RECYCLING AS ART

JUNK MAIL/MIXED MEDIA PAINTINGS

ADVANCED 2-D ART

junk mail, fabric & lace odds & ends, Modge Podge, gesso, acrylic paint, watercolor, sharpie 

and anything else you want to throw in

Senior Samantha Tun bravely jumped in as she undertook this challenging assignment.  

It's a wonderful mixed media Still Life.

She was required to paper collage down junk mail onto the surface of a stretched canvas.

We both decided this piece would look really cool on this elongated one she found.

Why junk mail,

well,

in the original assignment it was supposed to show thru a bit;

some text, some images, and a bit of color.

like the Junk Mail books made in her previous art class the year before.

But Sam was enjoying painting in acrylic from a previous assignment 

and asked if she could change up the assignment a bit by using acrylic instead of watercolor.

I love when the kids ask to try something new so I told her she could if she watered down the acrylic so that the mail images might still show thru along with all the other fabrics & laces she collaged down first.

But we both discovered that that didn't happen.

But what did show up really well were the fabrics and laces.

They created amazing texture thru the acrylic.

After collating down all the mail and textiles she loosely gessoed with a brayer.

again allowing mail and textiles to show thur

 but also giving her a nice ground to paint over.

I had her set up her own still life and off she went painting over all the textures.

Also since our school diesn't have the funds to frame out the kids paintings on stretched canvas,

I have them bring the paint over the side edges

to make piece look finished off.

Congrats Sam on an outstanding job!

SARA'S DANES

Alumni Sara Oh, 

Class of 2018,

 has an affinity for all animals,

all creatures for that matter,

so oftentimes her art reflects that like in this Accordain Book she created for her Bookbinding class.

She recently sent me these pix to show me what she's been up to at Art Center in Pasadena, Ca.

I thought for sure she was painting with Gauche (an opaque watercolor),

but she told me it's acrylic.

I'm loving how she limited her Color Scheme to Monochromatic Blue,

and how wide her range of value is.

 Incredible!

This is a remarkable piece Sara.

I bet your instructors there are so impressed with your technical skill levels

 as well as your design skills.

I know I always have been.

I love and miss you so much.

LEARNING TO USE A NEW MEDIUM

STILL LIFE IN ACRYLIC

ADVANCED 3-D ART

acrylic paint in tubes, brushes & water on canvas

My first experience with acrylic was not good.

It was in junior college and we were told what to buy,

then left on our own to figure out how to use it.

The teacher would disappear for the entire class.

There were no demonstrations,

no discussions, no critiques.

It was a big fail.

And of course I thought it was me.

So before I have the students work in acrylic,

I have them paint realistically in Tempera first in the 4th Quarter of the Beginning 2-D class.

Even though the paint binders are completely different,

the drying time is similar,

FAST!

You must work quickly.

So it's a pretty natural transition to acrylic by the time the kids reach the 3rd year level.

Both media clean up with water,

the only difference is is that if you wait too long to rinse the acrylic paint from your brush,

the Polymer base (glue) will dry in the brush,

leaving it a dead solider.

This is the work of senior Samantha Tun.

She was my sole 3rd year 20-d student last year.

I had Sam do several small samplers first,

3" by 3"

all in different styles,

large stokes versus small,

points versus hatchure strokes,

and different shading techniques:

Monochromatic, Analogous and Complimentary. 

When she felt comfortable I asked her to set up her own Still Life.

Sam took to the acrylic like a duck to water and this was her result.

I was really impressed with her skill level and craftsmanship

 and everyone enjoyed her Still Life she had set up with her sketchbook,

 diary nail polish and alarm clock.

The life of an art student.

MUSICAL SOULS

RAINSTICKS

CERAMICS II

clay, sawdust fire, acrylic paint, nail polish & metallic rubbing compounds

with added embellishments

The Ceramics I students are in awe of this assignment,

and know if they sign up for a second year,

they will most likely have to make a Rainstick.

It's a fairly difficult slab assignment because it's on a large scale,

and when it's said and done is required to make a lovely musical sound from within,

just like raindrops tinkling.

We start with Chloe Chang's elegant octopus.

Loving how she placed it's tentacles,

as if it had its hands are on it's hip for a bit of attitude.

She used the metallic rubs for a bit of color,

then balanced that with the same color neckpiece.

Next let me introduce wild and crazy junior Eugene Ho.

He bravely came back for a second year in Ceramics II after having taken it last in the 8th grade.

I never knew what Eugene had up his sleeve this year,

but it was always surprisingly out there!

We all loved his Rainstick.

So animated and full of life.

He's got this crazy surfing penguin with the wild hair

with fish swimming around the base.

Brilliant Eugene.

He chose to Sawdust Fire the piece then decorated it with nail polish for intense color.

Like I said,

he's a very brave soul! 

I believe I gave the kids the choice between Sawdust or Glaze Firing.

This year they all chose the Sawdust.

It'a a primitive firing technique used all over the world.

Done easily with an old oil drum, newspapers and sawdust.

This piece here is the work of junior Julia Ruiz.

Julia,

like Chloe and Eugene,

 had Ceramics I in the eighth grade.

All were anxious that they had forgotten all their skills and techniques they'd learned.

But here we have another global skill like I talk about all the time.

Once you learn to work with clay ,

you never lose it.

Julia sculpted this adorable Koala on top of a piece of bamboo for her design,

and after Sawdusting,

 painted with acrylics & embellished.

This last one was made by senior superstar Sarah Oh.

At first when you view it 

you have no idea it's a Rainstick until you pick it up and turn it upside down.

Sarah is known for her images of animals, fish and birds.

Here she incorporated a couple to design her piece with.

A close up to see both birds & details in the clay.

Everyone agreed that this piece was very like-like,

and belonged in a gallery.

It was one of last school years highlights at Open House.

We all cannot wait to see what Sarah will produce in Art School in Pasadena.

She will be attending Art Center of Design in the Fall.

Our hearts are with you Sarah.

EXAGGERATION & DISTORTION

ABSTRACTED SELF PORTRAITS

ADVANCED 2-D ART

acrylic paint on canvas

This year the kids were able to deviate off the traditional list of famous Abstract Artists, 

and look to the internet and chose anyone they wanted to try and mimic their style,

using themselves as subject matter.

Senior Jonathan Hsu picked the famous american J.C. Leyendecker,

poster, book and advertising illustrator.

J.C.'s work actually inspired the infamous Norman Rockwell.

This work that Jonathan painted of himself was by far one of my favorite pieces 

that was created this year.

I was fascinated watching him bring himself to life.

Each day as he worked,

 I felt like the piece looked just right, 

but then he would repaint over parts of it,

and it just kept evolving into the splendid work that it is now.

Did I mention that I adored the colors he was inspired to work with,

the ones Leyendecker used.

Fabulous!!!!

You are so very talented Jonathan!

 And senior Elias Rodriguez chose Spanish artist Miguel Laino 

who has been living in London since 2001.

Laino interprets images from online and print media.

He also incorporates collage images from different time periods and genres 

to bring the past and present together.

In many of Laino's portraits he completely paints over the facial features,

a trademark of his.

After seeing several of Laino's works,

 I really felt that Elias nailed his style

with large slashing brushstrokes against the stark backdrop. 

TRYING SOMETHING NEW

JUNK MAIL PAINTING

ADVANCED 2-D ART

junk mail, magazines, modge podge, gesso,

sharpies & acrylic paint

For the past 3 years I've been teaching Carla Sonheim's Junk Mail Book,

and the kids enjoyed the process so much

 that they suggested I put it in the curriculum for 3rd year as a gigantic painting project.

So here we go.

I have two kids in this class,

both seniors,

Jonathan Hsu and Elias Rodriquez.

Let's see what they came up with.

Getting started Jonathan decided to use mostly magazine imagines and advertisement text.

Sadly,

I didn't get there in time to take a pix of Elias' beginning,

but I believe he did the same thing as Jonathan.

In Carla's original class she had use use only recycled pieces of mail.

But it all works.

Next we see that the boys have covered the magazine collages with gesso,

but not so thick that we can't see thru it to the pix,

and then Elias has gone one step further and given his a light acrylic wash below.

Above we see Jonathan has already started to draw his imagery in Sharpie right onto the gesso..

Here are the two finished pieces side by side.

Elias has gone on to build up his acrylic layers

 while Jonathan has used the lightest acrylic wash above and below his imagines.

Elias Rodriquez

Jonathan Hsu

PUSHING BOUNDRIES

ACRYLIC WORD COMPOSITION

ADVANCED 2-D ART

acrylic paint & paper collage

This piece is senior Elias Rodriquez's largest work to date.

It measures 24" by 36".

He wasn't required to work this large but he wanted to challenge and push himself

(I love that :)

The assignment was to use text as 60% of their subject matter.

In the past the kids have lettered out words and painted them in,

but Elias being Elias,

 wanted to change it up and do it differently.

He asked if the words could come from newspapers that he could collage down first,

then lightly paint over.

I really liked the idea so he tried it out.

The rest of the subject matter was up to the kids,

so he gives us this very thought provoking figure partially hiding behind a mask.

Deep!

Bravo Elias for always pushing yourself farther!

Victoria Le Vers

The Fine Arts Gallery up in Lake Arrowhead,

Mountain Arts,

 that I recently discovered and joined,

has a surprising delighful array of local talent.

One of my favorites is Victoria Le Vers,

a mixed media artist. 

I loved this piece by her so much that I purchased it last time I visited the gallery.

The color scheme drew me to the piece originally

 so that I wanted to get up close and take a really good look at her technique, 

paper collage and acrylic.

I was also really drawn to the playful abstracted quirkiness, 

and felt this would be a wonderful Xmas present for my son and his girlfriend who are cat lovers.

And her loose brush strokes were also really appealing to me. 

But I made the huge mistake of hanging it in my new art studio up at the cabin,

and absolutely have fallen n love with it.

So we'll see what happens when Xmas rolls around.

Ha ha

Acrylic Word Compostiton

Senior Laura Kadi, as the sole Advanced 2-D student, continues to surprise and delight me with her interpretations of her assignments.  

In this project she first had to learn to paint with artist's acrylics (she took to it like a duck to water).  Then she had to design a composition that used at least 60% text.  For both the fore and backgrounds, she was required to paint dimensionally from lights to darks as well as do the same within the text she chose.  Laura chose a complimentary color scheme to paint in which makes the work pop from the get-go, and then adds a very special touch by collaging over parts of the background with handmade paper to bring in a bit of texture and mystery.  The paper is so lovely with flecks of gold leaf couched in.

A brilliant piece Laura!   

Ian Paul at The Drawing Board

Yesterday I posted about the college art students that were featured at The Drawing Board Gallery in Yorba Linda recently.  The other artist that caught my attention was Ian Paul.  His work was so much tighter and darker then Andrea Ruygt but it still was really intriguing.  His attention to detail was remarkable as was his use of value.

But it was his crows that really caught my attention.

Especially this one below on cardboard with a bit of pen and ink work.

I feel that Ian has really found his niche' for one so young.

One of these days I hope to find mine.

The Artwork of Andrea Ruygt

A couple months ago the Drawing Board Gallery in Yorba Linda was showcasing the artwork of students form Cal State Long Beach and Cal State Fullerton.  And I really like the paintings by Andrea Ruygt.  So much so that I purchased the portrait below.  Her style in  both paintings feels really good to me, there is a lot of movement created thru the brushstrokes, and her color choices are very sensory to me.  I also really like how the piece directly below tells a story, and how it's divided on the canvas.  Highly interesting to me.  In fact, it inspires for an upcoming assignment for senior Laura Kadi who is in my Advanced 2-D class.  Oh boy Laura, it's gonna be good!  LOL 

The portrait that I purchased below is about 36" by 40".  

Huge!

I love it.

On March 16th The Drawing Board Gallery in Yorba Linda, Ca. will be hosting a non-profit gala event and art auction to raise funds to go out into the community to families that can't afford or get to places of arts education to give them performing and visual arts.  We are having food trucks, art action, musical theater show, dessert bar and art tables for people to create!  Cost is 25 dollars.  We are also looking for sponsors!

Thank You!!!!!!

The Drawing Board / MOVING heARTS Foundation

  Classes, Gallery, Wine and Art / Outreach

   owner/director - Jamie Kough

   (714) 693-7156

   4945 Yorba Ranch Road, Yorba Linda, 92887

   www.thedrawingboard.info     

Self-Portraits - Student Work

I'm so proud to show off the self-portraits of my Intermediate 2-D class.  This project was their 4th quarter final and they were allowed to choose their favorite medium to work within.  They were also allowed to work realistically or to abstract themselves as long as I was able to recognize them in the piece.  But they were required to work from a recent photo or by looking into a mirror.    I always look forward to seeing how the kids will portray themselves and in what media they choose to do it in.  We had many interesting, dynamic results.

Above we is senior Michael Chen.  I adore this very strong likeness and the way he changes scale within the piece.  Brilliant!!  His medium is water pastel.

Below is senior Janice Min.  She chose to give herself a new do, but still managed to capture her face really well in charcoal and watercolor for a really fun piece.

Here we have senior Jessica Liu  working very intently on her portrait in acrylic.  She must have changed this piece up at least 4 times and then finally settled on this remarkable and expressive likeness.  Fantastic job kiddo!!  Hey, by the way, where is my watercolor of me and you know who??  I messaged you on face book but you never got back to me.  Hope it's still on!  

This next soft and lovely work is junior Laura Kadi.  She also chose to work in water pastels, and I'm thrilled she will be coming back next year.

And below is senior Sarah Zhang with her boyfriend senior Tim Luong.  What an adorable portrait she did of the two of them in watercolor and charcoal.   

And we finish off with senior Michelle Lee's intriguing piece.  She worked from an old photo that our school's beloved S.I.A. Joe gave her of  himself.  He really enjoyed Michelle's work at Open House and commissioned her to do a piece for him.  So she worked him into her self-portrait assignment.  Clever girl this one!  Michelle worked in acrylic, and like Jessica, changed this piece up several times before she was satisfied.