Teaching Art

For the past few weeks, I've been teaching art - specifically painting - at assisted living and retirement facilities.  It's a different population than what I've been used to.  Most of my students are in their 80's and 90's.  A few are much younger, but have challenges with their memory, mobility and/or cognition.  What I'm learning is that it's not that difficult to teach, or to learn to paint, once the process, or the painting is deconstructed.  The first project was "Autumn Trees", a fairly simple painting and one that fits right into the season.

We used basic art supplies:  inexpensive watercolor paper, brushes, pieces of sponge, and watercolor paints.

First, I masked off the shape of trees, using clear tape.  I applied the tape vertically, to mimic tree trunks, and then applied smaller strips of tape to mimic limbs and branches.  The students then painted "leaves", using sponges dipped in red, green and yellow paint.  They also painted the bottom of the paper green (for grass), and the top of the paper blue (for the sky).  The tape remained on the paper while the paint was applied.  Once the paint was dry, I lifted off the tape to reveal stark white shapes of trees, in a beautiful fall landscape.  The students then added little details to their paintings, such as falling leaves, bark on the trunks, and birds flying by.  Here are a few samples of the students' work:

It's always fascinating to me to see all different interpretations of the same theme!

Our next project was "Pumpkins and Indian Corn", another painting that was perfect for the season.  One of my classes used watercolor paints on watercolor paper,  and another used water-based oils on canvas board.  First, I asked the students to paint two yellow objects shaped like ears of corn. Around these yellow shapes, we added swaths of brown paint to mimic dried corn husks.  Then small dots of red, orange and brown were applied to the yellow corn shapes to represent dried kernels of Indian corn.  The students then painted a large orange ball for the pumpkin and a smaller green ball for a squat green squash.  Darker orange curved stripes were painted onto the larger orange ball to create the pumpkin.  Darker green stripes were applied to the smaller green ball to create the squash.  Leaves, stems and tendrils were added, and a yellow background completed the paintings.  Here are two fine examples from that project:

                                      


The project that brought out the most "oohs" and "aahs" from the students was a lovely late-fall, early-winter landscape.  When I showed the example to my students, they responded with doubt, as if there was no way they would be able to paint it themselves.  But I knew they could.  The first thing I had them do was paint a thin blue wavy line across the bottom third of the paper.  Then with a wet sponge, they blotted the blue line of paint and smeared little blotches of it across the bottom of the paper.  This was the hint of a field of snow.  Above this area of white and blue streaks, the students painted a broad swath of purple.  Then they applied brown paint over the purple paint.  After the brown paint was added, they applied short, vertical lines of black paint, using quick, choppy strokes - to emulate a forest of trees.   Above this purple-brown-black forest, they painted peaks of brown or orange, to represent the varied slopes of a mountain range.  The sky was painted yellow, with streaks of blue, just as one might see it on a late fall evening.  The trees were added by painting a thin black line, beginning from a point in the snow and extending upward into the sky.  This immediately added depth to the painting:  now the trees were in the foreground and the mountain range appeared to move toward the back of the painting.  We then added little sticks and pebbles to the snow, and some birds flying in the sky.  Here are some student samples:

One student chose a completely different palette for a soft, dreamy effect.  I really like the single, stark tree, which she said she painted to create a mood of solitude.

I really love teaching these classes. And it's humbling to watch people work hard at producing a painting, despite their limitations.  I think I'm learning as much from my students as they're learning from me!

Anatomy of a Children's Book Illustration

What goes into a children's book illustration?  How does it come about?  How does it develop from an idea into an actual drawing?  Let's take a look at one of the interior illustrations for my upcoming children's book, "Greedy Goat":

The basic scene shows the main character, Greedy Goat, arriving in the city.  He's happily surprised when he sees all of the food the city has to offer.  The rhyming text reads:  

Pizza! Pretzels! Burgers! Fries!

Goat could not believe his eyes.

Pounds of pastries! Tons of tarts!

On grocery shelves and sidewalk carts.

The illustration began with a color sketch and then a final black and white inked drawing that I intended to use for the dummy (I made some changes to the wording):

Neither of these illustrations are the one I decided to use in the final dummy, though.  The first one doesn't put the focus on Goat (at the extreme left), and in the second one, he's too large.  They didn't seem to me like an actual illustration, rather they were individual pictures on one page.  My son, who's an artist, suggested that I go for something with more perspective.  I worked out several thumbnails of perspective drawings:

  

  

  The last sketch became the final drawing. You can pick out some of the same elements, such as the woman holding the little girl's hand at the bottom/left, Goat at the bottom/middle, the shoppers at the grocery middle/left, and the burger wagon bottom/right.

The illustration still needs a little bit of tweaking, but I'm happy with how it's turned out.  Goat is in the middle at the bottom and all of the action is taking place around him.  There's a lot of diversity and a lot of different elements, like people selecting food, buying food, carrying food, and eating food. I am considering adding something or someone to one of the top windows on the right and I still have to finish painting the burger scene.  Lastly, I'll add the text to the washed-out spot at the top/middle.  When it's done, I'll include it in the submission package along with these two finished paintings:

I found two really cool fonts to use:  "Bite Me" for the cover, and "Cinnamon Cake" for the interior illustrations.  Perfect to use for a book with lots of drawings of food!

Feedback...YAY!

Today I attended my very first writer's critique group.  I recently joined The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), which holds a monthly writer's critique group at a local library.  I was nervous walking into the group today, not knowing what to expect.  But after three hours of listening to other writers have their books critiqued, and sitting through my own, I would recommend this to any aspiring (or published) writer.  Everyone was there to offer helpful advice, suggestions and industry information.  My book, "Greedy Goat", seems to be a finished book (whew!) - I was thankful the other writers and facilitators "got" the wordless section:

all images copyright 2014 by Linda D. Martin

The wordless two-page spread is intended to give readers the impact of the task Greedy Goat has to perform.  In the top panel, he's looking back at the Maitre d' and restaurant staff, as if to say, "Do I really have to do this?".  Their stern looks and hands on hips assure him that he does. The second panel intends to show the difficulty a goat might have while washing the dishes.

The third and fourth panels show the progression of time, and the change from a kitchen full of dirty dishes to a kitchen full of clean ones.  Note the empty soap bottle and the worn-out expression on Goat's face as he stacks the last dish.

The text for this picture baffled one of the facilitators, who chose to listen to the story with her eyes closed.  This may be the most challenging part of the story to illustrate.  It is a critical part because it gets Goat back into the restaurant and there's really no other way for him to be seated and waited on in the midst of humans.

Now I'm toying with scrapping the structure of this illustration - perhaps simply showing Greedy Goat emerging from the clothing store, and at a different angle - walking towards the reader and through a throng of people on each side of him.  I'm thinking that showing the clothes in the window might be a little insulting to the reader, as if they need to be told twice (it's already in the text), that he's found a way to disguise himself.  Then again...

Attending the critiquing session was very helpful in that it opened me up to other writers' ideas and inspirations.  It was exciting sitting in a room full of writers and illustrators, some published, some just beginning, but everyone there for the same reason:  to see their book in print.

A Very Productive Week

Last week I switched back and forth between two mediums:  graphite (for a portrait), and watercolor (for a children's book illustration).  


I received a portrait commission from a client in Alaska, a photo of her mother she wanted drawn as an 8x10 graphite portrait.  I was happy that she contacted me through my website, as I am trying to secure more business that way.  I used Bruynzeel 8615 Design pencils on Strathmore 500 Series Bristol Vellum paper. It just seems that this is the perfect pencil/paper combo.  

          

           

I was struggling with a watercolor illustration for my children's book, "Greedy Goat".  Immediately upon finishing the first one, I knew it wasn't right.  Too busy,  too many illustration styles and it didn't "say" what I wanted it to.  I'm learning to edit my drawings.  The resulting illustration is more fitting with the text and is the much looser style I was seeking.

 

                                                                                                                               

I enjoyed the switch from black and white to color and back!  

Be Ever Grateful

Grateful.
I looked around at my life today - at all of the things that compose my life:  my health, my home, my friends, my dog, my garden...the list goes on.  And I compared my life to something I saw on a TV show last night.  The show was about a neighborhood in Lebanon.  At first, I couldn't put my finger on what was disturbing me.  In fact. it wasn't until long after the show went off that I realized what it was.  There was not, among the tumult of dilapidated grey-brown buildings, a single blade of grass.  Nothing green.  No trees, no leaves, no flowers. This is what war has done. It made me sad. I made a vow today to never complain about the weeds in my backyard, ever again.   I am grateful for the green.

Garden.
I'm so grateful for my garden.  I have a little bamboo bench that I sit on when I water.  Everything's full and leafy. There are bugs everywhere but I enjoy watching them.  I saw a spider with an egg sac creeping through the weeds.  I left her alone and hoped she got to wherever she was going.  Grasshoppers, crickets, beetles - I guess they've come to feed on my greens.  I don't mind one bit.  It's great to see so much life in one little spot!


Graphite.
I try to draw every day.  Something. Or paint.  It's the act of my fingers and hands manipulating an instrument and a medium that relaxes me.  

I don't know if I'll ever finish this portrait. The finished and unfinished parts of it all together on the same piece of paper is driving me crazy.

Drawing Children

Children are among my favorite subjects to draw.  I have found that the secret to drawing a child is to not do much drawing at all.  Except for the eyes, hair and other darker areas,  this portrait consists mostly of shading.  Values are built up in layers using tortillons and facial tissues.  

 I apply the graphite (pencil) almost like painting, brushing it 

 on and rubbing it into the paper with the tissues.  I've
drawn in the eyebrow with a sharp pencil, using loose, light strokes, following the direction of the hair.  There are three distinct areas beginning to take shape:  the curve of the inner arm, the dark area between the arm and the face, and the shine of light next to the dark area.  

I've added his left eyebrow and the faint outline of his bottom lip.  Using tissues, I've shaded in the bottom of his left cheek and more of his arm. 

You can see the faint background, and how it's made the arm sort of pop out and become more 3-dimensional.  The addition of his ear is pulling the whole face together and the portrait changes from disembodied features to a recognizable face.







I saw where other pencil artists recommended the Kimberly
brand 9xxb drawing pencil for the blackest value in a 
graphite pencil.  It really is the darkest pencil I've ever
drawn with.  I've used it in this portrait to drawn the hair
and the space between his fingers.

Adding more hair helps to define the other arm above his head.  I found it very difficult to "control" the dark Kimberly pencil.  It isn't smooth like graphite and doesn't blend well. It takes a lot of practice and I can't say I'm comfortable using it yet.






So I'm still working on this one here and there.  I'm enjoying drawing it so much that I'm purposely taking my time.

A New Life For Me

Drawing From Life

An Artist's Journey

pencil drawing copyright 2014, Linda Dee Martin

Decision.

Little did I realize that, one month after quitting my day job, I'd be sitting here on a Sunday afternoon, writing about art.  And its importance in my life. One day last June, at my new deskjob (the seventh such job in as many years), I made a mistake so dire that I couldn't even move or think.  I was paralyzed, right there at my desk, while supervisors scrambled to correct my error, wringing their hands and muttering under their breath. I looked around at some of my co-workers, who either stared back at me in disbelief, or bowed their heads in embarrassment for me.  I knew right then and there that I would never be back. That I would never work a deskjob again, if I could avoid it. I simply could no longer treat the thing I loved more than anything else in the world - art - as a hobby.

Draw or die.

That's how it feels.  I no longer have a choice.   Up to now I was the best administrative assistant (or secretary or clerk or whatever) any company could want.  I designed spectacular spreadsheets, stellar statistical reports, and knew my bosses' schedules better than they did.  But on that day in June, it was as if the hand of God himself took me by the shoulder, or maybe shook me by the shoulders, and woke me up.  "Do it NOW."  I turned in all my stuff, my badge and keys, and I left. 

Dive right in.

Perhaps I should have given myself some time to recover.  I don't know.  I've been working since the age of twelve.  I mentioned this to a friend once.  "Where? In a sweatshop?" she asked. Since 1973, I've had a job.  All I know is work.  So when I  quit my deskjob, I came home, picked up the phone, called a mega-art store, and signed up to become an art instructor. I still need money, and teaching art might be fun.  And I've taken on a portrait.  And I'm designing a parade float.  Momentum is key.

Daily Routine.

I'm learning that in order to make money as an artist, I can no longer just rely on drawing.  I have to stay up-to-date with everything that's happening in the art world.  And that means technology.  So I'm learning how to tweet, blog, pin, Skype, and all of these other things I must do to stay relevant. Funny, scheduling appointments, creating spreadsheets and making cold-calls came naturally- when I was doing it for someone else.  Now I feel like a baby learning how to walk.  I'm clumsy.  And I force myself to get out of bed at 4am, just like I did when I was going to someone else's office.  Except that now I stumble downstairs in the dark, so I don't wake up my partner, and I go into my basement studio and I draw.

If you're an artist, I encourage you to spend whatever time you can on your craft. Five minutes a day, or an hour a day.  Just do it.  It's your life.  

       ABOUT ME                                                                                      

\I am a portraitist, published 

children's author & illustrator, 

dog lover and sci-fi freak.  You

can see my drawings at:

www.lindadeemartin.com