This past Thursday we hosted
our first Painting Party at Art Dwellers.
It was so much fun, that we intend to continue having them!:) We, at Art Dwellers, have been to other
painting get togethers in the Houston area and decided that it would be fun to
do it ourselves. The difference is that
we wanted to offer richness to the art pieces by way of texture, meaning, and
detail, and we wanted to give students the ability to choose a whole range of
colors to suit their homes. So often we
heard others saying that they put their paintings away in closets, under beds,
etc. because although it was fun to do, the art pieces weren’t the caliber of
paintings they would want to hang on their walls. We were prepared to do the extra work necessary
to achieve our goals as we definitely thought that it would be worth it…and it
was!
Our project on Thursday was a
cross with the students initial woven around it. To prepare the canvas, we tore up pages from
a book, and mod podged them directly onto the canvas, overlapping as we went. You can also use newspaper, colored paper,
etc. Then we took two different colored
stamp pads and antiqued the edges of the canvas. Simply rub the stamp pads along the edges of
the canvas and run with your fingers to soften the look. We made a stencil for
the cross and drew out initials for each student. There are so many fonts to choose from when
deciding on the initial. We gave the
students the option to use our ready made stencils or to chose to make their own. Once the initial drawing was transferred onto
the canvas, the students started painting.
You can transfer the drawing by rubbing charcoal on the back of your
drawing, placing it face up on your canvas, and then tracing your image. This is quite easy to do. Or, you can buy some tracing paper to copy
your image onto the canvas. We showed
them how to use a brush so that their edges would be straight and their points
pointy, and then we showed them how to shade.
Use a flat brush for straight edges, and a pointy brush for your
points. Do not press down on your
brushes if you don’t want a wide line of paint.
As for the shading, think about where an imaginary light source is coming
from and lighten the edges that the light would touch, and darken the edges
which won’t get any light. Finally, we
showed them the proper way to use a store bought stencil in order for them to
add a word and a bird on their piece of art.
Basically don’t use too much paint, and don’t press too hard on your
brush. Practice on a piece of paper
before stenciling on your art piece.
When all was dried, we
discussed dry brushing over some areas on their canvas. With little paint on your brush, lightly go
over the top of things that you want to soften.
Check out our Facebook page
to see the results of our students. We
are sure that you will agree that they all did a splendid job! Congrats to them!
BTW the
brownies/cookies/coffee/tea/lemonade were definitely enjoyed by all:)
PROMPT
Things are becoming
overwhelming?
I have recently resigned from
two jobs and all of my “stuff” is coming back to my home. My oh my.
Talk about overwhelming. I have
boxes on top of boxes, on top of boxes in every room of the house. It’s either time to move out or time to start
organizing. I choose the organizing
because my house is worth it.
Have you ever felt so
overwhelmed that you didn’t know where to even begin to figure it out. It may be in your family life, your work
arena, or social life. Let me encourage
you. You can start anywhere. Baby steps.
You will deprive yourself of the satisfaction of accomplishing something
that felt impossible at the beginning. What a wonderful feeling it is to start
a difficult project and to see it through to the end. With each successful step, you will gain more
and more confidence to continue moving forward and eventually to trying even
more difficult things. Don’t deprive
yourself of this joy.
It has taken five days for me
to get through all of the boxes, categorizing the items, and putting them away
in an organized manner. I am so glad
that I stuck to it because now I can concentrate on my art in a non-cluttered,
non-disorganized studio. I know dear
one, that it is much easier to just let things slide, ignore things, and move
on to more simple things, but you will miss out on accomplishing ‘bigger’
things in life. Try it – just one baby
step at a time.
By the way, if it’s marriage,
your spouse is worth it. Fight for them.
Believe it or not, we really do
care about you.
The
soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is
richly supplied.
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