pet oil pastels

As we came to the end of the week of the Pets-n-Art summer camp, I decided to do something a little different. All week long the kids had been using some print outs from the computer of their pet photographs for reference.

Why not use them again to create oil pastels?

And when I say use them, I mean literally use them.

Violet.  10 year old

Starting with the black and white print outs of their pets, each child began to add the oil pastel on top.

Aussie. 7 year old

Aussie. 5 year old

Some kids decided to use "crazy colors" on their pets and in the above picture, I took a moment to explain complimentary colors as an option for their work. Unlike my own kids, this child listened to me in the end and gave it a try. Although as I have said before, I always stress to the kids that my suggestions are just that, suggestions, and they are free to decide whether or not they use them.

Colby. 5 year old

As they started their works, I asked them to pay attention to the different directions the lines on the fur of their pets moved and try to make their drawing strokes follow the same direction. 

Sandy. 9 year old

And as usual, I stressed for them to add more than one layer of color to blend and make their own unique color palette on the paper.

Parapete. 4.5 yerra old

Parapete. 8 year old

Parapete. 7 year old

I had printed off some pictures of the studio bird, Parapete the Parakeet, also because he had been such a big hit with the kids all week. A couple of kids were quite excited to use the pictures to create their artwork. I love how each child made the same picture their own.

Duffy. 9 year old

They seemed to really enjoy working on this project. And I think they found it interesting to see that although they were working directly on a photo of their pet, as they began to add their marks the work became an original piece instead of just "copying".

Q-Bert. 7 year old

I even found a picture of Q-Bert on google to print out. How could I not? Every single project for this child had centered on the character, it seemed like a crime if this project didn't too.

Fiddy. 9 year old

Although I had printed out a couple of extra pictures of his family dog for him in case he wanted to use it for this project like his older brother. Not surprising, he declined. But how cute is Fiddy as a puppy sitting under the table?! 

Pushka. 5 year old

I was quite happy in the end with this project. Not because I was happy with the final results, which I was, but because it was a great lesson for the kids to see the importance of line direction in their works of art. Something I am always stressing whenever they are painting or drawing but a concept that is not always easy to grasp.

Krystal. 7 year old

However with this project, by george they got it.

sandpaper monoprints

During the Fanciful Frolic camp through North Vancouver Community arts council, I decided to try a different kind of printing technique.

Oil pastel, sandpaper, and an iron.

I have done projects in the past where students created oil pastel artworks on sandpaper. Due to this experience, I knew how quickly the sandpaper uses up the oil pastel and so made use of the box of past their prime oil pastels in the art closet.

The students picked the colors they wanted and I suggested they create a flower from their imaginary world. I asked them to make sure they really layered the color so there would be enough oil pastel to make the final print.

The trickiest part of this project is getting the heat of the iron right and so I would suggest if you want to try this project to do some test runs to find the "sweet spot" to creating the right look. Even then, like all printmaking, the results will vary widely.

Also, don't use an iron you hope to reuse for your clothing unless you protect it with some paper between the artwork and the iron. The oil pastel can "leak" outside the sandpaper and get on the iron.

It is impossible to clean off too.

Trust me on this one as I go out to buy a new iron.....

The results had a lovely quality to them and the sandpaper work was just as pretty as the print. So when I mounted the work for the students, I mounted the sandpaper to the left and the print to the right.

I love the way they turned out.

seashell flower from the seashore, 6 year old

floral stalagmites, 8 year old

woodland fairy rose, 6 year old

(good example of not layering the oil pastel, still pretty but very different)

Fairy flowers, 6 year old

Sea Anemone flower, 7 year old

Sea flower, 6 year old

coral reef flowers, 8 year old

electric eel, 6 year old

ocean house, 6 year old

space craft, 7 year old

abstracts created with hiking trail maps

A few years ago, I picked up old hiking maps from the 1960's and 70's at a garage sale. They are for trails across British Columbia. 

I thought they would make a great project for the "Drawing from Nature" camp.

I pulled these maps out one by one and unrolled them on the table and read the name of the area out loud. I told the kids when a map's name resonated with them to raise their hand. It was a first come, first serve deal. If they wanted to negotiate trades between them, that was up to them.

Luckily there were no issues whatsoever and everyone was happy with the map they received.

I then pointed out all the different interesting lines they could focus on for their artwork and asked them to pick one area within the map they found interesting. They could chose rivers and streams, boundary lines, roads, etc.

Then with a piece of tracing paper placed over the map, they traced the lines of their choice.

Once done, they transferred this design onto a piece of black pastel paper and went over the lines with glue. We then set it aside to let it dry.

9 year old

10 year old

I'm going to stop here and mention how shocked I was that not only the kids, but also my 18 year old daughter, struggled squeezing the glue bottle. Evidently glue sticks have taken a toll and left their fingers a little weak. 

"This is too hard" filled the studio and so I did something I never do, I finished the glue lines in less than three minutes for them. I appeased my guilt at working on their papers by telling myself they had all tried their best and they still had all the pastel work waiting in the wings. In the end, I wanted the project to be fun and since I was not changing their composition at all, just tracing over the marks they had already made on the paper, the work maintained integrity.

Like I said, I was making deals with the devil for my actions as I finished all the glue lines.

I found it amusing how awestruck the kids all were that I could use a glue bottle that quickly.

Then I told them they needed to go home at eat their spinach, referring to Popeye, which again left them looking at me like I'd just landed from Mars.

Once again leaving me feeling very old.  Thank you glue bottles and Popeye, both who seem to have gone extinct when I was young living with the dinosaurs.

So when I do this project next time, I will forgo the glue and just have them mark their lines with a black oil pastel.

I won't be reminded of my age and they won't have to cry "too hard, too hard". 

9 year old

8 year old

7 year old

I then went over some of the ways artist use color for emotion and temperature. They had fun assigning colors to different moods and weather conditions. I asked them to keep this in mind as they began to put color on their "map".

6 year old

11 year old

 7 year old

First using an oil pastel, they outlined the glue lines and blended it into the paper. They love smearing. And were thrilled I finally was singing the praises of smearing because I'm usually telling them not to smear and to layer the oil pastel colors in order to blend the lines.

10 year old

8 year old

6 year old

Once they finished with the oil pastel of their choice, I asked them to cover the paper with a chalk pastel color design that was pleasing to them. And then when they were happy, they had the opportunity to go over with some oil pastel one last time.

6 year old

This child hates chalk pastel, the sound they make rubbing on the paper bugs him, so he did his work with only oil pastel.  Different look, but great result. 

7 year old

I loved this project because everyone was focused solely on the process. There was no end vision on what it had to look like completed. It was even longer than normal before I heard the nightmarish cry of "I'm done". If nothing else, that makes this project a win in my book. I thought they all got beautiful results.

oil and chalk pastel jungle birds

All of a sudden it was the last day of the Jungle Jive camp through North Vancouver Arts Council and I had yet to bring out the oil and chalk pastels for the kids to explore.

This group tended to spend a long time creating their artwork and so instead of doing two different projects, I decided to have them use the same working sketch for two different works of art.

I am always harping at students to keep their final working sketches as they can use them over and over with all sorts of different mediums once class is over and so I thought it would be great to actually show them this concept by example

rather than me harping

So each child created a jungle bird of their choice and although they each used reference material, I strongly encouraged them to interpret the reference in their own unique styles.

And so they did!

I ADORE the work created by the students.

9 year old, oil pastel

One of the ways I get the kids to really layer the colors is to tell them that if they have multiple layers of pastel, they can scratch into the work to create interest. In many of these works, you will notice that the kids have gone back into the pastel and added details with a skewer.

9 year old, oil pastel

6 year old, oil pastel

8 year old, oil pastel

6 year old, oil pastel.

9 year old, oil pastel

7 year old, oil pastel

6 year old, oil pastel

For those that finished their oil pastels with time left, I gave them the chalk pastel to try the same picture in another medium. It was a great way for them to see how switching mediums can change the feel of the whole picture.

Some kids though wanted to create a separate picture of another bird and I was fine with that but told them to keep in mind the time limit imposed since it was the last day of camp. They accepted the challenge and completed it with flying colors.

 6 year old, chalk pastel

9 year old, chalk pastel

9 year old, chalk pastel

6 year old, chalk pastel

8 year old, chalk pastel

9 year old, chalk pastel

I think the majority of kids enjoyed the oil pastels more than the chalk but I know they were all very proud of their work at the end of the day. I am so proud of how hard all these kids worked during the week on their art. They were courageous, focused, and always open to my suggestions. What a joy it was to get to spend a week with each and every one of them.