real drawing in them. I found pictures of beautiful tropical fish and had each student draw with pencil the fish that they chose.
Drawing:
I am not getting into sighting/measuring with these young students, but I am helping them draw more and more accurately to the sources that we are using. I point out the angles of the lines, where parts meet up together, the shapes of curves, sizes of different parts in relation to one another etc., and their drawing is improving.  Every student gets a pencil and a big MOO eraser (they are the best!) and I require them to do lots of erasing! When I as the teacher point out parts that look different on their  drawing from what the object really looks like, they usually can see it and fix it and are more happy with the revised outcome.
I made an example drawing for my classes and also did a demo in class. This was very helpful to their success and made them slow down and notice all of the colors in the fish and how they were blended together. I went over blending and shading with the oil pastels and I was so pleased with how well they did on their own drawings!  I mentioned to them that when they were in Kindergarten they took a green crayon and drew a tree, but now they are too old for that. Trees and grass are not just one color of green!  After they finished the fish they added an underwater background.
I forgot to bring my camera to the first school :( There were some incredible pieces! But I got shots of some more amazing pieces at the second school :)
This is the best project I have done so far and the kids were VERY HAPPY with their drawings.

This fish was at a hard angle to draw, but we did it!

All of these drawings were done by first second and third graders :D

Art Teaching Blogging

I have decided to dedicate part of my blog to teaching art. Once I can get the teaching posts on a separate page/tab it will be very easy to separate them from my other fine art posts.... or maybe eventually I'll have to start a second blog site :)

This is my first year teaching art. I've only taught for seven or eight weeks actually. One day a week I teach one high school and two elementary classes, and another day I teach two more elementary classes. These classes are at home school "schools" or "co-ops," so classes meet just once a week. Maybe one day I'll get into teaching at a private school, but I am really liking teaching for home schoolers, and the pay is pretty good :). Also could have something to do with the fact that I was homeschooled all the way through so I understand the system and like it and know where the kids are coming from and know that they need a good art teacher as much as any other student. I like the low stress and my teaching schedule as well.

All that to say...  A couple of weeks ago I was feeling really discouraged and like I was failing and like I really really didn't know what I was doing. I was running out of projects that I had prepared for and I was having trouble preparing enough in time for class. Thankfully, I had a couple of days off of my other job and the house quiet and to myself, so I started scouring teaching art blogs. A lot of the projects I would not use because they are too "crafty" BUT I did find some great projects and I also found many projects and concepts that I got creative with and mixed up and made more art heavy than craft heavy. I do not have a degree in art education, I have a degree in fine art, so I go more heavy on the art than the crafts (this is also what the students and parents want).
I have also come up with many projects on my own and will post them also.
So now it's my turn to start a teaching art blog and hopefully lots of teachers will find it and will find helpful ideas and projects.
Lessons learned so far:
Don't be lazy- it's gonna take a lot of work, especially the first year when you don't have a repertoire of projects and you don't have a clue what you're doing.

Find somewhere quiet where you can think totally on art and get super creative with the projects
Think through everything and how you will teach everything. Be totally prepared well ahead of time.

Know that you will have to set a chunk of time aside once or twice a week to make sure you are prepared.

Don't be too nice to the students, You are in charge!

Try the projects out yourself before hand and bring examples.

Oil Wash

Today's post is about the drawing technique called "oil wash". I always get asked about this process, so here you go. 

Why I love the oil wash technique:
- I love the simple and kind of antique feel of the drawing/painting.
- It is a quick process.
- It easily lends to great contrast between lights and shadow. Btw, sources with lots of contrast work best for this technique!
- It is fun and very hands on.
- It is a mix between an oil painting and a drawing which has many pros in my opinion.
- It is my favorite drawing technique hands down.

This is the first oil wash I did when I was introduced to the technique in Advanced Painting class my Junior year. An oil wash is done on a canvas board (stretched canvas doesn't work as well) with oil paint, copal medium, mineral spirits, a white t-shirt rag and a couple paint brushes. The first step is to do a pencil drawing of your subject on the canvas board. Be careful not to draw too darkly or to draw in areas of light because the pencil will show. After you drawing is solid, spray it with fixative so that it does not get washed away.
Typically, burnt sienna is the color of oil paint used for an oil wash, but because the burnt sienna can look so orange  by itself, you may want to mix some ultramarine blue or some burnt or raw umber with the burnt sienna until you get a color that you like. Adding the blue may also help darken the areas of shadow. I mentioned copal before, it is the medium that makes the oil wash work. It thins the paint and also quickens drying time. Mix the copal into your oil paint with a palette knife until it feels like soft butter. With a large brush, cover the whole canvas with the mixture. Next, begin taking out your light areas with a rag dipped in mineral spirits. You can rub off just a little bit of paint, or all of the paint back down to the white canvas. You are erasing out the light areas, leaving the midtones, and adding more paint to the dark areas.
Using the rag and brushes (for more detailed areas) dipped in mineral spirits is my favorite step in this process. You can work in large areas and very quickly see the form appearing. For darkening your shadows, use a brush and oil paint without copal in it.
You will find that using too much mineral spirits causes runs, but this can be used to create an awesome effect on the background. Experiment with the copal, paint, mineral spirits, rags, paper towels, brushes, fingers, anything! If you do not like what you have done on your canvas, wipe it off or add more paint and try something new. With this technique you have some very creative, quick options for backgrounds that can strengthen your composition.
The workability time for this technique is about one day, but that is not a problem because you will find that once you get your pencil drawing finished, you will only need maybe five or six hours to complete the piece. If you start in the afternoon of one day, you should be able to touch up those problems that your eye finds on a second look the next morning.

This is another oil wash portrait I did just this summer of another good friend of mine. The color difference is because I added more ultramarine blue into my burnt sienna paint. For those of you "non-artists" I'm sure you think it's just beautiful. But for those of you who are artists you may notice that it looks a little off, it's in the right eye and eyebrow (left side of painting). Too bad I didn't take the time to notice or fix it at the time, because now it's too late to fix. So my suggestion- Do the pencil drawing, and come back to it the next day with a fresh look and make sure it's all spot on. And then be careful to keep the integrity of the drawing when you apply the paint. When you come back to a drawing you always clearly see the issues with it, so take advantage of the fact and don't be lazy or rush!

-Julia

First Post!

:D So I am quite excited, I have a blog now and this is my first post ever. It has taken me awhile to design the blog, but at this point I like it... for now :)
I think that this blog will have a few facets to it, and hopefully will be enjoyable for many different "kinds" of people. I am an artist, as in I paint and draw; I am also a first time art teacher, and then there are all the handcrafted treasures that I love to make.  So now that I am not embarrassed for people to look at my blog, I am going to start blogging. The plan is to post often. Even with my busy schedule I think it will be very good for me, and I have tons of ideas for post topics, so stay tuned!

My online portfolio is juliawichmanart.carbonmade.com  Basically all of the work in my portfolio was done while I was in college. I am currently working on a couple paintings of a rhododendron (one water color pencil, and one photo realistic oil), and a super cute painting of my mom when she was three, standing at Lake Michigan.  I am also reading a book by Dr. Betty Edwards Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. I've never gotten into an art book before, but I am gobbling this one up and am going to start implementing some exercises and teaching from it into my middle/high school drawing class. A MUST READ for artists and anyone wanting to draw well, trust me.

Andddd I am teaching for the first time as before mentioned. What an interesting challenge! Teaching class is much more easy and fun than preparing for it, but I am enjoying the experience overall. I have four elementary art classes of eight students each, and a class of nine older students focusing on drawing. The hardest to teach is the drawing class, but this book is about to help us a lot I think. Oh ya, and then I also work at a frame shop in a large arts/crafts store, but that's not near as interesting...  I mean all I do really is tell people where the bathroom is.  That's a joke, but almost true.

Tomorrow I will post about painting :)