Week One

Well, I've been back to school for a week and a half now, and the kiddies have been back for three days. I have to say: so far so good! A lot of people may assume that the first week of school is easy-peasy but, truthfully, it's not.

From my perspective, I'm like a broken record the first week. I repeat the same expectations for 24 classes all week. However, after day one, behavior is already in a decline. The first day, the kids are excited! They're back to school! New class! New teacher! By day two, they're seeing where you draw the line. It's like they're testing you. And boy howdy do you have to make that line clear and immovable. 

I always enjoy the feel of my classroom the first week though. Everything is fresh and new, clean and tidy. For example:

 Fabric for the bulletin boards. Never fades and there is years of use!

Like my bulldog? I painted him (apparently it's a him) my first year.

Jobs and such. It gives students a sense of responsibility and ownership.

In the next few weeks, my room will be used and filthy with clay, paper cuttings, bits of crayon, sticky glue spots, and probably dirt. Always dirt. That's alright though. In the end, an art room is supposed to look bedraggled! It means there has been serious creating going on!

<3 Kate

Otakon! Wait, where did the summer go?

Well, Otakon was epic. As I insinuated in my last post, I went as Korra from the Nikelodeon show 'The Legend of Korra.' My husband and two good friends were the Fire Ferrets and councilman Tenzin! We also had Pabu, but she was taking the picture. Our costumes were probably the best we've ever done and we've been attending Otakon for years now! Observe:

I can take absolutely zero credit for my costume. That was all my mom! She's pretty rad and has way more sewing skills then I will ever have. Tenzin (on the far left) also has to thank his mom profusely for his super popular costume (he was a big fan fave), and then our Fire Ferrets bravely created their costumes all on their own! We had a ball.

Now, as a not-quite-tangential-but-still-random side note: THE LEGEND OF KORRA RETURNS SEPTEMBER 13! Oooooh yeeeaaah. If you've never watched the show, you really should. Not only is it beautifully animated but it's appropriate for both children and adults. There are some pretty deep themes in the show (along with its predecessor Avatar: The Last Airbender) but they are done really well. It's just great. 

Now that Otakon is over, my summer is also inevitably over. Where did it go?! I demand a recount! This is the time of the year where I start getting nightmares about my classroom. The kids all realize that if they all worked together they could totally rebel and overthrow any classroom management I have in place! You wouldn't think that'd be "nightmare" worthy, but trust me...it's terrifying.

So, look forward to some awesome student artwork in the next few weeks/months! Their work kind of takes over my own, but I'll try to post some things from myself! 

<3 Kate

Off to Otakon!

And I shall be the blondest of all the Korra's.

<3 Kate

Intentional Oops?

Can an 'oops' be intentional? I don't think so...but oh well! I did another small piece in a similar style to my "beautiful oops" piece. I'm really starting to love illustration markers. I've not used them much and I don't know why! I dig 'em!

I took some imagery from ancient Pictish symbols and carvings for this one and used an aerial view of Stonehenge for the "border." I do believe I most enjoy her hair!

<3 Kate

Beautiful Oops

I've come to realize about myself that when I'm trying my absolute hardest at a drawing I tend to over think, get frustrated, get irrationally mad at the paper and pencil for not doing what's in my head, and I storm off to throw a tantrum elsewhere.

Then, there are those beautiful times where I'm just doodling and sketching for the fun of it and WHABAM epic things happen. 

This particular drawing isn't anything over-the-top spectacular but when I was finished with it I was really, really pleased. I just like the simple look of it. Nothing is over done, I enjoy the "flatness" of the coloring, and just generally...well, I love it.

This started off as a sketch for Bree (my in-the-works character). I was playing around with some back story and experimenting with her look. Really, it was a quickie sketch on a page filled with quickie sketches. Then I worked at the image casually, got spontaneous ideas, and just went with it.

Moral of the story: sometimes you just have to go with the flow. 

<3 Kate

Steady As She Goes

What wonders some contrast can do.

<3 Kate

Fish!

For the summer, I'm working at a summer camp. I've worked at this particular camp since high school (yikes) and I used to be the Group Leader for the older school agers (so, 3rd-5th grade). Upon teaching for the county, I've realized I prefer the little ones! This summer I'm with Pre-K through 1st grade.

The first project I did with the kiddies is a lesson I use with 1st grade during the school year: pinch pot fish.

I taught the children how to make a pinch pot which, pinching, is a basic form of hand building when using clay. We didn't use clay for the project, but Crayola's model magic. I like to think of it as a middle ground between play-doh and clay. It air dries, you can color it with markers, or paint it, whatever! It's great stuff with little to no mess!

Anyway! The pinch pots turned into the body and mouth of the fish, then using pinching techniques we added details like eyes and teeth. The model magic was white to start.

We let the model magic dry over night then we painted the fish. Last, I added some gloss medium over the fish just to keep the colors pure and help support any loose pieces. They turned out great! 

It makes me really sad to say, but these kiddies had some better results than my students during the school year, and a majority of them aren't even in kindergarten yet. Remember, this is a lesson I do with 1st graders during the school year. The kids I work with over the summer have more exposure to the arts whereas my students really only have art through me. Once a week. That's only, like, 40 times a year-give or take. Which is sad, really sad. However! Working with a different batch of kids has given me ideas for how to better my lesson with my students; adapting it to their needs. So, that's a big, big plus. No lesson is perfect. It can always be tweaked, altered, or even tossed in some cases.

Yay, cute kiddie art!

<3 Kate