Saturday 20 April 2013

Yes, You Can Create That!

Too often the voice within us says, "No, I couldn't possibly do that."


 All of us are capable of creating wonderful magic in the arts, whether it be in painting, literature, music or dance.

And to prove the point.

I was asked to give a watercolor art lesson to twenty, eight-year-old children in one of our local schools. When I showed the students what our project would be about, creating Yupo art and then making a giant bouquet of flowers for a display, most of the children replied; "We can't do that."

Yupo art demo by Diane M. Robinson


I assured them they can do it, and with some                    practice and learning the techniques, we will achieve
this goal today. The first part of the project was to learn about mixing colors to make new colors, then to make twenty 8 x 10 Yupo pictures in bright colors like this. These will be cut out to resemble flowers.








Yupo art demo by Diane M. Robinson















The second part of the project was to create twenty Yupo picutres (8 x 10) in browns and greens like this. These will be cut out to resemble stems and leaves.







Art project with artist, Diane M. Robinson,
with lots of help from grade 2 teacher, Mrs Larochelle,
and student teacher, Dezi Warholik.
St. Paul Elementary School
April 19, 2013


I think the project turned out fantastic. I am so proud of these kids for their willingness to learn, following directions, and realizing that, "Yes, we can do that!"
I'm proud of you, children!

My mission in life, with teaching art and with my writing, is to inspire children so that they see their potential to create and do wonderful things. I hope I've convinced them with this project.


Visit my author's website at: http://www.dragonsbook.com

As we worked on the project, the children realized they could create this wonderful art. This is their final project for the Earth Day display.



















































3 comments:

  1. The project turned out to be AMAZING! Nice work kids!

    You called those first two 8x10's "YUPO." Why is it called that and not mixed-color art? What is this YUPO? Did you make this up to make the project seem unattainable? You are some trickster. EVen outting an art orioject on a writing blog is tricky.

    Well, I like the post. The tricks I haven't decided on. I woulde be happy to read another art post, mixed in with your writing and grammar posts, of course.

    Are you SURE you are not a teacher?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yupo is an actual art technique where you lay down lots of watercolor paint, letting the colors flow into each other, then covering the wet paint with plastic wrap.

      I teach this simple technique so that the kids will get used to how watercolor flow and create new colors. But first we learn about primary, secondary, and tertiary colors.

      Well, actually, I am an art teacher. I love teaching art!

      Delete
  2. Dang! No more Anonymous or website as ID. So I forgot.

    I am Sue @ Kid Lit Reviews. Some of the best book reviews of children's and middle grade books. (So I tell myself!) That is my goofy comment above. Find me at http://kid-lit-reviews.com

    Now GO! Go find me at Kid Lit Reviews!

    ReplyDelete

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