THE ART BOX

The art centers are simply gathered materials that inspire the young artist to create their own art, following the project example that was introduced to therm.

When I was growing up, I actually went to a one room school and had a very creative teacher. Each student had their own "art box" which consisted of bits of fabric scraps, spools, rick rack, wire, pipe cleaners,  buttons, postage stamps, ribbon,  etc. These items were collected at home and kept at school in shoeboxes. 

1. The collecting process taught me at a young age about reusing materials to create art.

2. Each piece of art created in my classroom was unique.

3. This simple idea inspired creativity , problem solving, and individual expression.

I encourage you to put together an art box to use in your alphabetical art journey !

Fishing tackle boxes work well, as well as shoeboxes, plastic storage containers, etc.

THE ALPHABETICAL ART MUSEUM

Start at the bottom of this Blog with the letter A and journey with me as I blog my way through the alphabet with artists, inspirations, art materials, and techniques. I encourage exploration with the materials in the center. Read about the artists. Visit art museums. Have fun with the projects!

Z is for ZAP and other comic book illustrated words

Y is for YARN and other materials for your collage box

X is for CROSSHATCHING and other pencil drawiing telchniques

W is for Andy WARHOL

V is for Vincent VANGOGH

U is for UMBRELLAS in art

T is for TACTILE TEXTILES

S is for SEURAT

R is for Henri ROUSSEAU

Q is for QUILTS

P is for Pablo PICASSO

O is for Georgia OKEEFE

N is for NEWSPAPER

M is for MONDRIAN

Mondrian is known for his compositions using straight lines.

Project: CEREAL BOX AND TAPE MONDRIANS

L is for Ferdnand LEGER

LEGER is known for bright colors, abstract, and machine like art.

Project: Recycled Robots Collage

Process : 3D collage mixed media

1. Collect small  empty boxes , like jello, pudding, paper clip boxes, etc.

2. Collect spools, small plastic lids in assorted sizes, Popsicle sticks, foil gum wrappers, pipe cleaners, wire, etc.

3. Start with a cardboard square for the foundation.

4. Cover boxes with paper, foil, 

5. Create robots using the recycled materials and glue on the cardboard. In the background, draw robots by tracing around the boxes with markers. Add embellishments with spiral pipe cleaners, paper fasteners, small lids, etc.

6. Color everything with primary colors with black outlines.

K is for KANDINSKY

KANDINSKY  is known for his paintings of concentric circles( a circle within a circle within a circle).

 

Project: chalk circles resist

 

Method: Collect circles of different sizes to trace around( plastic lids, cups, cardboard circles, etc.) Trace around the circles with crayons starting with the largest circle, and add circles inside the large circle. Color each circle with pastel chalk and paint over with water color.

 

Art Center- circles of varying sizes, yarn, glue, paint, chalk, crayons, precut colored paper circles

 

 

J is for Jasper JOHNS

JASPER JOHNS is known for his prints and paintings of letters, maps, and flags. He uses texture in his paintings.

Project: Collage Pop art Flags

Method: collage

Collect magazine, newspaper, decorative papers in red, white, and blue. Tear the colors into bits and keep separated. Draw a flag on white paper and glue the bits of paper to create a flag.

Art center: magazines, scrapbook paper, pictures of world flags

I is for INSPIRATION

How do artist know what to create? What is their INSPIRATION?  How do they become INSPIRED?

Project: make an Inspiration  journal?

Materials: a three ring binder, glue sticks, scissors, pens, magazines, old dictionary

Method: Collect  photos, words, magazine fonts that you like, picturesque dictionary words with definitions that you like. Glue these onto paper and keep in your binder to use as a starting point for your artwork.

H is for HOKUSAI

HOKUSAI was a Japanese artist who lived 350 years ago. He is most known for his wood block prints, especially those of waves.

PROJECT- WAVE COLLOGRAPHS

MATERIALS- cardboard, glue, brayer, printing ink

METHOD:  Make a collgraph of a wave by cutting out wave shapes from scraps of cardbaord and glueing them on a square piece of cardboard.  Make many layers. Using a brayer,apply prinitng ink and make a print.

G is for GIACOMETTI

Giacometti is known for his elongated sculptured figures. 

Project- TREE PAINTING WITH STICKS

Materials- twigs, tree branches, black paint, water colors

Method: Painting

Directions:
Paint trees with a twig and black ink or paint. Use the twigs for inspiration as to how the shapes of the trees look.
You may add color to your composition with water color, but I really like the black and white contrast.

Art Center: twigs, crayons, bark, pressed leaves, paint, tissue paper

F is for FILIGREE

When I think of filigree, I think of very intricate looping designs created with fine metal wire. I also think of learning cursive writing as a child, and embellishing every letter with curliques. (I did not get a good handwritng grade because of the extra add ons.) So I chose to turn by natural inclination to draw whenever I could to an art project.

Project: Filigreed Letters

Materials: calligraphy pens, paper, metallic paint makers

Method: Draw a letter the size of the paper you choose. You can use a marker or calligraphy pen. Start curlique doodles over the letters. Add overlays of color with markers.Cut and mat on colored paper.

Art Center: markers, metallic pens, calligraphy alphabets, examples of embellished letters from books, alphabet letters in many styles for tracing, pipecleaners to bend into letters

E is for EMBROIDERY

Embroidery is the art of making designs using thread and fabric. I learned to embroider by tracing a simple coloring book page onto muslin. My mother showed me how to stitch around the outline.
Have fun learning some simple stitching techniques.

Materials: burlap, plastic needles, yarn, masking tape

Technique: stitching

Process : Cut out  a piece of burlap or other loosely woven fabric to your desired size.
Thread a large plastic needle with yarn. I wrap a piece of masking tape around the end of the yarn or easy threading. Sew dashes, cross stiches, etc.

Art center : yarn, burlap, plastic needles, buttons, cardboard, illustrations of embroidery stitches, sequins, rickrack, trimmings,

D is for Edgar DEGAS

When I think of Degas, I think of his dancing ballerina paintings that I love so much!

Project: Stencilled  Ballerinas

Materials: water colors, paper plate palette, sponge paint brush, cardstocl, water color paper

Method: stenciling, water colors

Process:
Cut out a simple paper doll. Fold the paper doll into a dancing position.
Trace around the paper doll onto the middle of cardstock and cut out to create your stencil.
Using water color paints and a sponge brush, fill in the stencil.

Repeat the process to put more dancers in your composition.

Art Center: Things that you could create dancers out of: cupcake liners, lace, ribbon, tulle, clothespins, paint, chalk.....pictures of dancers, ballet slippers, ballet video,

C is for Paul CEZANNE

Paul Cezanne used solid shapes and vibrant colors in his still life paintings. As you look at his still life paintings, you will notice that the background is important to complement his composition.

PROJECT:

Materials- fruit, fabric, tempera paint, crayons

Technique: painting

Process: Stage your own still life using fruit, dishes, cloth, etc.
Sketch the still life that you have set up using a crayon. Make sure that you include a background in your composition. Paint the fruit and objects using bright colors. Add shadows with gray paint. If you would like to add texture, you could actually glue on white cotton cloth for your draped tablecloth. This will give your work of art added dimension.

Art Center:

 cloth, artificial fruit, oil crayons, crayons, tempera paint, water colors, canvas , paper, pottery, bottles, small boxes to drape with the cloth to add elevation

B is for Georges BRAQUE

Braque made paintings in the style of cubism.

*Cubism is taking an object and discovering the simple geometric shapes within the object and rearranging them into a composition,
 Here is a project you can do to learn about Braques and cubism:

Musical instrument composition

Materials: pictures or actual musical instruments, colored paper, markers or paint

Technique: mixed media collage

Process: Take a photo of a musical instrument and print a copy. Outline the basic shapes within the instrument and cut the pieces out and trace them onto colored paper..  You could also draw a picture of a musical instrument and trace each part onto a different color of paper.  Glue these pieces onto your paper. You do not want to put the instrument together as a puzzle, but rearrange the parts into a composition. Add other cut out geometric shapes  or color in to fill  the negative space. Add yarn for rhythm and texture.

 Abstract Trumpet

Art center: pictures of musical instruments and everyday objects, wooden geometric solids, paint chips, cereal box cardboard, craft wood shapes, books about Braques, examples of cubism, markers, string, yarn

A is for John James AUDUBON

A IS FOR AUDUBON. He was an illustrator of birds.

Here are some projects that you could do in the style of Audubon:

Materials: white drawing paper , colored pencils, water color pencils

Technique:  drawing techniques- shading, layering

Process: Lightly sketch with pencil your favorite bird. Make sure that you use all of your space. An easy way to do this is by making sure that your drawing touches three sides of your paper. Add colored pencils over your sketch. Layer colors to add depth and texture. Add the background environment that your bird lives in. Finish with water colored pencils , adding water to create an overall wash.

Art Center: photos of birds, drawing paper, chalk, colored pencils, water color pencils, kneaded erasers,  books about Audubon