Daily Doodle #20

Dear Timberwolf Artsts,

I can't believe it's been 20 days that I've been making doodles for you.  Even though it's fun, it's not nearly as fun as seeing you all in person.  I miss you all so much.

Today's doodle is both fun and easy!  I took one crayon and one piece of paper and I went outside to make texture rubbings.  You can see that I layered the rubbings on top of one another and that I used a variety of pressure: some hard and some soft.  I also tried to find a variety of surfaces: some natural (like bark and leaves) and some man made (like our license plates).

Here are some tips for making a good rubbing:

1.  Use a peeled crayon.

2.  Lay your crayon down on the paper as you make your rubbing instead of holding it upright (like you would if you were making a drawing).

3.  Use a variety of pressure

Have fun with it, Timberwolves.  I know this is one of my favorite ways to draw outside.

Until Tomorrow,

Artfully Yours

Mrs. Starbuck

Daily Doodle #19

Dear Timberwolf Artists,

Today I am going to teach you one of my very favorite ways to draw.  The drawing in my picture looks pretty funny, huh?  You know why?  It's because when I drew it, I DIDN'T LOOK AT MY PAPER.  #1 is my hand and #2 is a glue stick.

If you are asking yourself why I would choose to do that, it's because this type of drawing is actually an exercise.  It's called "Blind Contour" drawing.  "Blind" because you aren't looking at the paper, and "Contour" because you are using line only to draw.  No color or shading (though there is nothing saying you couldn't do that afterwards).

Blind contour drawing is really good for practicing really looking at what you are drawing.  When we learned about Still Life this year, we talked about the importance of drawing the details of the objects you were drawing.  When you are only looking at the object you are drawing and NOT the paper, you are not stressing out about making a terrible drawing.  In fact, your drawing probably WILL be terrible (in a great way).

Here are ways to make the best possible Blind Contour Drawing:

1.  Choose two or three objects to draw.  If you are very brave, you could try drawing a person.

2.  When you are drawing, NO LOOKING at your paper.  The whole time.  Till you are done.

3.  Draw very slowly.  The more slowly you draw, the more details you will be able to include.

4.  Don't lift up your pencil or sharpie the entire time you are drawing.  This means you will make extra lines that you normally would not make in a drawing.

5.  Don't just draw the outline of the object you are drawing, draw as many details as you can.

Good luck, Timberwolves.  Blind contour drawing is really fun because you make some pretty crazy drawings, but it's actually an activity that a lot of professional artists use for warm up or drawing practice.

Until Tomorrow,
Artfully Yours
Mrs. Starbuck

Daily Doodle #18

Dear Timberwolf Artists,

Today's doodle is another oldie but goodie.  Many of you have done this project with me before, but in case you haven't, here's how I made it.

There are two rules to this kind of drawing:
1.  Only draw one line
2.  Try not to make your line cross over where you already drew.

This is a calming, peaceful project.  Try to let you hand move slowly as you draw, and try to draw your different wiggles and waves on the small side so that you take a long time filling up your paper.  You can try changing colors, hiding little secret pictures in your drawing, turning it into a maze.

If you've done these with me before, try to find a new way of drawing as you work today.

Until Tomorrow Timberwolves,

Artfully Yours
Mrs. Starbuck

Daily Doodle #17

Dear Timberwolves,

I am posting an oldie but a goodie for today's daily doodle.  Those of you who have had me as your teacher will know this one well.  I always have so much fun making them that I wanted to make another one for you today!  If you remember, we made these drawings when we were learning about symmetry because all 4 sides are the same.

In order to make a drawing like this, follow these steps:

1.  Start with a small shape in the middle.  I usually make a circle, but a diamond or a square will work too.

2.  Add four shapes around the middle shape.  You can think about your drawing like a compass on a map with a north, south, east, and west, or you can think about it with a top, bottom and left and right.  Notice in my drawing that I started with a circle, and then I added the light green triangles on the top, bottom, and both sides of the circle.

3.  Every time you add a new shape, add it in all four sides of your drawing.

4.  Color it in!

As always, if you make one you are really proud of, take a picture of it for me so I can see what it looks like and send it to jstarbuck@cpsk12.org

See you tomorrow Timberwolves,

Artfully Yours
Mrs. Starbuck

Video Lesson #4 Paper Chains!

Hello Timberwolf Artists!

This is one of my MOST requested lessons in the Art room so I thought I'd put it on video so you all could practice at home!  I love paper chains because the possibilities are endless.  You can cut so many different designs, you can decorate them, and you can even play with them after you make them. 

I hope you all are able to give it a try.  Don't hesitate to e-mail me with questions if you are having trouble making it work!

jstarbuck@cpsk12.org

Until Monday

Artfully Yours,
Mrs. Starbuck

Fine Art Friday #4

                                                          

Hello Dear Timberwolf Artists,

For today's Fine Art Friday, I want to show you a painting that I bought 7 years ago at at street fair in Chatanooga Tennessee.  I was visiting my good friend Jessica, and we went walking through a street fair right along a pretty river.  I found an artist who had made a lot of paintings on books, and I fell in love with this one.  The artist called it "Leak," and painted it on a book called "The Intruder."  I still don't know how he did it, but he somehow glued the pages of the book closed so that it can't open back up again.

I love this painting because I think it is kinda funny, and I love how it was painting in a graphic, comic book style. 

I hope you enjoy the picture of Big Boy in my second picture.  He does not care about the painting that I'm showing you, he is begging me to go throw his favorite black ball for him.  LOL.

I catch you all in a little while for my weekly video lesson!

Until then,
Artfully Yours,

Mrs. Starbuck

Daily Doodle #16

Hi Timberwolf Artists!

I'm getting today's doodle to you a little later than usual and I'm sorry about that!  Today's doodle is based on the hilarious work of the artist Yoshimoto Nara.  If you haven't seen his work, you can look at it here:

https://www.google.com/search?q=yoshimoto+nara&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjhl_Cp3v_oAhXXaM0KHTb3Bk8Q_AUoAXoECCAQAw&biw=1366&bih=625

I've always loved Nara's work because he does such a good job making the characters he draw both cute and mad looking.  When I made my doodle, I think mine came out a little more mad than cute, but I tried my best!

I hope you have fun with this one, Timberwolves.  Nara's work has always made me laugh.

I'm looking forward to making a video lesson for you tomorrow and featuring another artwork in my house for Fine Art Friday.

Until then
Artfully Yours,
Mrs. Starbuck

BONUS PROJECT

Hello Timberwolf Artists,

I wanted to share with you a project that my niece Alex started making yesterday.  A field guide is when you try to draw and write about the different plants and animals you see in a specific place.  Alex is making a field guide to her own back yard.  She is drawing the plants and insects that she finds and then attempting to look them up and identify what they are.

It's a great project because you can work on it over the course of several days or weeks- however long you like!

I'll update this post with images of the inside of her guide as she completes more.

Until Tomorrow Timberwolves,
Mrs. Starbuck

Daily Doodle #15

Hello Timberwolf Artists,

Today's doodle, which is actually a photograph, is based on the work of the artist William Wegman.  If you haven't seen his work, check it out here:

https://www.google.com/search?q=william+wegman&rlz=1C1GCEB_enUS863US863&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiZnOq7-PzoAhWTZs0KHbATA9kQ_AUoAXoECCIQAw&biw=1366&bih=625

I've always loved Wegman's work because it's both funny and beautiful at the same time.  Can you imagine how well he's trained the dogs that he works with?

Anyway, I didn't think that my dog Big Boy would appreciate being dressed up, so I used Prarie Dog as my model.  Friends, if you have a patient pet, you can try to dress him or her, but a stuffed animal would work just as well.  As always, if you make one you are proud of, don't hesitate to e-mail a picture to jstarbuck@cpsk12.org

I had a lot of fun with this one and I hope that you will too!

Artfully Yours,

Mrs. Starbuck

Daily Doodle #14

Dear Timberwolf Artists,

Today I made an artwork based on the Art of Wassily Kandinsky.  Here is a link to see his work:

https://www.google.com/search?q=wassily+kandinsky&rlz=1C1GCEB_enUS863US863&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjGucnopfroAhUyAZ0JHQFqCdIQ_AUoAXoECCQQAw&biw=1034&bih=588

Kandinsky made a lot of non-objective art that he often based on music. 

Here's how I made my doodle:

1.  I made a small circle, a slightly bigger circle, and then the biggest circle.  Each time, I tried to think about changing up the sizes of the circles.  sometimes I made the circles similar in size, sometimes I tried to make the center circle a lot smaller than the next two and so on.

2.  I colored each set of circles using marker.

3.  I took colored pencil and draw some circles on top of the marker.

Today I leave you with this challenge: I challenge you to listen to music while you are working and to see if the music can help you decide what colors to choose or how you draw your circles.  For example, if your music is quiet or calm, you might think about how to show that with your hand as you draw. If your music is loud or fun or silly, you might think about colors that could show those feelings.

Have fun, Timberwolves!

Until tomorrow,
Artfully yours
Mrs. Starbuck

Daily Doodle #13

Dear Timberwolf Artists,

This week each Daily Doodle will be inspired by a different famous artist!  Today's artist is Joan Miro.  Here is a link to follow so you can see his Art:

https://www.google.com/search?q=joan+miro&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiKv-D1ovfoAhXYVc0KHY-2BTkQ_AUoAXoECC0QAw&biw=1034&bih=588

Miro was an artist from Spain who made a kind of art called "Surrealism."  This kind of art was based on dreams and the imagination.

To make today's doodle, first I took a sharpie and I made some squiggly lines.  I was focused on moving my hand slowly and trying to fill a lot of the page.  Next, I simply colored in the different sections made by my loops and scribbles.  It's a relaxing way to work.

Until Tomorrow, Timberwolves! 

Artfully Yours,
Mrs. Starbuck

Video Lesson #3

 Hi Timberwolf Artists!

Today's video lesson is on how to make salt dough.  Please make sure that if you do the baking portion of this lesson, you have permission from an adult in your house.

Until Monday,

Artfully Yours
Mrs. Starbuck

Fine Art Friday #3

           

                          

Dear Timberwolf Artists,

For today's Fine Art Friday, I want to introduce you all to Prarie Dog!  Prarie Dog was actually made by my sister Sarah when she was in college.  He is made out of clay and she built him using coils.  He is pretty big.  When you set him on the ground, he comes up to your knee.

The funny story about Prarie Dog is that I actually had to rescue him from the trash!  My sister's husband didn't really like Prarie Dog, so when they got married, he tried to throw him away!  I actually had to take the trash bag away and say STOP!!!  So, ever since then, Prarie Dog has lived with me.  He's moved about 10 different times and has suffered a broken tail and paw, but I glued him back together.

I hope you enjoy looking at this lil guy as much as I do!

Have an awesome weekend Timberwolves, and stay tuned for my video lesson later on this afternoon.

Artfully Yours,
Mrs. Starbuck

Daily Doodle #12

Hello Timberwolf Artists,

Today's Daily Doodle is Anna's final idea.  If you haven't yet met Anna, go check out Daily Doodle #9. 

Anna says you should pick one thing to draw and draw it pretty big on the paper.  Next, divide you paper into 4, by making one vertical line and one horizontal line.  Next, choose two colors only to color in each section.  It's kind of like the two marker challenge, but you get to do two colors per section.

If you are having trouble thinking of something to draw, you could draw something in your house, something from your yard, an animal, a person, a monster, a vase of flowers, or you could even hop on over to kids art hub on youtube, follow a drawing tutorial, and go from there.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow's video lesson and Fine Art Friday.

I'll see you then Timberwolves!

Artfully Yours,
Mrs. Starbuck

Daily Doodle #11

Hello Timberwolf Artists!

Today's project is brought to you by Alex.  See Daily Doodle #9 if you haven't yet met Alex!

Alex says that for today's doodle, your job is to trace your hand and then turn it in to something.  This is a great chance to practice your creativity! 

On my first drawing, I cheated a little bit.  I knew that I wanted to make an octopus, so I traced my hand once, and then I traced three extra fingers so I could make 8 legs!

Notice how on both of my examples my hand is pointing a different direction?  On my octopus, my hand (with extra fingers) is pointing down, and on the face with a funny hat, my hand is pointing up.  This is the time to use your brain to think of great ideas.  Don't think too hard about it- just let your hand turn into the first thing that pops into your head, however crazy the idea might be!

I hope you all find some time to do a little art today and know that I am missing you terribly.

Until tomorrow,

Artfully yours, Mrs. Starbuck

Daily Doodle #10

Dear Timberwolf Artists,

Today's Daily Doodle is brought to you by Anna.  Her Art teacher in Montclair, New Jersey suggested that they choose three things from the room around them and make them into a picture.  The way that I interpreted this assignment was to choose three objects and then turn each one of them into a little creature.

You can see in picture one that I chose a sand shovel, a shoe, and a bottle of room freshener.  When it came time to draw each object, I drew right in black sharpie so if I made a bad line, oh well!  I had to just roll with it.  Remember these tips from our still life unit to help you draw your objects:

1.  Really look at the object your are drawing.  If you choose a banana and it has a brown spot on it, draw the spot!

2.  Add at least two details.  I found that when I was drawing the shoe, when I drew the opening where the foot goes, it looked like a mouth to me.

3.  Draw slow.  The slower your hand moves, the more likely your drawing is to come out in a way you are happy.

As always, no one is looking over your shoulder.  If you make a wrong line, so what?!  You know that if you were with me in class, I'd probably spotlight for you for keeping at it after a mistake, right?

Thanks for today's idea, Anna!

I love you all and miss you daily,

Artfully Yours,
Mrs. Starbuck

Daily Doodle #9

Hello Timberwolf Artists,

This week I've invited some guest teachers to help with my Daily Doodles.  Meet Alex and Anna!  

Alex and Anna are my nieces and they live in Montclair, New Jersey.  They've been doing a lot of Art lately too, and they have each given me two suggested projects to teach you all.  Today's doodle is from Alex who says that this was a very fun project her art teacher suggested.

Here's how it works:

1.  Think of some describing words.  It might help you to think of texture words (smooth, fuzzy, bumpy, sticky, fiery, icy, etc...)

2.  Draw each word by showing it's definition  For example, for fiery, you might draw each letter on fire.  for sticky, you might draw a bunch of flies stuck on each letter.

As always, don't stress too much about your drawing because the point of these doodles is not to create a perfect drawing, it's just to have some fun.

Until tomorrow

Artfully Yours,

Mrs. Starbuck

Video Lesson #2, Nature Art

Hello Timberwolves!

Here is my Video Lesson for the day!  Please excuse the 20 seconds at the end of the video where the sun was so bright that I couldn't see my computer screen to turn off my recording.  Hahaha!  Can you believe it? Even Mrs. Starbuck makes mistakes.  I thought I'd leave that on there so you could see the evidence.

I love you all and miss you so, so much.

Until Monday
Artfully Yours,

Mrs. Starbuck

Fine Art Friday #2

Hello Timberwolves,

Today I wanted to share with you another piece of art in my house that I cherish.  Any guesses who painted it?  That's right, Ken Nichols!  It's oil paint on wood panel. 

The reason I love this painting so much is because it's an incredibly beautiful painting of an every day object.  I love that he painted a take-out coffee cup with a spill running down the side.  In my opinion, it's both funny (it's like he's making an old paper coffee cup seem really special or important) and gorgeous because of how carefully he painted the light and dark, and all the textures of the foreground and background.

I hope you enjoy looking at this painting, friends.  I have it hanging right near my kitchen because that's where I make and usually drink my coffee at home!

Stay tuned for today's video lesson!

<3  Mrs. Starbuck

Daily Doodle #8

Hello Timberwolf Artists!

I am really starting to miss you all.  Some people have been taking the time to e-mail me pictures that they've made by following along with my daily doodles and I've been loving it.  As always, if you make a picture you are proud of and you want to show me, you can e-mail it to me at:

jstarbuck@cpsk12.org

It's not as wonderful as seeing your art in person, but it's a close second.

Today's doodle is pretty simple.  Monsters!!!  Those of you who have me as a teacher know that I LOVE to draw monsters.  I don't want you to worry too much about making this drawing perfect.  You might try to think of two animals that you can combine to make a monster, you may just start drawing and see what happens.

IF YOU WANT A CHALLENGE:

See if you can include one or more of the following:
- Value (or even gradient value!)
-Line Design (zentangles)
-Line Weight
-Texture

Oh, and in case you are wondering what that last picture is all about: that's the mess charlie made playing while I was drawing my monsters.  Haha!

Stay tuned to my blog tomorrow because I will upload a video with a project you can try at home AND I will take a picture of another piece of Art in my house for Fine Art Friday.  Spoiler: tomorrow's Art is going to be from an artist of the month that we talked about this year!!!

Artfully Yours,
Mrs. Starbuck

Daily Doodle #7

Dear Timberwolf Artists,

Daily Doodle #7, back by popular demand, is hidden mouth creatures!  I tried to draw a diagram of how to fold your paper for this project, but I'll explain it in writing too.

1.  Fold your paper.  I find that if I fold it A LITTLE LOWER than half way down, it works out easier.

2.  Fold your paper a second time.  Take the front side of the paper and make your fold go upwards.

3.  If it worked out, you should have a paper with one fold showing across the front.  Very important: Draw the mouth of your person/creature/animal along this fold.

4.  When you open the paper, draw a hidden mouth inside.  You could draw sharp teeth, food, a hidden world, whatever you want to create in there!  When I've done this project in the past, I've asked my students to try to make the inside of the mouth somehow very different from the outside.

If you are like me and find visual directions kind of confusing, I'm including a link to a youtube video that has an Easter version of this project. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDl3PXioJ1s

Give it a try!  And as always, if you make a cool one, e-mail me a picture of what you made to jstarbuck@cpsk12.org

Until Tomorrow

Artfully Yours,
Mrs. Starbuck

Daily Doodle #6

Hello Timberwolf Artists,

Here is Daily Doodle #6!  Many of you will recognize this doodle because some of us made one together in Art this year.  Here's how it works:

1.  Tape a piece of paper to your table

2.  Using two different pencils/markers/crayons/anything that will write, draw a design using BOTH of your hands AT THE SAME TIME.  Tips: draw slowly and try to fill as much of the page as you can. 

3.  Divide your doodle into sections and decorate each section. 

This is a fun one, Timberwolves.  I hope you can give it a try....or a second try if we already made one together in class.

Until tomorrow

Artfully yours,
Mrs. Starbuck

Daily Doodle #5

Hello Timberwolf Artists,

Here is our 5th daily doodle.  This is a doodle that is a great excuse to play around with crazy lines.  Here's how I made it:

1.  I drew a half circle which I added some eyes and some color.

2.  I drew crazy lines going up like hair.  On the first doodle I did zig zag lines and on the second I did wavy wiggly lines.  What kinds or lines might you make for some crazy hair?

Until tomorrow,

Artfully yours
Mrs. Starbuck

Getty Challenge Student Entries

Hello Dear BEU Timberwolves.

I decided to create a post for anyone who decided to accept the Getty challenge!  If you e-mail me a picture of yourself and the painting you recreated, I will post it here!

jstarbuck@cpsk12.org

Thanks to Avery Kelly for our first entry!!!  Behold: The Mona Lisa, by Leonardo DaVinci

Getty Challenge accepted

My sister and my nieces live in NJ.  Yesterday they challenged us to recreate the painting shown above.  Below is our attempt.  Are you game to try the Getty Challenge???

Artfully Yours,

Mrs. Starbuck

Fine Art Friday (1st edition)

Hello BEU Artists,

This morning I decided that I wanted to start sharing with you the artwork that's in my house.  Spoiler alert: I have a lot of art in my house.  So...Each Friday, I'll share a picture of an artwork and I'll tell you about it.

This tree is one of my most favorite pieces of art that I've ever owned.  I found it in a thrift shop about 8 years ago and I have NO idea who made it. Here's what I can tell you: The green tree is CUT OUT and sewed onto the white fabric.  Also, it's about as tall as I am so it is really big.  Just pause for a minute to think about how long it would take to cut out the green fabric and then to sew it onto the white fabric!  I sure wish I could meet the person who made it. 

Notice that the tree is mostly symmetrical.  Do you see the little flaw in the upper right hand part of the tree?  I love that mistake because that's how you can see that it was made my hand and not a computer. 

I hope you enjoy looking at this tree as much as I do.  I've moved houses twice since I first bought it and I always hang it somewhere that I can easily see it.

I'll catch you all on Monday for my next Daily Doodle!

Artfully Yours,
Mrs. Starbuck

First Video! Studio Tour and Lesson in Design Thinking

Mr Szabo's YouTube Channel

Hi BEU families,

I wanted to share with you another amazing resource.  My fellow art teacher George Szabo (Cedar Ridge Elementary) has been creating some pretty incredible YouTube videos.  Here is the link if you'd like to try any of them out!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFSuzwOmMPlrxswPdgDaXuQ

Artfully Yours,
Mrs. Starbuck

Daily Doodle #4

Hello Timberwolf Artists!

Here is the doodle of the day!  This one was pretty simple.  I drew my name and I tried to make each letter look really different.  You might make letters into animals, objects, designs, bubble letters, or just see what happens when you sit down to draw.  Have fun with it!

I wanted to remind all of you that I'm going to attempt to upload a video tomorrow.  I will give myself a goal of uploading it by 1pm.   Tomorrow's video will be a tour of my art studio at home (get ready to see a little bit of mess).  I can't wait for you to see the VERY imperfect space where I paint at home!

Until Tomorrow,

Artfully Yours,
Mrs. Starbuck