It's Never TOO Early or Late. . .

 It's Elementary!

That's who I painted with last week.

Elementary students.

I was asked to teach 3 classes of elementary students in one day in an enrichment program here in Carroll County, KY.

I had about 20 students in each class.

I had one class of younger students who I had never taught before and then in each of the other two classes I had a few students I had taught.  

The goal was to paint and 8" x 10 piece on a canvas panel,

teaching color and some techniques like blending paint.

In this simple painting students learned to make the heart shape by starting with 2 dots, how to select colors that work together, use light and dark colors for effect, how to make the lace edge, how to get the arrow to go through the heart, how to use both ends of the brush as they made the dots, and so much more.

Our class was held at Camp Kysoc in Carrollton, KY a former Easter Seals summer camp.

I used a Valentine subject as I taught why some colors work together and others don't.  We also talked about why you need to use light with dark colors in order to achieve contrast.

It's one of the things new artists struggle with, creating depth with color.

I've created 7 Tips for Mixing Color that you can download and print out and keep where you paint.
Click HERE to get the printable.  

Me and this great group of artists in the first class of the day.

These are all the paintings from the first group.

Not one like another one.  

I'm trying to teach a method and 

then let them run with their own creativity.

In the other two classes we really went abstract as we tried to make loose flowing hearts and shapes around the heart and then added curly-q's.  

My two demo paintings from the next two classes.

Showing shading, blending, use of color, and how to play in the paint.

In this painting we learned how to think outside the box in creating the shape of the heart.  We were also able to explore how light and dark colors affected the painting.  Painting the curly-q's helped loosen up the students as they learn to manipulate the paint and the brush.

Again I was just teaching a method, and then I hoped they would infuse their own personalities into their work.

I was not disappointed.

Look at all the variety in these paintings. 

This was the final class of the day.

One thing I learned again, is that there are always those students who are fearful of anything where they have to use their own creativity.  Others dive right in and go for it.

I always try to reassure all that there are rules and best practices, but once they understand them, they can successfully break them for some interesting results. 

This group was very brave and really pushed themselves.

It was also interesting to see how each group had their own personality as well as the individuals in the group.

I had a great time and I hope they did too.

We created a ton of colorful art 

and I think we all learned a lot.

Click HERE to visit my YouTube channel where I teach art concepts and classes for free.

Click HERE to visit my website.

If you are a homeschool family and would like to add art to your curriculum, click HERE and join my FREE Facebook group created especially for you.

Thanks for stopping by today and hopefully you've signed up to receive my blog in your inbox.

You Want to Interview ME?

Who Wants to Interview Me?

I had a fun experience today.  

Carrie, a young lady from our local high school, 

asked to interview me as part of a project she is doing in order to graduate early.

She wanted to know about being an artist.

We met at the library and for an hour she asked me questions and I tried to explain what I think you need to learn to be an artist.

Of course you need to hone your art skills,

learn your craft,

understand art concepts 

and all that sort of thing.

But I also told Carrie that 

she needs to understand business.

She needs to understand the internet.

She needs to be comfortable with who she is

and not be afraid to put herself out there.  

There's lots to being an artist in the internet age.

Not only do you have to have a handle on the type of art you like and how to make that art,

but you also need to know how to:

blog,

promote your work,

promote yourself,

understand and use social media,

be able to work alone,

trust your instincts,

work endless hours,

build a website,

take good photographs,

learn to write,

manage your time,

understand money,

take business courses,

and on,

and on,

and on.

The internet is a great tool that is available to artists,

but it can be 

the black hole for time management.

I've met so many great artists,

learned from great artists,

viewed so much beautiful art

because of the internet,

but if you're not careful 

it can suck every last minute of time away from

you and your art.

I wish Carrie the best,

regardless of what she pursues in her future.

But she and every other hopeful artist needs to understand,

you work alone,

you practice alone,

you promote alone.

So it's pretty important to like yourself

because you're going to be spending a lot of time

with that person in the mirror.

If you want to learn to paint,

please sign up to receive my blog in your inbox 

and check out all the great info I give away all the time.

Click HERE to visit my YouTube channel

where I teach a new class every single week.

More FREE "How To Paint" info.

If you're a home school family and you would like to add art to your curriculum, join my FREE Facebook group created just for you.  Click HERE.

Click HERE to visit my website with all my classes, courses and membership site that is available.  

Thanks for stopping by today and leave a comment or ask a question in the comments about becoming an artist.

How and Why to use a Color Wheel

Do you use a color wheel?

There's tons of info to be learned from a color wheel,

and it doesn't take that long to learn the basics. 

I created this short video on how and why 

to use a color wheel.

Click HERE to watch the video.  

If you like the video, please click the thumbs up button and subscribe to my channel and then click that little bell next to the subscribe button.  

That will notify you whenever I post a new video.

I've created a FREE printable, 7 Tips for Mixing Color, for you to keep handy where ever you paint.
Click HERE to get it.  

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by.

If you're interested in learning how to paint,

please check out my website at

www.paintingwithacrylics101.com

Happy New Year 2019

Peace and Health to you in 2019

I am where I usually am this time of year!

Looking over goals I either did or didn't achieve.

I did pretty good on some, and not so good on others.  

My Word for 2019

I have  had a word of the year for the last 5-6 years and I have been thinking over my choice of this years word of the year for about a week.

Here are some of the words I've considered:

Compassion

Order

Rebound

Punt

Breathe

Peace

Resilient

Vision

Serenity

I have mulled these words over and over and looked at how each of them would effect me or how if I concentrated on that one word how could I change my life.  

P E A C E

is the winner for 2019.

I almost chose Breathe, because anyone who knows me knows I have serious lung issues and breathing can be difficult sometimes.  I think about breathing all the time, so that's why I didn't choose that.

I need peace in my heart, in my life.

I am going to make those changes, mindsets, behaviors that brings peace to my heart and mind.  

Now I have to decide what those things are.

That will take a week or two to put some meat on those bones.  

Some things I'll need to look at are:

Limiting my social media time - except for you guys,

Reading more.

Eating better - healthier.

Sleeping better.

Walking more.

Create more art.

Study more.

There's a lot going on for me to achieve peace.

I wish there was an easy switch to pull to add peace in my life, but there isn't.  It will take improving in many smaller areas for peace to come into my life.  As I make those changes, I will be able to invite peace into my heart and life.

Leave me a comment about your word of the year or a goal you set for 2019.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by.

Since this is an art blog, I'm going to show you what I'm working on right now.  There will be more on this later, but here's a sneak peek.

Improving my drawing skills is important to me and I'm going to be working on this.  I show you this because one eye is closer to be completed and the other is far from completion.  The eye on the right doesn't look bad, in fact, it looks pretty good, but compared to the eye on the left it has a long way to go.  

We'll talk about this more in the near future. 

If you're a homeschool family and you would like to add art to your curriculum, join my FREE Homeschool Art Facebook Group.  Click HERE to visit that page. 

Click HERE to visit my website to check out classes and courses I offer.  

If it's on your bucket list to learn to paint,

stay tuned for a new FREE Facebook group coming soon created just for you.