There Be Dragons!

I decided to try my hand at a dragon drawing contest. The contest was for author Julie Kagawa's upcoming book Talon. There weren't many limitations on the contest save for the dragon drawings had to be the artist's original idea.

You can find the link to the contest below:

http://juliekagawa.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-draw-dragon-contest.html

While I'm very excited for the book I was equally excited to try my hand at drawing a dragon because I have very, very limited dragon drawing skills. Limited as in I've drawn a dragon once before. Five years ago.

Either way, my goal was to draw a majestic beast soaring through the air! What came out was a baby vegetarian dragon. Yes, that's right. As soon as I placed pencil to paper this vegetarian dragon emerged along with a gaggle of fearful veggies! His name is Tuft and he, apparently, wanted out of my head. To be fair, I didn't even know he was in there. Tuft is now a mainstay character who I've sketched and doodled numerous times now! Behold his fierceness:

Sketch after sketch of Tuft I decided it was time for color. Below is my final submission for the contest:

Tuft even has a story. He's an overachiever, but I wont share it here quite yet. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy Tuft!

<3 Kate

Grad Project - Identity

Well, so far so good! The school year is four weeks deep and - knock on wood - it's been as awesome as I anticipated! Ideally I'll have some work from the kiddies up soon, but since I only see each class once a week projects tend to be a slow process.

Instead, I'll entertain you with my Graduate project! This semester I have to complete three projects around a theme. The first theme was Identity, and I took it very literally. To be fair, I ended up a week behind because I, uh, accidentally signed up for a thesis class and went to that class the first week. Whoops! Needless to say I was a bit over my head. There will be no thesis for at least a year!

Anyways, I created a three-piece Identity project that very literally portrays me in three different scenarios.

1) Calm contentment. I love clean lines, even spacing, and general tidiness, but there is always some sort of idea or mess creeping in...

2) Sometimes my brain feels maxed out with all my ideas. It gets cluttered pretty easily up in the old noggin'.

3) Panic! There's a mess! Things are scattered! Everything that can go wrong has! Ah!

While spilling and splatting were fun and liberating it certainly isn't my cup of tea, but I still enjoyed the process of this project! For the third piece I actually wound up intentionally ripping a side when I mounted it to really reinforce the "messy" feel. Like I said, it's very literal, but either way I think it conveys my Identity pretty well; even down to the superficial things like my favorite color is purple!

Enjoy!

<3 Kate

Back to School

Week one of the school year is officially over and, can I just say, it felt like the longest week on the history of the planet. Seriously, what took so long? Is it because we had the beautiful respite that is Labor Day Weekend to look forward too? Or is it because I repeated myself, literally, 24 times this past week? I wont lie, the first week of school is the worst. I love seeing the kiddies, but as far as lessons go it's all about expectations, classroom behavior, using tools the right way...and it's so very dull. For myself and the kids!

Now, reciting expectations and such is, of course, critical to a successful year, and this year seems like it's going to be a very good year! For the first time while I was setting up my room I had the feeling of, "oh yeah, I nailed it." I consider myself to be very organized (to a near OCD degree) and this year I'm particularly pleased with how I set things up. It only took five years of practice, after all.

This school year is also a quazi-milestone because *sniff* my current fifth graders were my very first set of kindergartners when I started. I've had my first batch of kiddies from beginning to end! Huzzah!

So, overall, I'm feeling very optimistic about this school year. To be fair, I'm usually optimistic but this year, I don't know, it's feeling like a good one!  

The kiddos seem to think it will be a good year as well. I did a school-wide consens-o-gram with them (yes, that means there are over 500 sticky notes involved) on how they were feeling about art this year and, while I don't want to brag, their thoughts were pretty awesome and positive.

So, all in all Internet, there are positive thoughts flowing! It's goin' to be a good year!

Later!

<3 Kate

I've Got That Summertime Sadness

Ah, internet, how I have missed you. I'm not even going to attempt apologies for not posting. Instead, we'll pick up where we left off! 

The summer has been a busy one. Along with working at a summer camp as a lead teacher, I took a trip down to Miami:

I've never been to a place before where I just spontaneously started sweating simply because I was breathing.  That is Miami in June, I suppose! Either way, it was a great trip with some of my very best friends.

My husband turned thirty this July, so there was a big celebration for that. It took months of planning, and months of being sneaky. I'm not the best at keeping fun secrets, particularly if I'm excited about them, so it was a real triumph that I didn't tell my husband anything! And as a gift, I'm taking him back to Disney! Whoohoo! I'm Disney obsessed, I wont lie, but I rock my obsession and own it. Thankfully, my husband is equally as enthusiastic about Disney! In celebration of my obsession, here is my Anna/Elsa pair:

I know I posted Anna in my last post, but now that the pair is complete I wanted to highlight them together! Anna and Elsa actually sold together as a pair which was exciting!

Of course, I attended Otakon in the beginning of August. Otakon is a staple of the summer but unfortunately this year we were less then pleased with the event. The convention, simply put, has outgrown the convention center it resides in. So for every panel there was a lengthy line, whether you arrived early or not, and pre-reg...well, let's not even go there. All I'll say about that is my friends and I waited six and a half hours to get our badges. Unpleasant.

On a more positive note, our cosplay rocked! We did Fullmetal Alchemist:

Our Armstrong (who you may recognize as our Tenzin from last year) was a huge hit. He couldn't walk ten feet without getting waylaid!

And now, summer is over. I'm sitting here in my robe, wallowing in my misery that tomorrow I'll be back at school setting up my room. Now, it's not too miserable of a thing. In fact, I love setting up my room for the new year! It's always a sad thing when a summer is well and truly over, and this year I wasn't ready for it to be over since I worked the whole summer. Alas.

If you want more consistent updates from me, please feel free to look me up on Facebook! 

https://www.facebook.com/kwmartinsartlife

And as usual, I am also available on DeviantArt:

http://kwellington.deviantart.com/

I promise I'm far more consistent at both locations, but now that summer is over and it's back to the ol' grindstone I'll be posting more regularly here as well!

Until next time, Internet.

<3 Kate

Happy Long Weekend, yay!

In celebration of having a three day weekend I will grace you all with a post! It will be short, and sweet!

An update of the next three ladies in my Disney series, enjoy!

Up next I will be taking a break from Disney art and working on my own personal characters, so look forward to that! Also, don't forget to check me out of Facebook at K.W.Martin! Dooo it.

Tata!

<3 Kate

Faerie Festival

Hey Internet!

So, I meant to post this last week but we all know how tardy my posts can be...regardless! Last weekend my mom and I went to Spoutwood Farm's May Day Faerie Festival. It's this great little fair that celebrates spring and the good neighbors (or, faeries). It's filled with lots of arts and crafts vendors, food vendors, musical performances, and just generally good cheer. My mom and I have made a tradition of this event for the past seven years! If anyone has and little ones, it's a fantastic venue for them as well. In fact, I would argue that the event is more catered for the kiddies, but it's still very enjoyable for adults if you're in to fantasy and faeries. Here's the link to Spoutwood Farm's website:

http://www.spoutwood.org/

I know other events and workshops happen at Spoutwood, but I can honestly say I only know about the Faerie Festival they have. They're located just into Pennsylvania from Maryland and the drive is lovely! Here are some pictures of the event to give you an idea of the "feel" of it!

The festival is a great way to spend a morning or afternoon! Then if you're heading back through Westminister there's a great Irish restaurant named O'Lourdan's that'd I'd highly recommend. Now, in the words of the Faerie Festival: Kubiando! And Enjoy!

<3 Kate

So Much For A Schedule!

Yeah. I'm basically the worst. My idea to post twice a week, while well meaning, was a total flop. Primarily because I'm so busy! I still love you internet, don't worry, I'm just lame. So, so lame.

To make it up to you, here's the next round of Disney characters! I hope you enjoy!

You can also now like me on facebook by searching K.W. Martin! So like me! I'm better at posting there...sort of.

<3 Kate

Earth Day?

I always forget when Earth Day is Earth Day...but not this year! In honor of Earth Day, here are some posters done by a pair of 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders -respectively- for a poster contest in our county. Fingers crossed we win!

The theme of the poster contest was resource conservation. With the students we discussed elements of a good poster; critiquing different types of posters and why they were effective or ineffective. The students had to create a poster with a consistent message with imagery or a theme that helped support their message. Overall, I think these are fantastic results!

This post, along with honoring Earth Day, also honors me missing two Wednesdays and Sundays in a row! Whoo! To be fair...I was sick. Again. So don't judge me.

Enjoy!

<3 Kate

Nooooo Onnnneeee...

...fights like Gaston! Takes cheap shots like Gaston! No one persecutes harmless crackpots like Gaston (best line)! He's no princess, but he is is an awesomely egotistical jerk of a villian who, sadly, gets overlooked beneath the Ursulas and Maleficents of the Disney universe. Siiigh.

So! My tribute to Gaston! He's epic.

He flexes his muscles just for you, ladies.

Enjoy!

<3 Kate

Sunday Funday

Except it isn't a fun day. Because I'm sick. It feels like my head weighs a thousand pounds. Whomp whomp. All I know is that I better kick this illness by tomorrow because teaching while sick is far from fun. Anyway! In my attempt to maintain the Wednesday/Sunday posting schedule here is the first Sunday post!

Along with some commissions, I've been working on a Disney series. They've actually been a lot of fun! I've been working primarily with a circle composition so it's a nice challenge to see how I can rearrange each piece. Here are the first three in the series: Ariel, Rapunzel, and Snow White.

I currently have five in the series so perhaps my next post will be the others! I hope you enjoy! For now I'm going to go back to wallowing on the couch. Later, internet.

<3 Kate

Don't worry Internet, I didn't leave you!

Wow! Well, it's been about a month since I posted last. I'm the worst! In an effort to never do that again I've made a resolution: I'm going to post every Wednesday and Sunday. Hopefully. Maybe. Fingers crossed. So far I'm off to a good start because - lo' and behold! - today is Wednesday!

Lately I've been setting up for a county-wide art show. It requires 15 - 30 pieces of student art work that are lovingly matted, labeled, and velcro'd. It's time consuming, to say the least, but this year I'm pretty pleased with my display! It boasts all 1st grade artwork because, I have to say, my 1st graders this year are awesome. Just a genuinely nice batch of kids and fearlessly creative. As such, we've been experimenting with all sorts of materials ranging from salt to melted crayons! We've have an absolute blast doing it to! It's always great when you have a group of kids that are enthusiastic, respectful, and creative all at once. It makes a lesson go smoothly with awesome results. Below are the panels of the kiddies work:

What great art! First, we have visual texture trees with a watercolor and salt background. The students used masking tape, ripping it into pieces, to create the trees. Then they painted over the trees using a wet-on-wet watercolor technique and salt. FInally, they added visual textures using pen. 

There are some amazingly expressive self-portraits (ie: the one on the far bottom left), but I'm very proud of our melted crayon artwork. The artwork was inspired by the contemporary artists Eli Halpin's Summer Lightning (see below).

After discussing line quality, color, and texture we created our own compositions using tempera paint, watercolor, and melted crayon! It was a blast.

If you want to learn more about Eli Halpin and her artwork you can visit: http://elihalpin.com/home.html

Her artwork is wonderful and, obviously, I do not own the rights to any of her work. I was only using her as inspiration for what turned out to be an awesome lesson that the students loved!

Anyway, that's all for now internet! Until Sunday! Enjoy!

<3 Kate

Boozy Floozies

Long time, no post, internet!

I've had these two pieces done for about a month but because they were gifts I didn't post them (the recipients know of this blog, after all!). Both were done with Copic markers and watercolor and I'm quite fond of these boozy ladies. Of course, they're classy boozy ladies. Naturally.

I did the three panel one first, and because it got such a good response from my friend I made her the single wine lady! I had some Art Nouveau influence (my favorite art movement!) and I created all the text by hand. Enjoy, internet!

<3 Kate

Draw This Again

For while now I've been meaning to try this 'Draw This Again' meme. The premise is that you take a piece of art you did months or years ago and re-draw it in your style today. I hummed and hawed over a piece that I could re-do and I finally settled for a sketchy piece that took me 20ish minutes. Observe:

I drew the 'before' piece in 2009. I really liked the image! It was quick, I tried different line qualities, and I enjoyed the overall 'mood' of the piece. So, I drew it again. Admittedly, I didn't expect to see a difference, and the 'after' piece was drawn, oh,  few days ago (so 2014) and WOW there is a difference! Part of it was the medium I used, while the other part is just my style. Otherwise, I kept to the time limit of the original piece. Overall, I'm quite pleased with the differences!

I feel this type of exercise is worthwhile to try for any artist. It's a lesson in growth and development, and it can also apply to writing, textiles, ceramics, or any creative outlet. If you want to give it a go, the template for this meme can be found at:

http://bampire.deviantart.com/art/Meme-Before-and-After-177759508

Enjoy!

<3 Kate

Epic Expressive Face Mugs

Hey Everyone!

So, as the title states, this post is going to be about expressive face mugs. What are expressive face mugs, you ask? Great question! Expressive mugs are a clay project that I do with my fifth graders. It happens to be one of my favorite projects that I do all year. The project incorporates all three clay hand-building methods that the students have learned throughout elementary school; pinch, coil, and slab. 

I can't take full credit for this project, however, because I was inspired by an artist I always purchase from at craft festivals. He makes amazing face mugs and some nice pottery thrown on the wheel. I have a hutch filled with his work! 

http://www.potterystuff.com/
https://www.facebook.com/tomphelpsstudio

Check him, and his pottery, out because it's just awesome and it made for great inspiration for my students! Below is just a few examples of student work.

 

Another aspect of this project is exaggeration. Whatever expression the students choose to create, the features need to be exaggerated appropriately for that expression.

This project is always a hit with the students and their projects always turn out amazing! Enjoy!

<3 Kate

A Crazy Lil' Thing Called Heat.

I can't get warm

Literally.

Everyone in my county has been whipped into a panic about the temperatures today (it was a balmy 7 degrees at best - not including wind chill) and when everyone is in a frenzy things tend to get nasty. The nastiness has been displaced towards my county's school system because we, GASP, went to school! Now, ideally, this would be no big deal! Schools have heat, buses have heat, and my county announced school would run as per usual far enough in advance for parents to prepare any walkers or car rider students.

Except my school had no heat. Zero. And no electricity. Now, a lot of parents boycotted school to begin with and didn't send their kids because of the chilling temperatures so numbers weren't high...but we had zero heat. Yet somehow we were forced to remain in school until 12:15; wearing coats, hats, scarves, and mittens and completely disrupting the instructional day. Irritating? Very. Needless to say, the day was interesting, but because my faculty and staff are awesome we got through without a hitch, and mostly smiling!

All is said and done now, even though my fingers and toes can't seem to get warm, so here are some cheerful finger puppets! These finger puppets went along with the second grade curriculum on folk tales and were made using Crayola's model magic. That material is malleable enough for little second grade hands, and doesn't have the potential to break like clay does.

 

The students painted their puppets with craft paint then I sealed them with a gloss medium for durability and a finished, polished look. They turned out so cute!

Enjoy!

<3 Kate