Category Archives: San Diego

Martin Fine Art Classes for Kids and Teens

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7 year olds drawing still lifes? With charcoal? Or painting in oils? Its possible with the right instruction.

Elementary age student paints still life in oils.

Martin Fine Art Classes teaches all these skills to kids in kindergarten through high school. Albert Martin, an educator with over 20 years experience in public and private education, has developed a Young Masters Art Program focused on the fundamentals of drawing and painting.

Students first learn to lightly sketch objects on paper through still life or sequential step drawings.They learn to correct size, placement, and proportion of initial sketches. Then they begin to master the concepts of drawing and observation by completing drawings of still life and animals, landscape and marine, using charcoal pencil and soft pastel.

 

This 8-year old uses chalk pastel to shade her drawing.

When they are ready, they can move on to acrylic and oil painting.

Martin Fine Art Classes offers 90 minute day and after-school sessions. In Summer 2012 he will offer 3 hour morning sessions as well. I wish I had gone to a fine art camp when I was a kid!

I have personally observed the after school sessions. Before I went to his studio, I never thought is possible for students this young to sit and focus for 45 minutes. In fact, many students increase their ability to concentrate on their artwork the more classes they take.

Students go home with a pastel still life their very first session!

 

5 and 6 year old students start out painting in acrylics.

These are skills many will not develop until after a couple of semesters of high school art.  Why wait for high school? Learn how now.

5-7 year olds also learn how to use simple shapes to create fun animal drawings. Alternating between still lifes and this type of drawing help keep interest high.

Also has instruction for adults and teens with a separate curriculum.

Instruction is available for middle school students.

Students can purchase materials for classes right at the studio, or bring their own from home.

If students are fortunate to have art in school, it is often in large group. Many students learn better, and develop skills more quickly with individual or small group instruction. At Martin Fine Art classes the top ratio is 1:8, with each child encouraged to learn at their own pace.

Teens can learn to draw and paint realistic still lifes.

I can personally recommend Mr. Martin as I take his class once a week . It is a TOTAL LUXURY to make my own (grown up!) art after teaching my own students all week.

Martin Fine Art Classes is located in Encinitas, California. Find out more information at www.martinfineartclasses.com .  You can email Albert Martin at  martinfineartclass@att.net to inquire about morning, after school, or summer sessions. Phone is 760-944-7913.

 

Alexander Calder’s Jewelry

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Calder’s necklace of glass jewels

Alexander Calder made this pin for his wife, Louisa

Calder’s earrings are miniature mobiles.

Did you know Calder designed wire jewelry? He made 1,800 pieces of jewelry during his long career. Learn more in this New York Times article and related New York Times slideshow of Calder’s jewelry. I was fortunate to see the Calder jewelry exhibit when it came to the San Diego Museum of Art in 2010.

The San Diego Museum of Art has a Calder inspired jewelry and wire sculpture lesson plan for upper elementary students.

Line drawing of Calder jewelry forms. Imagine your students making them in wire!

Calder jewelry-making techniques from SDMART lesson plan

Looking for a wire sculpture lesson plan? Check out my previous post: Calder wire sculpture lesson for 5th grade.

UPDATE: lots more Calder posts:

How to Make a Calder Mobile

Two Calder books to read online for free

Calder wire portraits

 

San Diego Youth Art Month 2012

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The 2012 YAM show was held February 18 at the San Diego Art Institute in beautiful Balboa Park. As always, the student artists felt very special and all the families had a great time.

Here are my elementary-level faves:

 

 

Middle school faves:

 

High school fave:

And here are my school’s entries: 5th grade plaster masks

Our 5th grade plaster masks.

 

SDAEA's Elizabeth Morton, Bruce Groff and Nancy Reitzler

Thanks guys for all your hard work.  It was a great show!

Chalk Pastel Stencils – Quick, Easy and Beautiful

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5th graders used chalk pastels and cut paper stencils to make overlapping hearts.

These beautiful chalk pastel stencils take only one 40 minute session!

Materials:

  • Chalk Pastels
  • Stiff brush (we use our old tempera brushes)
  • scissors
  • construction paper for background (we used white 9″x12″)
  • construction paper cut approx. 4″x6″ for making stencils
  • optional: ready-made stencils

Instructions:

Fold the small rectangle in half. Draw a half heart on the fold and cut out.

Students can use both the positive and negative shapes from homemade stencils.

 

Color around the edges of the cut out 'window'.

 

Now take the stiff brush and brush the colored pastel into the stencil ‘window’.

These pink hearts 'stencils' were made on the school die-cut machine.

 

Lift up the stencil. Students will ooh and aah if they have never tried this process before! Now shift the stencil and repeat the process.  Encourage students to overlap.

Now take the positive shape and color the edge with pastel. Place on the background paper, and brush the color outward onto the paper.

Positive shape can be used as a stencil.

 

Nice composition and color.

 

We reused our die-cut stencils for three classes. We just colored and colored again around the edges. Tell the students to relax – it’s going to look beautiful.

Students can also color the background.

 

Another stencil made on the school die-cut machine.

This student used his stencils to make a bird.

This method would be very interesting with cut paper snowflakes or doilies.

Experiment with doilies.

Try a homemade snowflake stencil.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Minimize the mess: ask students to tap their excess chalk pastel dust onto a piece of newspaper.

What to do with all those used colorful stencils? Try this used stencil collage project. Double the art fun!

This method came from the San Diego Museum of Art  2010 Educator’s Art Fair. The lesson can easily be adapted for all grades K-6.

Art on the Beach – The Cardiff Kook

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Happy New Year from San Diego!

I spent New Year’s Day walking on the beach at Cardiff-by-the-Sea. Cardiff is home to ‘Magic Carpet Ride’, a statue installed in 2007.

The Cardiff Kook (formally 'Magic Carpet Ride')

The surf-savvy locals initially derided the sculpture.  Many felt the surfer depicted had the wrong stance. But as time has gone by, public opinion has changed.

What was intended as an homage to local surf culture has turned into a fabulous piece of community art. Under cover of night, people alter the kook in ways large and small. Here are some notable installations:

 

Eaten by a shark.

Caught in a spider web.

Celebrating Van Gogh's birthday. Note fake crow and bandaged head....

Van Gogh's ear....

Snatched by dinosaurs.

 

Kook proposes marriage.

Remembering 9-11.

The Kook is changed dozens of times each year and is a constant source of surprise and joy. Locals and tourists love the kook. You can follow the kook on the Cardiff kook blog. The kook can also be found on this Google map.

I always wonder what would happen if two stealth art groups coincidentally met up at the kook late at night.  Who would get first dibs?

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