Summer Zoom Painting- My Backpack

 Good last Summer Zoom afternoon!

Let’s get recapping, shall we?

Small skill start-

I didn’t have a small skill start today. You all know as much as I do, now. Today is a celebration of everything we’ve talked about over the last ummm…. Let me count… eighteen weeks! Go us! Just enjoy working together and making something fun  

Painting together-

Today we painted backpacks. This is mine. 

Our verse today is Second Timothy 2:15. Study to show thyself approved unto God. A workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 

As you go about your school year, make sure you are focusing not only on your work, but also on why you’re learning and how you present yourself. Not so people can see your works, but so you can glorify God. 

Continuing learning-

We have been using children’s tutorials by Let’s Make Art this summer. There are many free videos from them both for children and for adults. If you decide you don’t like any of the old videos from the hundreds they have to offer, there will still be weekly videos and occasional tutorials and paint alongs on the YouTube site. HOWEVER,

Sarah Cray is the owner of Let’s Make Art and is selling digital boxes of more advanced tutorials that will not be on YouTube. My sister purchases these and we occasionally do them together. This is an example-

Pretty, yah?

Nicole Miyuki is the artist we have been following mostly this year. Her children’s tutorials are amazing. She and Let’s Make Art parted ways a while ago, but she has since built her own business and also has a subscription family art monthly program. 

If you wish to support either of these ladies in their businesses and learn some things along the way, here are the websites-

Sarah- 

https://www.letsmakeart.com/

Nicole-

https://www.nicolemiyuki.com

https://theabunchcrew.com/

I hope you enjoyed and were blessed by painting together this summer, whether you came every chance you got or only visited once or read blogs, I appreciate the encouragement and so annoyed working through these projects together. 

God bless your school year!

Summer Zoom Painting- Lighthouse

 Good afternoon!

First day of community for our elder students, so there was a crowd of littles at one house. I hope they managed to get through ok. WiFi was spotty at best.

Small Skill Start-

Today we painted a lighthouse, but we started with a blank page. We had to draw the lighthouse. A lot of people are afraid of drawing. I’m not the biggest fan of drawing. So I encouraged them to remember that everything is simple shapes and to be confident and know they could draw. 

Painting together- or separate, as the case may have been…

Today, we painted lighthouses. Here is mine. 

Our verse for today is Matthew 5:14-16

You are the light of the world. A town build on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on a stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. 

At home practice-

I didn’t take a picture of them,  but I want your students to practice shading. You can see a little in my lighthouse. It’s not great, but a meager attempt was made to make the sunshine on one side of the house and it to be darker on the other. Have your students draw a flat shape, decide where the light is coming from, and try to “round it out”. I should be able to update with my attempts at such this afternoon. 

Summer Zoom Painting- Space Aliens

 Good afternoon!

Busy day for our community. School is coming up *fast*. Hope everyone is keeping calm as possible through it. 

Small skill start-

Today, we talked about composition. In essence, it’s just how the sum of the parts makes the whole, but that’s really broad. I showed how you can use two shapes and manipulate they are arranged to tell different stories or intimate movement. Just two shapes. No color, no facial expressions. 

I suggested that we keep the idea of what we want to say with our painting even before we put color on the page. Making sure our drawing offers a whole story or at least implying movement. Starfox 64 vs Space Invaders. 

Painting together- 

Today, we painted space aliens. These are ours. 

Our verse for today is Psalm 108:8 Be exalted, Oh God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth. 

At home practice-

A really easy way to practice composition is to take three objects, either on paper or in person, and try to find how many different ways you can arrange them or what you can do to draw the eye from one section to another of your space. Try it with circles, blocks, books, cans… whatever you want. Three objects, many compositions. 

Summer Zoom Painting- Sloth Family

 Good afternoon!

I know we desperately need the rain. Our yard has only needed mowed once since June, so I hope everyone is enjoying it, or at least finding ways to enjoy yourselves with it. 

Small skill start-

Today we used toothbrushes to create a fur texture. I gave the students some other ideas about how you could use a toothbrush in painting. If time permits, I’d suggest having your kids look around the house for other things they could use to make different textures or patterns. 

Painting together-

Today we painted a sloth family. Well, I did. Jeremiah deleted his baby. 

Our verse for the day is Deuteronomy 6:6-7 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

There are so many verses about families that really impress the greatness of Gos and how we should desire to pass His goodness on to our children  I’m sure we could all find at least a few that speak to our own hearts as well as to the young people we have been entrusted to raise.

At home practice-

Jeremiah and I used a brown from a tube, but brown is basically a dark orange. Spend some time and practice mixing browns so you can see the ways different colors play with each other. Remember, no color is bad, but some colors are better for the particular painting you’re working on than others. Don’t forget to label your colors for later reference!

What’s that last one? I’ll never know, now. 

Summer Zoom Painting- Tie Dye

 Good still Friday, everyone!

It’s been a day, but we made it and we painted and none of us are home yet despite being in different places most of the day, but that’s ok. 

Small skill start-

The idea of today’s project was to make something to give away. So I wanted to talk about the value of small gifts and that even if you don’t think you’re good, someone you give time, energy, or effort to will appreciate it. 

I read a good portion of 1 Corinthians 12 that talks about gifts and the body and said even if none of us are ever Michelangelo or we never paint a Mona Lisa, what we make still has value.

Painting together-

Today, we painted tie dye cards. Here are ours. 

Those neons, tho.

I forgot to pick a verse because I had a few in mind. So I quickly looked up one of them and Jeremiah read it. 

Galatians 6:10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially those who belong to the family of believers. 

Another option was James 1:7 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like the shifting shadows. 

So choose your favorite. Or your own. 

At home practice-

As stated before, none of us are home, so I can’t show you my attempts, but I will try to update with a photo on Monday sometime. 

This week, I want you to try mixing orange. Make sure you label your base colors! Have fun!

Summer Zoom painting- Brontosaurus

 Good afternoon!

I hope you’re enjoying the beautiful weather. It’s been a spectacular day to be outside. 

Small skill start-

Today’s video was by a different artist on the same website. I chose it because we’re rapidly approaching the new school year and I wanted the kids to understand that even though she’s different and it could be scary or uncertain, you can learn great things from someone new. And maybe you like one teacher better than the other and that’s ok, but there is value in learning even if you don’t know what to expect from the new situation. 

Painting together-

Today we painted a brontosaurus, which was a real name of a dinosaur, then it wasn’t (umm, actually, that’s an apatosaurus), and now I’m pretty sure there is a sauropod known as a brontosaurus again. Love paleontology. Anyway, here are ours. 

Our verse is Job 40:15-18, since some scholars believe it may possibly be based on a sauropodian creature. (There is debate on the two creatures in Job and their actual existence vs mythology, don’t theology at me, bro. I just like the passage. The entirety of the “Who are you anyway?” speech by God is magnificent and humbling, as I guess it’s supposed to be.)

Look at the behemoth
Which I made along with you
And which feeds on grass like an ox
What strength it has in its loins,
What power in the muscles of its belly. 
Its tail sways like cedar;
The sinews of its thighs are close-knit
Its bones are tubes of bronze,

Its limbs like rods of iron

At home practice-

This week, I want you to try to make purple. Grab all your reds and blues and go to town. Make sure you label each color so you know the perfect combination for the purple project you have planned!

Shoot. Its sideways. Oh well….

Summer Zoom Painting- Rainbow parrot

 Good afternoon!

I hope you are all enjoying this lovely weather. It has been so hot!

Small skill start-

This project can be painted using two different techniques. One is mix all the rainbow colors before applying to the paper (like the video shows), but the other involves picking up more and more of the next color, essentially blending on the page. I encourage more advanced students (maybe ten and up) to try doing it that way.

Painting Together-

Today we painted a rainbow parrot. Here are ours. 

Our verse today is Isaiah 40:31 But those who put their hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will run and not grow weary, walk and not be faint.

At home practice-

Last week I suggested you practice washes. This week, I am going to suggest a gradient. Gradients and washes are very similar, expect you are going from one color to another or going from a lighter shade to a darker. To achieve the first, start with one color and with every swipe of your brush, dip just the end of your brush into the color you are changing to before continuing. The latter, start with a brush loaded with paint and dip just the tip into water with every stroke. Alternatively, you can start with water and slowly add color. But going from dark to light is usually easier. 

Enjoy your week and hope to see you next!

Summer Zoom Painting- Swimming sea turtle

Hello everyone!

hello everyone!

I hope you all are enjoying your travels or are safely home!

Small skill start-

Today I talked about wet on wet shading. We’ve been doing a lot of work with wet on wet, but it’s mostly for effects. This project involves working with wet paint and adding extra color to the wet paint to create smooth-ish shading effects. 

Painting together-

Today’s project was a swimming sea turtle. Here are ours. Jeremiah’s is a kappa with his water in his shell instead of on his head. 

Our verse for this project is Psalm 104:25 There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number- living things both large and small. 

At home practice-

This week if you practice at home, I want you to try making smooth washes. As you can tell by my examples, this is actually much more difficult than first glance. Try more water, less water, larger brushes, smaller brushes. Just do your best to get a full space of a solid color. Good luck!

Honestly embarrassing. Maybe don’t look this far down. 

That’s it for this week! If you were there, I was glad to see you. If you missed, I hope to see you again. Eventually. 

Summer Zoom Painting- Fireworks

 Good afternoon!

I am unavailable this week for zoom painting, this is my current view.

Hot out there!

So this is what I would teach if I was teaching this week. 

Small skill start-

I suggest using plain black to paint today, but a lot of real artists don’t use plain black. They use a mix of the colors in their painting to create their black. That makes more depth and the black’s undertone will always fit in with the painting you are making. Keenan makes black paint if you want to try. Or you can add other colors into your night sky to give it depth.

Painting alone-

I didn’t even have Jeremiah to help paint fireworks today, but here are mine. You can use crayons, oil pastels, oil paints, sealing wax, crisco… anything waxy or fatty will create a resist. They use white. I used several colors.

Boom! There’s gonna be fireworks!

Our verse today is 2 Chronicles 7:14. If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

At home practice-

So, I didn’t have anything listed this week. It’s Independence Day, I’m on vacation, we aren’t painting together anyway. 

I would suggest trying to mix to black at home if you used a black to paint. I don’t have any way to attempt this as I traveled light and only brought a black paint, but it really is mixing all the colors until you get a black you like. 

I hope you have a fantastic week! Hope to see you next!

Summer Zoom painting- Green Rolling Hills

Good afternoon!

It has been a whirlwind week here at the Johnson house. I hope everyone is hanging in there out there. 

Small skill start-

I had no presentation. I just told the kids we were used to doing a lot of wet on wet and today we were going to focus on wet on dry. Have some paper towels handy because we were going to make our paintings dry with them. 

Painting together-

Today we painted Green Rolling Hills. With people coming in and out, late arrivals, brand new painters, I’m not entirely certain who finished and who didn’t, but it was exciting! Here are ours. 

Our application verse is Isaiah 52:7 How lovely on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who announces peace and brings good news of happiness, who announces salvation, and says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”

At home practice-

Today I’m going to suggest practicing wet on dry techniques. One simple way to do this is choose a shape. Paint several of them in one color. Let it dry (or make it dry). Paint the same shape in a different color over it. Continue until you’re satisfied. You’re looking for patience and no blooms or bleeds. I sometimes managed that with this practice…. and sometimes did not. 

Summer Zoom painting- My Galaxy

Hello again!

I really like today’s project. It always turns out so differently and unique to the individual. While tutorials that highlight skills are important and edifying, projects where personality shines through are my favorites. 

Small skill start- 

I had two things I wanted to talk about today. First, Nicole uses the terms ‘galaxy, universe, solar system’ all kind of interchangeably. I know your kids are very intelligent and would point out they’re not really the same thing, so we talked about how she was making a star system, because it was not the solar system (there is only only one solar system. It is this one. And it is named such because our sun’s name is Sol). This was to hedge off any ‘um, actually’ that might come up. We all know the scientific terms and let’s just focus on painting. 

The second point I wanted to make was about white watercolor. White watercolor is tricky because watercolor is supposed to be translucent for layering. You can’t make white and translucent paint. Most often, artists use the paper itself for white instead of resorting to paint, but one way it would be useful in our project today would be using it instead of plain water in the background for more bright, impactful ‘explosions”. 

After we finished painting, I mentioned that letting the paper dry thoroughly and using very concentrated white to draw lines and stars would work instead of using a gel pen. 

Painting together-

Today, we painted My Galaxy. Here are ours. 

The final step in this project is to use a gel pen to add small/fine details. You can use metallic paint, acrylic paint, very thick white watercolor, or a white colored pencil to achieve the result. Make sure your painting is very dry before attempting any of them, though. 

Our verse this week is Psalm 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. 

Just like our paintings all reflected the uniqueness of ourselves, the universe shows the majesty and creativity of our creator. 

At home practice-

This week’s at home is very simple. You’re going to make water explosions. 

Paint a wash. 

Add water to the top. 

Watch. 

This is more an experiment in observing how water moves and dries, how it reacts when it’s wetter or you add more water or they blend together. It’s just a really good practice in understanding you can’t control everything about watercolor. I need a lot of practice to remember I can’t control everything. 

I hope you have a blessed week. Maybe take some time to go observe the actual skies. See you next time!

Summer Zoom painting- Dinosaur family

 Good afternoon!

If you weren’t able to attend today, one of our regular attendees is in Texas and she told us all about it. Including showing off her new pet- a juvenile tarantula. Aren’t you sad you missed?

Small skill start-

I picked today’s project with intention. Sunday is Father’s Day. This project is very easily adjusted to fit your particular family and would make a great gift for your dad. Use the drawing as a jumping off point and make it how you want it to be. More babies, fewer babies, all green, favorite colors, two adults, five adults, however you want to represent your family is how you can draw it. I also mentioned that we didn’t do anything for Mother’s Day because, usually, it’s your mom who is sitting right next to you during painting and so it wouldn’t be much of a surprise. I still love you, moms!

Painting together- 

Today we painted a Dinosaur Family. It was fantastic to see everyone’s interpretations of it. Here are ours. 

Listen y’all. My son is a dragon. He just is.  

Our verse for today was Psalm 103:13 As a Father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear Him.

At home practice-

For this week’s at home skill, I want your child to practice mixing their own green. We have talked a bit about color theory, but this will help start cementing how different shades and tones in the same ‘color’ will give very different results. (I will also suggest purple, orange, brown, and I think black later in the summer, so just focus on green this week). It would be best to have at least two yellows and two blues for them to see the way they all react. Make sure they label them all so they know what makes the color they’re looking to achieve later! And, while starting with a pre mixed secondary color is absolutely acceptable, this will still give knowledge in how to achieve desired values and hues from them. 

Summer Zoom painting- doughnuts

 Good afternoon!

With so many parents at practicum, we did expect a small group. And it was quite intimate. I think most of us enjoyed ourselves, though. 

Small skill start-

Today I just talked about mistakes. That they’ll happen and when they do, it’s ok. If you can, blot it with a paper towel and leave it to dry for a bit. But even if it’s unfixable, that’s ok. It’s just paper. It’s just appear and you can always try again. 

Painting together-

Today, we painted doughnuts. Here are ours. 

Jeremiah’s caption reads ‘doughnut monster screaming in pain at transformation’. For the record, he cannot handle watching (age appropriate) horror. Only making it. My son, the contradiction. 

Something I want to note about today’s painting. In order to make my glazes look glossy, I let the solid paint dry, and then ran my brush in circles to pull up some of the paint. I think the result is better than trying to drop in darker colors along the edges.

Our verse today- WHICH I FORGOT AGAIN- because we had some confusion at the end- is John 6:35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

At home practice-

This week, I suggest your child tries color lifting. Paint a wash however you’d like. Try dabbing up color while it’s wet. Try making different shapes with water once it’s dry. Maybe wait ten minutes and then an hour and then a day to see how the water lifts the color after time. Knowing how color comes off will help you when mistakes do happen. 

I hope practicum, portfolios, playgrounds, pools, whatever you are doing today is enjoyable and uplifting. I really enjoy this particular project. If you have time and desire, I would suggest you try it at home. 

Summer zoom painting- frog shadow

Good afternoon again!

Today we went long because of dry time, but we got some fun conversation in while waiting. 

Small skill start-

Today’s beginning lesson was actually about the work we were doing together. The idea behind the original painting was you were looking up at a frog on a leaf so your perspective was the underside of the leaf and its shadow. If you want to make the painting your own, you can pick a frog, or make one up. Just know they are painting over the whole thing and if you want to make your red or purple pop, you’d need to paint around the frog. 

Painting together-

Today, we painted a frog shadow… or a frog depending on who you were…

While waiting for our leaves to dry, we talked about many things, including frog and toad differences. 

While I know of at least one very famous passage in the Bible that specifically mentions frogs, I decided to not go the plague route and instead chose Psalm 28:7 My heart leaps for joy, and with my song, I will praise Him.

This is an excellent project to practice lettering on if you want to, because there is a large section of green above your frog.

At home practice-

This week, I’m suggesting you try wet on dry negative painting. 

Start with a background. Draw some simple shapes. Paint everything around those shapes in a very diluted color. Dry. Repeat, adding more shapes and pigment each time. Here is a video in case this makes no sense (this lady has fantastic, easy, calming projects if you want to watch or follow more of her). I have two examples today, one of circles over rainbow, and one of darkening leaf-ish shapes. 

We will be doing at least one other project that involves dry time and wet on dry techniques, so keep those blow dryers handy and we’ll have to practice patience! 

Thank you for joining us. See you next week!

Summer Zoom Painting- Cats

Good afternoon!

I hope you had an opportunity to enjoy the week and spend time with your families. 

Small skill start-

Today, I talked about bleeds and blooms. They were both likely to happen and there’s not always much you can do about either (there are fixes and workarounds, but that’s not the point of today’s lesson), so I just wanted your children to be aware of what they were and what they looked like and that it was ok if they happened. 

A bleed is when you put two colors next to each other and one of them spreads into the other. 

A bloom occurs when you put a very wet color on top of a color that is already drying. It will leave a line of pigment around the edge of whatever you painted. (This can be avoided by painting on wet paper, but that only works in certain situations)

Painting together-

Today, we painted Cats. Here are our projects. 

Jeremiah painted our three cats. I just painted cats. 

We did not finish during painting time. In order to do the faces, the cats needed to be very dry. Jeremiah used pen to finish his faces and I grabbed my acrylics to finish mine. 

If you missed or need a reference, click the link to watch the video or watch it again. Remember to let your paint dry thoroughly before trying to put faces over. If it is still wet, you will either ruin your painting or ruin your drawing instrument. Or both. 

Our verse for the day was Psalm 136: 25-26 He gives food to all creatures, for His gracious love is everlasting. Give thanks to the God of heaven, for his gracious love is everlasting. 

We had some really good discussion about cats and not being in the Bible, despite evidence that they were domesticated in that timeframe. And talked about lions being used as multiple different examples in the Bible, just not any tiny house lion references. Lots of very thoughtful biblical and extra biblical conversation about our feline friends. 

At home practice-

This week, I want your kids to work with paint to see how bleeds and blooms can affect their painting. Reverse coloring books seem to have become pretty popular, so they’re going to make their own. 

Start with wetting the entire page. Then, as it dries, add colors to it in various amounts and wetnesses and strokes. Just have fun watching it move and swirl. When it is completely dry, they can outline any blooms or bleeds they find (optional). It’s really a fun activity and can teach a lot about how watercolor moves against each other. 

Hope that if you wanted to attend today and couldn’t, you get to come next week. And if you just like doing the work alone, that you can find time to do that this week!

Summer Zoom Painting- Ocean Wave

Good afternoon!

I hope we are all enjoying- well… it was beautiful yesterday… 

Small skill start-

We had two short lessons this morning. 

The first was on using resists. Resists are anything that keeps the paint from touching the paper. We used crayons, the video used a latex paint maker, but there are a lot of things that can be used as resists. Oil pastels, wax based colored pencils (most of them are wax based), even modeling clay or hot glue could be put on your paper pre painting to get a resist result. To use a crayon, press hard and make very firm marks on your page. 

No Resist

Heart in crayon

The second was that this is the first time we are painting the whole page and if you do not have your paper taped down, you will experience curling. While there are ways to avoid this, the goal for today was just to not worry if this happened. 

Painting together-

Our project today was Ocean Waves. These were our results. I’ve heard varying responses about how they turned out in your house. Click the link if you want to try or try again. 

Our connecting verse- well, the one I chose and did not tell the group because I forgot, is Psalm 89:9 You rule over the surging sea; when its waves mount up, you still them.

There’s a joke in contemporary Christian music writing that if your song is bad, just add more water references. And it is very funny (to me, anyway), but there are hundreds of Bible verses about water. It’s so vital to life everywhere and so important in both literal and figurative speech. Feel free to look and choose whichever speaks to you strongest in your time. 

The reason I picked this one is because it reminded me of Jesus telling the storm “Peace, be still” and his disciples wondering, “Who is this man that even the wind and sea obey him?” The parallel between the Psalm, Christ’s words, and the disciples’ reaction really spoke to me this week. 

At home practice-

I actually also have two options for at home work this week. 

The first was my planned project- neurographic art. Draw squiggles, then take the time to round off any corners. Paint as desired after. It’s very good for anxiety, so I have several examples if you need to see them. 

I call this one, “I hate flying”

The second is to work on understanding how to make your crayon resists work better for you. I heard a lot of people had a hard time getting their crayon to pop up and I think it’s mostly because we didn’t have any practice to start and it takes a lot of pressure to achieve the look. Use a small piece of paper and make small shapes in crayon. Just a few at a time.you can draw over the same line several times if you want to. 

Load your brush with water and paint and paint over your drawn shapes. 

 

Once you are satisfied that you understand how hard you need to draw and how much paint vs water to have on your brush, try the project again! 

(Or you could be fancy and invest in a latex marker and avoid the problem altogether) 

I do know how discouraging it is to have a project not turn out as intended. Remember, it is just a piece of paper. You can do it again, or do something entirely different. And, even if it didn’t turn out like you wanted, you learned things along the way.