Los Altos Atelier

02/03/2021

Valentine’s Day

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02/03/2021

Valentine's Day is coming up, here is an idea for kids art!

Stained Glass Heart Our hearts let light and love color us all

10/24/2020

http://losaltosatelier.com/2020/10/24/164/

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09/08/2020

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1RTi6aegh2q_rN9wJ4OQ15Ug5LCLcelyJf4VK6JdDQ6w/edit?usp=sharing

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09/07/2020

Branching Forms, a tree inspired by the art of Ruth Asawa

Dear Artists,

One of the many reasons I love my job is that I have The Best coworkers! My students inspire me and I love watching how I can give the same instructions to a class and get a totally unique artwork from each of you! This week I was inspired by a student in my class who was listening to the book A Life Made by Hand. [ 442 more words ]

Branching Forms, a tree inspired by the art of Ruth Asawa Dear Artists, One of the many reasons I love my job is that I have The Best coworkers! My students inspire me and I love watching how I can…

05/14/2020

Dear Artists,

For today's art lesson I would like for you to find a flower. Some of you may find one in your yard or on a walk. If you need to find a picture of a flower in a magazine or a book that is ok too. I was inspired by these neat spiky flowers that came in a bouquet I received for Mother’s Day. Once you have a flower, grab a pencil and some of the watercolor paper from your take home bag. The watercolor paper is the heaviest of the papers and a little more cream colored.

Really take some time to observe your flower carefully. Notice where the petals join into the stem and then bend outwards. Notice the colors on the petals. Oftentimes we look at a flower and assign only one color to it, like a red rose. When we slow down and observe a red rose in real life we begin to see so much more color than plain red. On most flower petals there are areas that are lighter, other areas that are darker. I am also usually surprised by how much green can be in flower petals. Notice all of the colors and see how your perception has changed once you begin observing the flower up close.

Once I am done observing the flower then I like to lightly sketch my flower out. I begin by following the outline of the shape that I see. Sometimes I get frustrated when I’m drawing because it can be hard to make it look like real life. When this happens I remember to step back and take a deep breath. I will refocus on the flower instead of my paper and study where the lines go and how they connect. The more you can keep coming back to drawing what it is that you see the better your drawings will get with practice, I promise!

After I sketched out my flower I used watercolor pencils to begin coloring in the petals. You can use more or less water to change the intensity of the watercolor pencils. I also like to add some of the other colors I see to the painting. If you have different kinds of watercolors you can experiment. Sometimes I use only pencil but I also like to use a palette of watercolors and change it up. You can mix watercolor and blend to get all kinds of different colors and experiment with the amount of water you use in order to add shading or highlights to your flower. Have fun experimenting and if it begins to get too wet to work with let it dry and come back to it in a couple of minutes.

Have a great time and remember that learning how to draw is really learning how to see.

Miss you all!
Sincerely,
Teacher Jenny

05/13/2020

Heroes Among Us
Part #2
Dear Artists,

I hope you are enjoying your time and wondering who might be a secret superhero in your life? Once I asked Sophie to begin writing her superhero story she knew right away who she wanted as her main character. Sophie began her story by using our dog Millie as inspiration and giving her a top secret identity. Millie has two friends Stella and Juno who became the other members of Millie’s team of magical unicorn puppies. They are known as the Puppicorns. Sophie realized that the story needed a villain and created the character of Miss Flufferpants.

After Sophie came up with the characters for her story we thought about how we could describe them. We came up with ideas about their appearance. We chose three personality traits for each character from the list below. Then we discussed how those characteristics might show up in the story as we create it. Sophie already had the setting for her story and she drew exactly what she had pictured in her head. It was the Puppicorn Castle and Miss. Flufferpants Evil Lair. Our story begins when the setting has a sudden shift and goes from good weather to bad very quickly.

Problem
To create the story we played a game called Fortunately/Unfortunately. We began with the problem of the sudden weather change. See below for a video of Sophie and I playing Fortunately/Unfortunately to construct a dynamic story for our graphic novel. Structuring the panels in this way makes a dynamic story full of twists and turns. When we have ten or so sentences to work with Sophie came up with a solution to the predicament the Puppicorns had gotten into.
You can watch Sophie and I playing the writing game in this video.
https://vimeo.com/user79739027/review/417776836/da2b6c7748

The basics of creating a comic/graphic novel involve understanding how the page is laid out. The most basic element is that the page is divided up into panels. The text is placed in either a text box or, if a character is talking, a caption. Some authors also use thought bubbles to show that a character is thinking rather than saying something out loud.

The interplay of text and image is what is most important for the next step. You can see in the example below that the images alone tell the story as do the text boxes. With just one element you can understand the basic story. However, when they are combined it makes for a cohesive story that flows together to express thoughts, dialogue, as well as give us more information about what is happening in the narrative.

Sophie was worried about her handwriting being small enough to fit in the text boxes so I wrote it out for her. She made sure to have lots of practice writing out the sentences as well but if you wanted you could also type the story and cut it out and paste the text where you need it in the image. This is how you can fit this project to meet your needs. Some of you will want more words and need help from someone older with writing out the words. Many of you can do this part on your own and don’t need the help. You do what works for you in order to be creative and tell your superhero story!

Last steps are to use a fine tipped pen (We used an extra fine tipped sharpie) and outline the text and image. You can use whatever medium works best for you to color it in. I would caution against using too much scribbled pen. If you want to color your comic in using markers, please do your best work and don’t leave empty spaces without a pen. It also helps if you leave the background blank rather than spending a lot of time coloring in the whole panel. Sophie chose to color her comic with colored pencils which works great too. Use the materials you have at your house and enjoy expressing your story ideas in a new way!

Have fun with your story!
Sincerely,
Teacher Jenny

05/13/2020

Heroes among us

Dear Artists,

I sent two packets home with you that contain empty spaces and places for drawing and text. I got these from a great sketchbook I have at my house that is blank worksheets for creating graphic novels and comics. I know some of you have been wondering what you are meant to do with those art materials. Many of you love to read comics and graphic novels and you may have made one of your own before. I thought this week would be a great time to pull those out and begin to tell your own superhero story.

The different squares are meant to hold drawings with added text. The combination of text and image (the fancy way of saying words and pictures) goes back to the ancient Romans and Greeks. They began this type of art in order to make political cartoons. Political cartoons are usually one panel and contain a message of how people are reacting to someone like a president in a funny way. (I wonder if you have seen a political cartoon recently?) I have seen lots lately and they are kind of like a meme. It is someone commenting on what is happening in our world right now. They are meant for a specific space and time. Graphic novels and comics are different because they use a format to tell a story.

Cartoons and comics came to be well known in the U.S. much more recently and reached new heights of popularity in the 1950’s. During this time they went from being created for adults to being written for kids too. The most common form people saw at this time was in superhero comics. The first superhero in a comic was Superman who was created in 1938. The idea of having a superpower is fun and appealing to people of all ages. The stories of these heroes saving the day have become a huge part of many different types of entertainment. Now you can find superheroes in movies, books, t.v. shows, and video games.

In the 1950’ and 1960’s there was an artist who brought comic book characters to museums. His name was Roy Lichtenstein. He loved comic books and developed his own style of storytelling through his large paintings. Comic books tend to be small and cheaply printed. He wanted people to recognize them as art so he honored the art form by making them big and using fine art materials.

For this project we are going to need those comic pages, a scratch piece of paper and a pen. You may choose to add color later with more pen if you would like. All Art needs to begin with ideas. Here are some questions I would like you to think about so we can begin to create.
What is my superpower?
What challenges have I overcome?
How and When did I once ‘save the day’?

Once you have remembered some stories I would like for you to begin to tell a story about a superhero. It can be completely made up or you can begin as Sophie did by making our dog Millie into her superhero. I think it would be fun if some of you or your family were superheroes. We have amazing people around us who are doing lots of good work if you would like to use them as models for your superhero!

To begin your story start by creating a portrait of your superhero. What do they look like? What gives them magical powers? Where do they live? This is a photo of the characters Sophie created for her story.

All good superheroes stories need a villain or evil character. Create an evil character and let us know more about them. If you can write use a couple of sentences to describe your superhero and villain that would be great. If not draw and let us know more about them. If you can find someone to help you write out your ideas that would be helpful.

Sophie came up with an idea that helped her create her superhero character. She used clay to sculpt her Puppicorn. I have sculpy clay at my house so Sophie used that, but I included a recipe for salt dough. It is a simple modeling clay that looks like playdough when you make it at home but it dries hard if you leave it out in open air and you can paint it once it is dry. It would work just as well if you want to sculpt a version of your superhero.

Salt Dough Recipe
2 cups flour
1 Cup salt
1Cup water
Mix together and incorporate all ingredients until a dough forms, then play. You can let it air dry for a couple of days then paint or place the clay figure in a 200 degree oven until it has hardened and paint.

Have fun creating a superhero character!
Sincerely,
Teacher Jenny
Heroes among us

05/08/2020

Dear Artists,

I hope that you are all well and that you have taken some time today to notice and appreciate our beautiful planet. I have been so happy to see our sky without smog since we have all been staying at home. There are many exciting things that have happened since the human impact on our planet has changed. Did you know that in the past few weeks many different kinds of wild animals have been seen in big cities? People have seen coyotes around the Golden Gate Bridge!

Today we have a different kind of art project. One of my favorite things to do (beside legos) is gardening. I love to watch flowers grow and then draw them. I also love eating fresh fruit and vegetables that I grow. My kids love when we grow zucchini and I bake it into a yummy bread.

Make a planting cup & plant your seeds

I thought we could use recycled materials to make planting cups to celebrate Earth Day. The Leadership Team was so excited to give you a gift of seeds. (Find your seed packet in your Take-Home Bag (elementary) or envelope sent home (preschool). It would be wonderful to use these seeds in your planting cups. The materials you need are some newspaper or a brown paper bag that is recycled, a full soda can, tape and dirt. You may want to work outside especially for the planting part of this video. Please watch Teacher Jenny and Sophie demonstrate the project:

https://vimeo.com/410080379/c11b572d40

I hope you got lots of ideas of different containers you can use to plant your seeds. If you have a planting bed or pots at home you may use those when your seeds get bigger. You can also plant directly into the ground. If you don’t have a pot or place to plant your seeds as they grow you can make a planter out of a recycled tin can. Find the biggest size you can and use a nail with a hammer to poke holes in the bottom so water can flow out of the bottom when you water your plants. Happy Planting!

Sincerely,
Teacher Jenny

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05/07/2020

Make a memory for Mother’s Day

Dear Artists,

Did you know that coming up this Sunday is Mother’s Day? It is one of my favorite days of the year because I get to honor one super amazing person in my life, my mom, Jan Bishop. Who I am as a person/teacher/friend/sister/mother is all due to the lessons she taught me.

I want you to understand that for the past couple months your mom has taken on so much more in order to make sure you are fed and well. It is not easy on anyone to be going through what the whole world is experiencing right now. The one group of people constantly making a difference though are our moms!

I was lucky and have experience being a teacher. It was not a huge transition to have my own children as students because this is kind of close to what I do for my job. So many moms had no idea what it meant to be a teacher because their jobs are so different! Together you have set up your own independent schools. You have named classrooms, come up with routines, read and worked hard to keep on learning. Go hometeachers!

There is so much to being a mom that I never understood. When I was little I didn’t know how much my mom worried or planned, organized and budgeted, how she made sure I was safe and knew I was loved and cared for. The funny thing is that most moms are such good moms they just do all of that without you even noticing how hard it all is!

I would really like for you to celebrate your mom by finding out some new things about her and taking this time to make a memory together. One way to connect with someone is to talk about something you both enjoy. I know you all love to play (I mean who doesn’t like to play?) ask your mom about her favorite toy/activity as a child. For our family it was art but for your family it may be a favorite board game or climbing a tree. Make a plan to do that thing together. Give her as much time as you can to watch her playing her favorite game and teach you all about it. Trust me it is a huge gift when you give someone your full attention and see what makes them happy. Also, it is time we all got a chance to play!

My mom was an artist just like Sophie and I. When I was little I loved to sit for hours and draw paper dolls with my mom. I recently found some of my old paper dolls. Back when I was little I really looked up to a woman named Princess Diana. My mom would save photos of her from newspapers and we would draw them out and copy the dresses.

I would then cut them out and play with them like they were dolls. It seems like a quaint past time now but when I was little I loved it. It was a great way to make toys for myself. It allowed for me to be creative and have fun making something I could play with.

For Mother’s Day this year I would like for your assignment to be that you find out what your mom liked to play as a child and go play together. Sophie and I made a video of us making paper dolls just like I did back when I was a child. If you would like to join us you will need
Popsicle sticks
Pens/crayons
Paper
Printout of photo template
Scraps of yarn or cotton string
Glue stick
Recycled cardboard from a cereal box

This is a link to a video of Teacher Jenny reading the book The Paper Princess by Elisa Kleven
https://vimeo.com/user79739027/download/415895703/6fefd2a35c

This is the link to the art video with Sophie
https://vimeo.com/user79739027/download/415806292/b3a90ac8cc

Here are the templates you need to make your own Paper Princess/Prince based on the book The Paper Princess by Elisa Kleven.

Have fun Playing!
Sincerely,
Teacher Jenny

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04/24/2020

Dear Artists,

I was hoping to introduce you to an artist that I find really inspiring. His name is Tyree Guyton. He uses unique materials to create his art - other people's trash! I would like to use his artwork as an open invitation for us to collect, reuse and create. I want us to learn to think differently about what we throw away. Some of it is yucky and should be composted or thrown out but other things can be cleaned and become great art materials.

At Ventana in the Art Studio you may have noticed how much Teacher Jenny loves glass jars. I think they are beautiful, and so useful. When I am at the store I try to buy things that are sold in glass jars and then spend time thinking ‘What else can I do with this jar when I am done?’ It might seem funny that I do that but I have enjoyed collecting things since I was little. Glass jars are perfect for helping to organize too. Now people know that I like jars and help me collect them so I can use them at school.

Tyree Guyton was born in Detroit, Michigan and used his neighborhood as a part of his canvas. His artwork was fun and silly but let everyone know how much he cared about the place where he grew up.

Once he began to show how much he cared then others began to look at their environment differently as well. Now people come from all over the world to see the amazing art installation he made on his street
What does it tell us about his neighborhood?
Who do you think might live in his houses?
How might I look differently at the places and things around me and make them art?

For our next art project Sophie and I made a special art video for you. It is finally time to get out your TOP SECRET envelope from Teacher Jenny….The excitement!!!
Here is a link to the video from Sophie and I. I hope you have fun getting some ideas on getting your Atelier (that's fancy for Art Studio) set up and organized!
https://vimeo.com/408142423/8771212b9e
If you would like to learn more about Tyree Guyton here is a video link with an interview of him as he takes a visit to Heidelberg Street.

https://youtu.be/mbCTxfMKrFc

Have fun Collecting and Creating Artists!
Sincerely,
Teacher Jenny

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03/23/2020

Chalk Your Walk

Dear Artists,

Last week I got an article from a friend. It was about how families are trying to find ways to spread cheer to our neighbors and friends. Right now we may not be able to be a helper like a doctor or a nurse, but we can help our community stay positive through our art! Since everyone needs to stay at home, it is important for us to get outside and go for walks. I have watched as lots of people have been walking in my neighborhood. How about if we make those walks a little happier and more fun? We can do that through our drawings!

For this art project I am hoping you have some supplies at home. We are going to need some sidewalk chalk. It can be any kind and if you need a recipe to make some they are below. (I have made paintable sidewalk chalk and that was fun to use as well.) All you need after that is a good flat surface, maybe it is your driveway, or a sidewalk, or a parking lot. At our house we even used the fence. Just make sure you have an adult with you and be sure to stay far away from any cars that drive by!

I want you to think of a happy word or phrase that will make people smile when they go on their walks. You can write out the words or just draw some pictures that represent that word. The whole point is to be positive and cheer up our community. Some students have already been outside drawing and sent me pictures of their work. I can’t wait to see what you add to our collection! I am sure you will make someone smile with your art, and if it rains and goes away then you get a brand new canvas for the next day. :-) Let’s bring smiles and cheer to our community.

Chalk Paint recipe
1 cup water
1 cup cornstarch
Food coloring or washable paint
Mix water and cornstarch, I used recycled bottles or jelly jars so the kids could help me shake them and they were easier to clean up. Add 5-10 drops of food coloring or washable paint until you get desired color. Please be aware of the type of paint, acrylic paint will be much harder to wash away! Get some old paintbrushes or foam brushes and use it like paint on the pavement. It will dry with a chalky texture to it.