'bots

Been very busy of late - what with end of term, form filling, data compiling etc. Managed a few quick sketches of 'bots. After the hols I might think about putting some sketches (or paintings?) on Folksy. Seem to have had more retail success of late on Folksy as opposd to Etsy.

Big apologies for the poor photo - my 'art room' is in the cellar and the shadow is caused by the ceiling light! Can't see if I turn it off!!

after paul klee

More colour mixing this week using a palette limited to primary colours + white - creating pieces inspired by the work of Paul Klee.

We'll be finishing them off next week.

simpler page palz

Here are a couple of pics showing my 'sample' ideas that I showed the children as an alternative to the 3D bookmarks. Our efforts have been put on hold this week as we've had parent/teacher meetings instead of after school clubs.

bookmarks

Have been playing around with an idea for some wooden bookmarks - I've christened them 'page palz'. Oversize craft sticks, wooden beads and acrylic paint, sealed with mod podge.

The idea was to make and sell these through our 'Enterprise Club'at school- but I think they'll be a little too fiddly and tricky for the children to make. We've come up with a simpler idea using flat wooden shapes - I'll post some pics when they're done.

Obviously they can be painted in any colourway and can be made to represent a whole host of different characters.

When not being used as bookmarks they could easily be out on display as a sort of 'stick doll' figure.

Would love to know what you think of these and whether or not they could sell.

colour wheel stuff

Did some simple colour wheel stuff yesterday (primary & secondary colours) - only just managed to upload the pics today (don't like posting an entry without a visual and try if at all possible not to do it - is anyone else like this?). After the colour mixing practice the children had free rein to paint a picture of their choice. It was nice to see some of them trying techniques we've covered over the last few weeks.

footy supporters

Another painting - this time a view of some footy supporters eagerly watching their team (Newcastle, Fulham, West Brom ??) from the terraces.

13x18cm, mixed media on canvas board.

more monochrome

Inspired by the monochrome stuff we did yesterday, I had a go at doing one of my pics just using grey tones. I think it came out pretty well. Quite current as well, what with 'The Artist' being the film of the moment.

10x10cm, mixed media on box canvas

after van gogh

Today we looked at some of Van Gogh's monochrome studies/sketches. We looked closely at how he used certain marks to represent specific objects/forms. We then had a quick practice at making similar marks with small brushes and black ink. The final task was to try and use those marks to create a representation of a landscape (the nearest we could get to 'en plein air' on a rainy, miserable day like today was to copy an image from the web!).

we copied this (the bright spot isn't the sun - it's from the projector);

and created this;

I think they managed to capture some of the technique and spirit of Van Gogh.

piece listed

Managed to take a slightly better pic of the Jazz Combo piece and have listed it in my Folksy shop. Would welcome any thoughts on how I could promote the shop and my artworks - not sure how twitter works and am not particularly keen on joining up to facebook. Any other ideas?

new work

A new piece on my painting table. The photo isn't brilliant due to the fact that my 'studio' is in the cellar!

'Jazz Combo'

13x18cm, mixed Media on canvas board.