Having fun with paintingand drawing

This slideshow provides

some ways to know how to

be creative, how to find

ideas and how to make an

artwork.

Constellation,

L’art pour faire grandir et relier les enfants

Making an artwork

• How do I find ideas?

• How do I go about making my piece?

• How do I paint my piece?

This slideshow will explain how you can make a work with your own personal touch.

For that, we’ll need to answer three questions:

• I have a choice between multiple techniques:

format/materials

How do I find ideas?

There are two ways to find your inspiration :

I paint from what’s in my mind

or

I paint by observing what’s around me.

The following pages will show some examples and explanations.

I paint what’s in my mind

For example:

I can show my fear of

AIDS, a deadly disease.

I paint what’s around me

For

example, I

can paint

the

landscape

around my

village.

I can paint the animals from my region

I can paint the people from my village or my friends

Carefully observe the people you’re drawing and capture al l the details of their face and of their clothing as you really see them.

Don’t copy what you see on television, in comic books or in cartoons.

I can paint the festivals I go to or the festivals I’m told about

Remember to draw all the details of what happens at the festival (dances, song, food, the audience, the place where the festival is happening… ) that allows you to understand what’s really happening.

I can paint the traditions, rites, and dances of my country

I can paint the traditional characters of my country

I can paint tales from my country

Legend from Guatemala: The Quetzal

Legend from Nicaragua: la llorona or the crying woman

I can paint the objects and constructions of my country

I can paint objects like « still lifes »

I can paint by taking inspiration from photos or drawings

Choose a nice looking drawing (one made by an artist for example).Look closely at the original drawing in order to understand all there really is to draw. Observe the differences in shapes, proportions, and textures. Then put the picture away so you can’t see it anymore. Draw it from memory.(Especial ly don’t trace. )

I can paint by taking inspiration from what the great masters have doneUse drawings or photos of works the great masters have done; preferably choosing artists from your own country. Carefully look at the drawing or painting as long as necessary. Then put away the work so you can’t look at it anymore. Draw by taking inspiration from what you’ve seen and create YOUR OWN drawing, without trying to copy the master’s work.

Based on The Scream by Edvard Munch (Norwegian painter)

How do I go about making my piece?

Painting is CREATION

The following pages will show some examples and explanations.

Like painters, I paint or draw my ideas in MY way, and I create MY shapes and MY colors.

Painting is FREEDOM

I make my ideas a reality by inventing new things

You can invent new shapes ,like the great artists do.

Don’t hesitate to dedicate part of your workshops to looking at works from local artists.

Like painters do, I invent characters.

I make my ideas a reality by inventing new characters.

I make my ideas a reality by inventing new characters.

I make my ideas a reality by telling stories.

I make my ideas a reality without copying other drawings.

Painting is freedom!

When I copy, l ike in the drawing shown here, I don’t express anything about myself and the copy will be less beautiful than the original.

I make my ideas a reality without EVER tracing.

If I trace, I’m not observing.If I trace, I’m not thinking. If I trace, my drawing doesn’t express anything.

Here the child didn’t observe what makes up an arm, a leg, how the arm moves with the body…

How do I make my painting?

All

childre

n are

capable

of

paintin

gThe following pages will show you some steps to follow to make your painting

Group work al lows everyone to paint while being respectful

I make sketches before I paint

Making quick sketches, if possible full sized, before painting allows you to relax and gain confidence and skil l . A way to defeat your fears.

I start directly with paint without using pencil before.

" I first guide the children towards coloring, since it’s motivating and makes them lose their fear.

Then, when they have a handle on color, with acrylics, pastels, or crayons, I guide them towards form and the pencil.

This way they lost their fear of not being able to draw and going outside of the lines. This led to some good results and, most of all, liberated children!"

Sylvia, painter in Ecuador

I jump right in with a full page

With a few exceptions (in some techniques like watercolor) I paint the entire surface of the sheet. The white space of the paper must be colored.

I can create a nice white for the sky.

I paint the entire surface, without leaving any white space

The background isn’t an anonymous surface. It corresponds to different large surfaces called sections: the ground, the sky, a house

I first paint the background

Here, the background is one color The background stands out: the path is a different color

Here the background is made up of different large sections: the sky, the grass, the road,

the water

When I paint the background and the bigger sections f irst , I don’t ruin the details I painted before.

To avoid ruining things

I should have painted the cornfield then the corn on top, I should have painted the ground then the plants, the figure, and the animal on top.

The large sections of this painting are the orange of the sky, the green of the forest, the orange of the lake.The houses are drawn afterwards and are painted on top of the background.

Example of large sections

I draw a few strokes with a pencil as guidelines or I paint directly on the paper.

I paint from the biggest detail to the smallest, by putting the layers of paint on top of each other.

Then, I paint from the biggest details to the smallest.

After the background, I paint the details.

In this painting, the large sections

are the red hills, the blue sky and

the yellow ground.

The figures have been painted

directly with a brush on top of the

large sections, without using

pencil.

Example of painting with details

I paint the large surfaces: blue, pink, purple.Then, I paint all the details (figures, houses, birds…) with a finer brush.

I decorate the large surfaces

I paint the large surfaces.

Then, I paint all the details (flowers, fruits, leaves) in the trees and the bushes.

I draw shapes with the brush

«The leader teaches the children to fit everything into geometric shapes. It’s easier and more playful for them. Triangles and squares come from an urban landscape, circles and ovals from a countryside. The same goes for figures, and thus, they advance in their learning.» Sylvia, painter in Ecuador

If I want, I draw the details before painting them.

Once the large surfaces

have been placed, the

children can draw in the

details with a smaller brush,

or they can even draw in

their figures in pencil on the

background before painting

them.

I paint a figure

For a figure, the

background is

the head and the

body, and so you

paint them first.

Then, you put in

the face, the

clothes, and the

details (necklace,

flowers on the

dress…)

I create the figures’ movements

« I make the circle of the head and

then little strokes going in all directions

so that the people or animals walk,

run, jump, or sleep… » Sylvia

I paint the silhouettes then the details on top

I choose my techniques

There are a

number of

different

ways to

paint : different

formats, different

materials

The following pages will show some examples

Painting large-scale

Allows you to

get to the

basics

Gives freedom

Develops

brush skills

Different formats,

Painting large-scale, together

Painting together:

Gives confidence

Allows each person

to paint without

fear

Teaches everyone

to respect the work

of others.

Making a comic

One format, among others,

which allows you to create a

story and draw characters.

Allows you to understand

what’s a close-up, the

foreground, the background…

seen from above, from below,

from the side….

Learning to choose is what’s

important.

Using paint and many other materials

Paint, thick or diluted, gouache,

watercolor, oil, acrylic, inks, chalks….

Different materials

An example: pastels

With pastels, we find a very dynamic way to enter into the world of

composition, because they’re similar to crayons and allow children to learn

about the organisation of a painting.

Sylvia (Ecuador)

Different materials:

We’ll delve further

into the subject of

materials in a further

chapter.