Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!















                                                                                                                                                  Heart, hearts ... What else can you come up with new?It turns out that even  such unpretentious character you can play with. So, draw a heart with a pencil and  ...














Watercolor on wet paper, on dry paper, play with shape, color, blow drops of paint with straw, do not forget about the background, pour salt and  etc. 



Just show how does  it works  to children and  then they will create their masterpieces. They will be able not only enjoy the process but also be proud of result.

January 2013

Time goes so quickly.
January 2013 coming to an end.
My students continue to work in watercolor technique. Someone  have just started to develop their skills to use a brush, mix colors  and some are conquering new peaks for themselves - composition and colors for the  still life.


Nice scenery, colorful clowns - this is what we could see.
In fact, these pictures are full of  hard work of understanding the world around and the material that was used by the child.











Special exercises help children learn  how to use the brush and watercolor paint different way, visual material helps set a creative  atmosphere, and then the magic begins...



 We can see the development of the the link between  that the child saw and wanted to draw with the skills he received. Spots on the wet paper turn into a fluffy kitten or funny puppy, white strips of paper turn into the white trunks of birch trees, brush prints in many ways become a silhouette of a tree or a sunset in the Down-Town.

 My students always inspire me, encounter ideas,give me different solutions to solve the problem. They open something new not only for themselves but also for me. Learn from  your  children to look for new around you  and  be surprising!

Yours,
Alla







P.S. January has been the memorial month for me.

Alena Martynova was my teacher and great artist. She created pictures, icons and "Dream World" for people. She felt really happy when people enjoyed her work and got inspired by the energy of her paintings. Let's make her happy again looking at her works now when she is in Heaven. Here you will find just a small part of her paintings, as many as we managed to collect.

http://alenamartynova.blogspot.ca

Death is only a part of our life. Oblivion is worse than death especially for artists.

Merry Christmas and Happy 2013 New Year!

I wish to all my current and potential students strong health, lots of happiness and success. Always live with a sense of wonder and remain open to all of beauty and goodness around you !
Have a wonderful holiday!
Your Alla

P.S. Small reminder: 8th of January 2013 is the first day, when I am going to start art lessons  after winter break.

Hi, everyone! Look outside. It is cold and snowy ... let's color your world!

My blog has some changes (thank you to my friend Marina - ERM Tech Lab). Now it is organized well.

Go to my gallery. I have just added a lot of pictures that have been made by my students during the dry media session.

Thank you,
your Alla.

August

Summer passes ... We still do not want to let it go. Everything takes longer to absorb. Absorb heat, bright colors and the feeling of summer ...

But already there were billboards and ads that reminded us that the school season is coming. We are thinking about how to prepare our children.

It is important not only to buy everything you need but also to tell and show all we have seen and experienced over the summer! The course is not only about stories and photos,  pebbles and shells, dried leaves and flowers, candy wrappers and etc.

Impressions overwhelm children, and they are willing to paint, sculpt, make applications, mosaic and etc. This is the best way to extend the summer and enjoy the pleasant moments again and also to learn different ways of expression.

This year, I visited my town Grodno in Belarus. This is an old European town with a very unique history. I think that my experience will inspire not only me, but my students as well.

Share your experiences.

Your Alla

The exhibition

An exhibition of children's work ... This is the result of the work my students and I have done throughout this year. Even then, when I prepared a slide show of children's paintings, it became clear how much work has been done. Some things worked out, some did not, but I surely hope that none of my students will remain indifferent to art in their future lives.

I am writing an article and I feel almost like at the Oscar Academy Award. I want to say thank you to all who are supporting me this time: my family, my friends, my colleagues, the parents of my students.








And most importantly thanks to my students! Their enthusiasm and impatience, for the spark in their eyes and for their "I'm bored... Let's think up something." All of this makes us move on, to always be in search for something that will interest and surprise them while creating art.

Thanks to my family. My husband, son and daughter shared all my ups and downs with me throughout this year.






 All this time my friends and colleagues supported me. Some tips, some ideas, some shared their experiences. And someone asked me to share their experiences and come up with something for them.



All this inspires and gives strength.
It is said that the most difficult times are -  the first day, first month and first year. We did it!








                             Your Alla

Watercolor lesson "Peacock"

Peacock.

Elements of drawing:

A straight line, curved line

 Forms:  a circle, an oval

Materials:

A large flat brush to paint the large areas of the picture,

a small round brush for details.

Paint: Watercolor

The knowledge that were obtained earlier:

Primary colors - red, blue, yellow.

Secondary colors: orange, green, purple.

Transparent layer - adding a lot of water, a little paint.

An opaque layer – less water, more paint.

The lesson:

A. Make a sketch of a peacock. We divide the image into basic shapes. The body is bigger oval,  head - smaller, the beak - a triangle. Draw the neck slightly curved lines. The tail is formed by outline the lines radiating like a fan behind the body,  the "eyes" on the tail of a peacock  look  like ovals. Make sure that lines of sketch are light. 

B. Body, head and neck peacock paint over the dark blue paint (more paint, less water), all the space around should be transparent blue. Leave the ovals on tail none painted. Leave to dry.

C. While the first layer of paint dries. Refresh the knowledge of the basic and derived colors. We recall the properties of transparency (demonstration of transparent plastic circles in primary colors. Superimpose on each other and look through them - what color turned out).

D. Go back to the drawing - the entire space around the body of a peacock, including ovals, causes yellow (a lot of water, a little paint). Ovals have to be yellow, and the tail - green. Dried.

E. Red (a lot of water, a little paint)  circles were added to “eyes” on the tail. The color should change to orange. Leave the picture to dry. 

 F. Add details with round brush.

                                           The picture from Calgary Zoo is our inspiration.