Let's Draw Easter Rabbits and Eggs and Make an Easter Peephole Egg!
Topic: Kids Art Class

Remember those peephole easter eggs made of sugar with the lovely scene inside? This is a paper peephole 'egg' and still in experimental form. It is fastened together with a paperclip at each end. Illustrate one or both sides before closing it up and fastening it. You can probably use tape or glue instead. Below are my demonstration drawings for the kids' class and kids' art. You will find coloring pages of the demo drawings by clicking the titles. You may have to use "fit to size" in your print settings.
Easter Rabbit with Two Easter Eggs Coloring Page	Two Bunnies and Eggs Coloring Page
Easter Drawings by B.P.	Easter Drawings by B.P.
Easter Drawings by B.P.	Paper Easter Peephole Egg by B.P.
Paper Easter Peephole Egg by B.P.	Paper Easter Peephole Egg by B.P.
Easter Card by Declan Carlson	Easter Card by C.M.

St. Patrick and the Serpent - Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Topic: Seasonal/Holiday
Saint Patrick & the Serpent - The Long Monday

In the Land of Eire,
When St. Patrick rid it of reptiles,
one serpent seemed insurmountable.
But, St. Patrick chained him
under the Lake, Lough Dilveen.
"How long must I stay here Pathrick?",
said the serpent.
"Till Monday," said the Saint.
Every Monday the serpent calls out..
"It's a long, Monday, Pathrick."
The serpent, getting no answer goes below again.

If you don't believe it, see for yourself..
any sunrise after Sunday, at Lough Dilveen.

from: The New Book of Days, by Eleanor Farjeon, 1941

We made shadowbox illustrations of this story. The shadowbox is 8.5" x11" card stock cut out from a template. Make a template with equal sized squares in each corner as fold over tabs. It is best to score the fold lines so the box will fold up easily. After drawing, painting, coloring the scene, fold up the sides and tape or glue. Make figures and scenery as moveable or stand up elements. Go wild. It's a lot of fun. Our group of five made these shadow boxes during the one and a half hour class - two kids and three adults. I made a little movie/slideshow of it, but I have no way to compress it to a reasonable size file to show here. These are 'stills' from the movie.

Saint Patrick & the Serpent
The Long Monday

  In the Land of Eire,

(shadow box by catinka knoth)

When St. Patrick rid it of reptiles,
one serpent seemed insurmountable.

(shadowbox by C.M.)

But, St. Patrick chained him under the Lake,
Lough Dilveen, 

(shadowbox by B.D.)

"How long must I stay here Pathrick?",
said the serpent.
"Till Monday," said the Saint.

(shadowbox by C.M.)

Every Monday the serpent calls out..
"It's a long, Monday, Pathrick."
The serpent, getting no answer goes below again.

(shadowbox by J.C.)

If you don't believe it, see for yourself..
any sunrise after Sunday, at Lough Dilveen.

(shadowbox by D.C.)

 

Let's Make Pop-Up Cards with Triangle People!
Topic: Kids Art Class
You can make up triangle figures to draw basketball players and other winter sports. This is an easy fun way to make figures. If you draw them on card stock they will be heavy enough to cut out. Cut a piece of 8.5" x 11" cardstock into  4 quarters (like postcards). Make up a figure on each quarter sheet. Color the people before cutting them out. Arrange them into different groupings to make pictures or collages. Use them as puppets by gluing or taping to a stick or straw. Play with them as paperdolls. Use them in a pop-up card! See  cards made by the kids.




Kids' Pop-Up Cards

Happy Valentine's Day! - Make a Swan Papercut and Draw Valentine Motifs
Topic: Seasonal/Holiday

 Happy Valentine's Day!

To make something like the above, fold a piece of paper in half and draw as in the diagram below. Then cut. I cut the above papercut freehand without drawing. The swan did not get cut across the bottom so that it could stay connected to its background paper. It has red paper inserted behind the swans. The swans can be cut out as a whole unit and glued to a red paper.


Below is my demonstration drawing for the kids' library drawing class this week. We had brainstormed a list of Valentine motifs from which we would choose what to draw. We decided we'd do a heart first. "How many of you know how to make a heart?" Apparently everyone did. "OK, we will raise the bar a bit. We'll start with a heart and I bet you don't know what this will turn into!", I said as we started to draw what I knew would become the kissing swans (above). After the heart shape came the neck (still trying to keep them guessing). Then  the back, the wing and the tail. At this point an adult let out, "Oohh! A swan!" "You gave it away!" I love how sometimes the kids and adults become almost equals in these classes.  Everyone loves to cut things out  and see the magic unfold. "Can we color now?" "Yes." After a long time of contented and concentrated decorating with crayons, they were somewhat ready to try some of the other motifs. We did a stencil style rose, a bow, some lace, and birds made of hearts. The kids don't know what lace is. To them lace is what you tie your shoes with. Hopefully they'll have gotten a chance by now to see a better example than my demo drawing.

Valentine Birds Coloring Page

Vermont Winter Barn Scene - Watercolor Class and Coloring Page
Topic: Watercolor Class

One of the students brought in this photo of a Winter Barn Scene in Williston, Vermont. We started by painting directly in two colors without drawing. The object is to mass or coalesce the shapes  - as if you were trying to capture the shapes as a kids' jigsaw puzzle in as few pieces as possible.
Wash sketch of winter barn scene.


Try a line painting of the scene or have fun with my Vermont Winter Barn Coloring Page

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