What this blog is all about

As parents of students of an arts-focused school, we all would love to see more art at school. Since the school has no budget for art, it's up to us as parents to chip in and do what we can. With the help of our school PTA, parent leaders, teachers and volunteers there are so many things that we can make happen.

Make-at-home instruments

We're planning on doing a Drum Circle at school soon so we thought we'd post some tutorials/instructions on how to make your own homemade instruments.

Urban Organica shows how to make these drums and shakers out of things you probably have around the house.

The Imagination Station has instructions on how to make rhythm sticks. These are basically just sticks that you tap together to make a beat.

Tutorial - Making Panels to paint on

Anything can be a canvas for art - paper (graph paper, lined paper, blank paper, junk mail envelopes, cardboard, old blueprints, paperboard (think cereal boxes), index cards...well, you get the picture! But, if you are wanting something hard to make art on, you can use Masonite, which is a thin 1/4" brown board (it also is the same stuff that pegboard is made out of) that comes in 4x8 sheets (sometimes smaller too) and you can find it at Home Depot or Lowes in the lumber area (usually). They will usually cut it into smaller pieces for you - just ask!

I wanted to share a tutorial I just found on how to finish a piece of masonite so that you can use it as a canvas. You'll need gesso, which is white (but also comes in clear) and is an opaque, white, thick paint-like coating. You can find it at arts and crafts stores.

Here's the tutorial, from artist Debbie Miller's blog.

Favorite Artists - Norman Rockwell

So, a great way to learn about new artists is to ask people who their favorite artists are. I posed this question to teachers and parents and others I met and know and I'm going to compile the answers along with links to sites where you can learn more.

The first person to answer this question was Sue Ackley, 4th grade teacher @ LJM. Her favorite artist is Norman Rockwell because "He was a prolific artist who painted vivid yet touching portraits of everyday life in America." I googled his name and found the Norman Rockwell Museum which has so much good stuff! Rockwell's paintings are detailed and on the site you can view lots of his paintings along with reading background on them. He was an illustrator and did many illustrations for the Saturday Evening Post. 

Here are a couple that interested me because of their obvious art themes.

This one is called Triple Self-Portrait, painted in 1960. Here's some background which was interesting! 

"Most observers of the portrait believe the drawing on the easel flatters Rockwell, making him look years younger. But it is an almost exact likeness of the photo taken for reference, with the exception of a wrinkle or two. The more puzzling discrepancy is the use of a paintbrush on the pencil drawing. The only solution, unless we agree that it is intended as a trick, is that although the drawing is not complete, he is about to begin his imprimatura—the glaze of thin color used under oil paint for the purpose of imparting warmth to the skin tones. This would be believable if it were not for the used paintbrushes on the floor. They don’t make chronological sense." Read the rest here

Many of us can relate to this illustration. This one is titled, Deadline (Artist Facing Blank Canvas) painted in 1938. Here's the backstory: "“Meeting deadlines and thinking up ideas,” Rockwell remarked “are the scourges of an illustrator’s life. This is not a caricature of myself; I really look like that.” In addition to deadlines, taboos on subject matter were additional restrictions with which Rockwell had to contend. He wrote that for years the Post would not allow him to show a cigarette. Later they allowed him to show a man smoking, but not a woman. Also, he described how he once painted a man holding a glass of beer, and the Post changed it to a glass of milk." Read more here

Thanks for reading! I'll post more artists as I get them! Who's your favorite artist? Post below and maybe your artist will be featured in a future post!