Highlands Art Garage

Monoprinting – Trees

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The winter months can get a little dreary so why not break out some art supplies for the kids to play with. This project is called monoprinting because each print is one of a kind. In the past I’ve used this technique to teach kids to draw all kind of things like boxes or stars or flowers. The resulting prints are unique and beautiful.

First I pick a theme and look for inspiration either on the internet or in my picture files. I think a theme helps kids focus and can make the activity a teaching tool for subjects like the phases of the moon, leaf shapes or how to draw a star.  A great book to go along with this idea is Draw me a Star by Eric Carle.

Because it’s January when I’m writing this I chose winter trees for my theme.  This project is really fun for kids and adults and you’ll be surprised and delighted with the results. I hope you give it a try.

 

 

The supplies needed are listed below. Check out the Highlands Art Garage store to find some of these items.

  • good construction paper or drawing paper to print on
  • artist’s palette paper or cardboard and freezer paper for a printing plate
  • spatula, Q-tips or artist’s palette knife to remove paint
  • tempera or acrylic paint in liquid form
  • variety of brushes including wide sponge brushes
  • dish to hold paint

 

The prints make beautiful finished work on their own but I also like to use prints in my collages.

Colored Pencil Apple Drawing

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November is apple season, apple pie, apple dumplings, apple cider, apple crisp, you get the idea. It’s also time to start shopping for Holiday gifts for those creatives in your life. I have a tutorial for you and the kids that takes you beyond the coloring books that have become so popular. Colored pencils are a great medium to learn because they’re easy to travel with and require virtually no set up or clean up time. Prismacolor is my favorite brand and any size set makes a great Holiday gift. Many art supply stores sell these pencil separately so you can easily add to your collection at any time. I like to add a few grays to any set or some of the softer colors that can be used for mixing.

In this video I show you have to render highlights called tints and shadows called tones to make the apple really look 3 dimensional. I use gray paper because the colors really pop off the gray but white drawing paper works just as well. Click here to shop for good quality construction paper for colored pencil drawings, I use slate. This gray paper is also great for black and white drawing which may be a subject of an art lesson in the future. Prismacolor Premiere Pencils can be found at Highlands Art Garage store.

The video explains all the supplies and walks you through every step.