Art takes time. A lot of time.

Hooray for us - we finally wrapped up an art project!!  Last year, when Jordan attended a one-day-a-week enrichment program, we took advantage of the ability to take home some curriculum for the school year and made Atelier Art one of our choices.  We had to give it back when we left the program in April - which I was pretty bummed about - because it is expensive.  I didn't really start using it until January, so we were just starting to get into it.  So forgive me, this post is so embarrassingly overdue and I have no idea what lesson this project is, or what level it is from.

There are 8 levels, 3 modules each, in Atelier Art.  I know this because I just looked it up.  :)  We belong to Homeschool Buyers Co-op, and they are running a 40% discount on it that ends August 22.  Each module normally retails for around $150, so it is a very good deal.  I can hardly speak with authority here, but the four lessons that we did do were pretty cool.  I *think* we were working within level 4, module A... We first did a lesson on the color wheel, and practiced mixing secondary and tertiary colors.  Then we painted a picture of a hot air balloon with all of the fabulous colors we made...

Then there was a lesson on washing the background with sweeping watercolors in a blue/purple hue, and then cutting out shapes of trees with bare branches, people with umbrellas and birds from black construction paper and arranging them on the background.  It was to depict a rainy day.  I didn't take any photos, unfortunately.  I'm lame like that. 

Then we sort of combined the third and fourth lesson.  I didn't like the finished product in lesson three, but I liked the idea...  Here is what we came up with.  We began in early February.  Yes, February.

Watercolor still life

We began by creating a still life for our inspiration.  We kept it simple but rich in texture: a vase with flowers, a bowl of apples, and a fish sculpture.  I am mostly pleased with this arrangement, but I am bothered by the two 'low' elements, and one 'high' element.  If I were to do this again, I would ditch the fish and go for another item that would be about medium height, in a blue or purple hue.  I think the artistic composition would be more balanced that way.



Hey look!  There is 'Rainy Day' above the flowers!  I'm not lame after all!!

 Then we used several sheets of white tagboard, and gave each one a colorwash using watercolor paints and lots of water, one sheet for each color represented in the still life: yellow, red, blue/green, brown and speckled brown.  We made the speckled brown by washing the paper with brown first, and then taking a brush with a darker shade of brown and flicking it at the paper.



We didn't need a lot of red or yellow, so we divided the sheet in half.

 

Close cat supervision is required at all times for a project of this magnitude.



Owen, of course, doing his own thing...

 Then when the paint is dry, approximately 77 days later (give or take a day), tear the watercolor papers into the shapes you need for each element of the still life.  Small bits for the little yellow flowers, a large red piece for the bowl, long, skinny strips for the branches... etc.  Then arrange them on the paper and glue them down.

You can see the speckled brown in Jordan's paper pile.  He did a great job with that technique.



This part of the project proved difficult for Rylan.  Not quite enough finger dexterity to be able to exert enough pressure to do semi-accurate tearing of the paper, so I helped her with that component.



This part of the project must be supervised by a toddler eating leftover Chinese.

 Then after waiting the required 96 days for the glue to dry, you can then begin the final phase of the project.  Outline the shapes using a pen or pencil (the video showed the instructor using a black felt tip pen, we used plain 'ole black colored pencil), to give further definition to the shapes.



Jordan's finished still life.



Rylan's finished still life


I am very pleased with how they turned out.  I love the rough edges of the torn shapes, and the way they give dimension to the finished piece.  I also love how the color wash gives lots of different color values across the painting, giving a soft, yet cohesive effect - and it lends an element of realism.

So in our household, it takes approximately six months to produce a piece of artwork.  We painted one day, glued the next, and finished by outlining in pencil.  This last push took all of 12 minutes to complete.  I am so tired I think I need to recharge with a cup of coffee and a nap.

What is really silly about this whole thing??  This is the best part about homeschooling!  It's fun!  It is so relaxing to pull out the materials, put on some good music (We listen to Nora Jones on Pandora) and just create.  And I can only seem to manage to do it once every couple of months.  Shame on me.  Shame. shame. shame.  I love doing art.  I don't even mind the mess - unless it involves a small child running through the house with a loaded paintbrush.  It's been known to happen.