Flip Book Art

The above video is the commercial of Google Chrom. It's like a computer version of flipbook art. I liked the idea a lot.

The concept behind flipbook art is easy, but it take a lot of time to complet. I have another video to share. Watch this amazing video called "A Brief History of Pretty Much Everything."

Quite Cool, isn't it? To create a flipbook animation, all you need is a small note book, a pencil and an eraser. Below is a 200 page Flipbook animation. It turns slower than the video above, and I hope you can see how it's done.

STILL NOT CLEAR? You may click to the following links to find out more about how to make your own flipbook art:

NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART - Flipbook

WIKIHOW - Flipbook

HAVE FUN!

Degas and Dancers

Though I don't know much about Edgar Degas (1834-1917), I've always loved his series of paintings on (ballet) dancers. Apparently, he lived during the time when ballet was one of the most popular form of stage art in Paris; there's no wonder that he has developed such an obsession on this topic.

Here's a few from the series which I find very intriguing; they represent the road to become successful performers (ballerinas in this case).

They go to class and practice....

They continue to practice after class...

They prepare for exams...

Then they continue to practice in the dancing room...

and sometimes, they practice on stage before a performance...

After countless practice sessions and unmeasurable endurance,

a star is born!

Degas said, "people call me the painter of dancers, but i really want to capture movement itself." Perhaps this is the reason why Degas was more interested in painting in a practice room rather than on a stage - most natural movements happens in the practice room.

Here's a beautiful musical slideshow of more Degas' dancers.

The Metropolitan Museum has developed a series of interactive games for children to explore different artists. If you would like to learn more about Edgar Degas and his dancer paintings, please visit The Dancers and Degas.

You may visit the MEET THE GREAT ARTISTS page to find out about other artists!

Year 3 Music: What's in a rhythm?

Note value names in many languages

Now that you have met most of the note value members in the SIMPLE TIME family and able to apply them to your composition, it's time to rethink what "rhythm" mean. Let me tell you a story.

Once upon a time, there was a Dutch escaped to NewYork because of war. After he arrived at this big city, he enjoyed his new life. He fell in love with the architecture in New York and American Jazz, boogie woogie style in particular. First of all, let's find out what style "boogie woogie" represents:

Do you like this style? Boogie woogie does make us want to dance. Well let's go back to the story of this Dutch man. Not only did he enjoy listening to boogie woogie, he loved dancing to it too. To prove his fascination over this style of music, he composed a masterpiece called "Broadway Boogie Woogie" and here it is:

Broadway Boogie Woogie (Piet Mondrian, 1942-43)

You may wonder, "Huh? Where's the music?" I never said that the Dutch man was a composer! Nor did I say that "Broadway Boogie Woogie"was a piece of music; it was the title of a PAINTING created by Dutch painter, Piet Mondrian (1872-1944). He did not choose to use music notations to represent the rhythm of boogie woogie, instead, he found his rhythm in colours and lines! How brilliant! Now, can you see music in Mondrian's painting?

Inspired by this painting, an Australian student chose to create an animation to it. You'll be hopping right into Mondrian's painting in this video! Fasten your seat belts!

Click to the following link to create your own Mondrian-inspired digital painting: MONDRIMAT

孩子哭了

最近在Youtube找到一條片段﹐急不及待跟學生分享。片段來自一個烏克蘭的節目 (Ukraine's Got Talent)﹔一位擅長用沙粒作畫的藝術家在表演。在時而激昂﹑時而幽怨的音樂下﹐一盤平平無奇的沙粒在八分鐘的表演內變成一幅幅會說故事的連環圖。表演的尾聲﹐畫家在沙上寫了一句我不明白的烏克蘭語﹔亦寫了一句令我明白故事背景的四個亞拉伯數字 - 1945 - 她要說的是有關戰爭的故事﹔第二次世界大戰對烏克蘭來說﹐是黑暗的歲月。

這一段歷史﹐別說對我的小一﹑二學生﹐對我來說﹐也完全陌生。雖然我在學生播放前有過一絲猶豫﹐怕話題太深奧﹐小孩子不能明白﹐但是我還是選擇播了- 第一個原因是我想告訴他們知道創意不應受環境限制﹔哪怕一無所有﹖剩下一雙手和一堆沙﹐人們都沒有停止創作。第二﹐背景音樂很出色﹐整個表演觀賞度極高。

影片開始﹐孩子們凝望著熒光屏﹐看著那盤散沙慢慢變成一副漂亮的圖畫。孩子都驚訝得說不出話來 - 有的小口張開了﹑有的皺著眉 - 我最喜歡在這時候看他們。孩子臉上那副認真的表情總會令我鼻子一酸 - 孩子們﹐你知道嗎﹖老師雖然不算博學多才﹐但只要你們肯認真學﹐我們都願意把自己所認識的世界跟你們分享。

表演到了中段﹐課室裡響起一些不尋常的聲音。我回頭一看 - 有孩子哭了。我不作聲﹐決定讓他們繼續看下去。

八分鐘的演出完結後﹐我關掉熒光屏﹑走到課室另一端開燈﹔課室並沒有發出那一貫“散場”的雜聲﹐每個孩子都在沉思中。我走回自己的桌子前﹐看著他們﹐故作輕鬆地問他們﹕“怎樣﹖喜歡嗎﹖”他們靜靜地點頭 - 似乎他們突然意識到﹐這種”喜歡“有點另類。他們一向都喜歡玩耍﹑喜歡買玩具﹑喜歡吃巧克力...能討他們歡喜的﹐從來只有令他們快樂的事情。所以他們有點不明白﹔明明自己剛剛看完一個令人傷感的故事﹐但自己又確實很喜歡剛才那經驗。我告訴他們故事的背景﹐然後開始討論﹐讓他們抒發一下自己的情緒。他們想知道故事裡的主角為什麼哭﹑又想知道小孩子有沒有機會在戰爭結束後見到爸爸﹑亦問主角為什麼變老了。他們的問題令我想起小王子 - 孩子沒有興趣像成年人般去爭辯誰勝誰負或誰對誰錯﹐那堆有關傷亡數字﹑重建費用和有關年份的數字對他們來說全無意思。但細想﹐他們問的不就是最關鍵的問題嗎﹖戰爭的可怕是因為它令小孩子與爸爸永別﹑令人衰老﹑令人哭。

今天﹐老師跟小孩子一樣﹐都上了寶貴的一課。作為一個音樂老師﹐我從不特意催促你們進步﹑我更討厭比較。藝術的修養從不能強迫出來﹐更不能透過機械式的訓練而煉成。你們今天一起被一幅幅圖畫和音樂感動﹐有的更哭了出來﹔那是因為你們擁有一顆赤子之心﹐能赤裸裸地感受別人的感受﹔只要一直好好保存它﹐你們一定能繼續與藝術結緣﹔長大後成為有修養的人。


各位大朋友﹐有興趣的話﹐不妨一看﹕

Print-out art crossover

I'd like to share with you a set of print-out art created by Made by Joel. This site is one of my favorite site for original children art. This collection is from his Paper City Collection. Simply click to enlarge the following images and get your city running!

Another site that I would like to recommend for print-out art is called Cubecraft. Simply download, print, cut and fold - you can add some 3D cube-head people to your paper city! How fun!

An Apple a Day - Paul Cézanne

Not only is "apple" the first chapter in a traditional alphabet book, I believe it is possibly the first object of still life drawing to many children. People like drawing apples because they are cheap and handy. (and we can eat it when the drawing is finished. =p) Although I didn't have much talent in painting, I do remember myself drawing fruits as a child. I would always start with drawing an apple because it's easy to draw comparing to a banana or grapes, yet it requires more techniques than drawing an orange.

I found a few artwork on Artsonia, an online gallery where teachers upload their students' artwork. (You may click on the picture and see the same artwork of the whole class!

"Puffy apple"
by Kathryn (Pre-K), USA

The puffy apple was made with shaving cream, glue, and paint mixed together. It is then spread out by the child to the shape of an apple.

"Apple Mosaic"

by Luke (Grade 1), USA

"Woven Apple Baskets"
by Matty (Grade 2), USA

I believe these children must have enjoyed the process of making their apple apples! They all look delicious! Perhaps one day, they would become someone like Paul Cézanne (1839 - 1906), who became an expert in drawing apples.

Please click on the painting below - "Study of An Apple" by Cézanne to see his complete work.

For children, if they want to take a closer look at Cézanne's apples and know more about the painter, they may like the interactive site Cézanne's Astonishing Apple developed by the Metropolitan Museum. For younger children, they may enjoy the Cézanne's Apple Sing-along!

You may visit the MEET THE GREAT ARTISTS page to find out about other artists!

Drawing development in children

Children love to draw. As teachers and parents, we encourage our children to express their feelings through aesthetic engagement like drawing. While children are enjoying themselves, adults may feel a bit lost. We may ask ourselves, "Should I draw with them and show them how they should draw a star properly?" "My daughter is 3 years old already, should she be able to draw a portrait?" "At 6 years old, what kind of art classes are most age-appropriate to my child?"

Viktor Lowenfeld (1903-1960) was a prominent professor in art education. His book Creative and Mental Growth (1947) has been an influential resource for primary art teacher education. Lowenfeld believed that children's art work is a vivid reflection of their physical and emotional growth.

Lowenfeld also developed the theory of artistic development based on his research. This theory consists of six artistic stages that children go through.

1) Scribble (2 years old)

2) Preschematic (3-5 years old)

3) Schematic (6-7 years old)

4) Drawing Realism (8-11 years old)

5) Pseudorealism (12-13 years old)

6) Period of decision/crisis (14-16 years old)

For the more detailed description of each stage, please visit Drawing Development in Children.

In the above website, you can also find the stages of artistic development devised by American art teacher and author, Betty Edwards. She, on the other hand, based her arguements on brain research; hence, the way she organizes her system has to do with the different functions of the two hemisphere of our brains. Her publication Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain (1979) has become one of the major reference for the study of art education. You may visit the website http://www.drawright.com/ to see a bit of the background of her theory.

Hopefully, by having a bit of background in our children's artistic development, educators and parents can set realistic expectations and provide appropriate responses while our children take pleasure in drawing!

Here's another article I've written earlier about children and the arts (Chinese).

INTERACTIVE ART GALLERY sponsored by HSBC

Many times, artists avoid being "commerical." Some extreme advocacy spreads the notion that making any connection to the commerical and business world pollutes the artistic industry.

As a music educator, I don't agree with this at all. Many world-class corporates are aware of the responsiblities of corporate citizenship. They provide funding to support different creative projects and artistic campaigns. Like I've mentioned earlier, Volkswagon is a perfect example of it.

Here, I'd like to share another website, which is sponsored by HSBC. It is the Albright-Knox Art Gallery's interactive website about art and artists for students from kindergarten through upper primary.

I'm not interested in investigating coporate's intention behind these sponsorships. As a music teacher, I only choose quality websites to support my teaching; and obviously, sufficient funding is crucial to support the launch and maintenance of these websites. I do appreciate corporates who takes part in making arts education a more pleasant experience for children.

POP ART artist #1- Keith Haring

The name Keith Haring may not be familiar to all of us, but if you look at the above picture, you may remember seeing similar figures somewhere - this is exactly the Haring style! Keith Haring is one of the important figures druing the pop art movement in the 1950's. Haring has developing an interest in drawing since a very young age; and he has gone through professionl visual art training. His paintings started to gain international attention in the 1980's. Unfortunately, he died of AIDS related complication at the young age of 31.

Haring's paintings are still popular today; they are seen not only on canvas', but also on mugs, t-shirts, magnets, buttons, etc. The simple use of clear lines and curves, as well as the use of bright colours make Haring's painting quite child-friendly. I recommend the Keith Haring's Kids site where you can find parents/teachers resource for very young children up to 14+.

You may visit the MEET THE GREAT ARTISTS page to find out about other artists!

Print a memory game

I strongly recommend parents and teachers to bookmark MADE BY JOEL, there are so many great DIY ideas and downloadable resources that can keep little hands busy! I came across a memory game and here's the printable version.



Click the image to enlarge and print!



I think every child can make a set of memory game like this one on their own and certainly it will become part of their childhood memory! 

Music painting or painting music?

This is and example of thinking out of the box - when musical notes become a flower stem and when the manuscript becomes a canvas of a beautiful painting.

Speaking of music and painting, the name Dan Dunn suddenly pops up in my mind. He is known at a speed artist. You have to see him to believe what he's able to to - he has an amazing mind! You can read about him at his Paintjam website.

Creative ABC's

A great visual art project idea!  I didn't realize that so many alphabets are hidden around us!

My favorite - alphabets and numbers on butterfly wings!

ABC's hidden in the sky



ABC in the streets



Tissue paper ABC

ABC garments

Click HERE to see more ideas!

Perhaps you can make your own set of alphabets in your spare time! =)

A Christmas Treat 2: Painting with light

MERRY CHRRRRRRISTMAS!!!

On this special day, I'd like to share with you all two beautiful videos. The first is an awesome performance by a light painter in Japan, accompanied by a piece of inspiring music called "You Raise me Up."

You Raise me Up

When I am down and, oh my soul, so weary;

When troubles come and my heart burdened be;

Then, I am still and wait here in the silence,

Until you come and sit awhile with me.

There is no life - no life without its hunger;

Each restless heart beats so imperfectly;

But when you come and I am filled with wonder,

Sometimes, I think I glimpse eternity.

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;

You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;

I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;

You raise me up to more than I can be.

An awesome Art & Craft blog for children!

Do you like this Reindeer Christmas Card?



 

Click onto the picture below to print out this reindeer craft you can easily make at home!

MADE BY JOEL is an awesome blog that contains loads of children art & craft ideas, including a lot of ready-to-print craft!

The very hungry caterpillar and his friends

Eric Carle's picture books are so popular among playgroups and kindergartens.  We may not have befriended with all of Mr. Carle's creations, like the Mixed Up Chameleon or the Foolish Turtle; and not all of us has traveled to The Mountain that Loved a Bird; but most of us should be quite familiar with what happened to The Very Hungry Caterpillar!  (Find the complete list of book by visiting the official Eric Carle webiste)

Not only are his books great literature resource story time, we should also allow children to indulge themselves in the wonderful visual experience his art provides.   When teachers share his books in a classroom setting, we may move at a quicker pace so that the story can be covered.  Wouldn't it be great if children can have some individual time to walk through the world of colour at their own pace?  They will sure see the book differently.

 If you happen to travel to (or live in) Massachusetts, you may want to visit the Carle Museum.  I haven't been there, but I'm sure you'll discover more about the colourful world of Eric Carle! 

This is a wonderful animation of Carle's book "Papa Please Get the Moon for me." The music is beautiful!  A lovely bedtime treat!

Picasso Fun~

Three Musicians (1921) - Pablo Picasso

Everyone knows about Picasso; he was the pioneer of the cubism movement in the early 20th century. Personally, I don't particularly fancy cubist artwork (because I find the paintings too "crazy."), but I can't deny that it is quite fun to look at them sometimes - objects are broken into pieces and re-assembled in an abstract form - which makes me feel like I'm playing the advance level in those "hidden object games" on Yahoo!

Musical instruments seemed to be favoured by Picasso. Beside the Three Musicians as seen above, what do you think of this one called, simply Musical Instruments (1912)? How many instruments can you find in the painting?

Let's play a game! You can see 3 Picasso paintings of musical instruments below, do you think you can match them with the right titles?

Title 1: Guitar (1913)

Title 2: Clarinet and Violin (1913)

Title 3: Violin and Guitar (1913)

Please go to this Picasso Gallery site if you want to find the answers!

Later in his Career, Picasso focused on painting portraits, Girl with a Boat (Maya Picasso), painted in 1938.

What do you think? Do you want to try making a cubist portrait like Picasso's? Go to the Mr. Picassohead website and try it out.

You may visit the MEET THE GREAT ARTISTS page to find out about other artists!

Cloud Dreamers

WHAT DO YOU SEE? 

I see a spaceship.  I see a the head of a dashing dinosaur opening his mouth.  I see a chubby bird.  I see a drowning sheep.  What do you see?

Cloud-watching is such a relaxing pastime, isn't it?  I can spend a whole afternoon watching clouds changing shapes as they calmly float by (usually I'd grudually fall asleep).  If you have children with you, such afternoon wouldn't be so quiet.  They'd bombard you with everything new that they see in the sky, which changes by seconds; and certainly, you'd be amazed by what your little cloud dreamers can see! "Look! Mama, there's a butterfly!" "Where?" "THERE, it has 5 wings!!!....oh wait, it's turning into a lipstick....but it's white...." etc, etc. we all get the picture! =)  Unlike looking at a painting in an art gallery, interpreting a cloud cannot go wrong because it doesn't come with captions.  We can let our imagination go wild when we look at a cloud; and the great thing is that no one has to see what we see, but no one can say what we see and think is "wrong." 

What do you think of THIS cloud then? =)

If you like this bunny-cloud, CLICK HERE to see more cool clouds!!

The Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation has a site for children called Invention at Play.  Parents often forget the importance of play as children's schedule are filled up by different kinds of activities.  To children, cloud-watching should be something that they do often - their creativity will surely blossom if they can travel to that secret imaginative world of their own!  The website offers a few online games, and the game CLOUD DREAMER is what inspired me to write this blog! =) It's fun, try it! 

POP ART artist #2- Andy Warhol

This is the series "Ice Cream Dessert" created by Andy Warhol in 1959. I hope children would like it as much as I do!

Red Pink and White

Red and Pink

Purple Fancy

Fancy Red

3 scoop

One of Warhol's famous work is the "mass-produced" images from photographs of celebrities. You may be interested in playing the colour of Andy Warhol's Marilyn Prints.

Also, the official Warhol site has some education resource for older children. Please click here to access.

You may visit the MEET THE GREAT ARTISTS page to find out about other artists!

TATE GALLERY UK sponsored by BT Group

Tate Gallery is a modern art gallery in the UK. Its four galleries are the home of British art from 1500 to present day. The galleries also hold frequent exhibition of modern British art; its website has been used as a plateform for internet arts exhibits.

Tate Kids is part of the outstanding Tate Online project sponsored by the BT Group (British Telecommunication company). This online learning platform is FANTASTIC not only for kids, but for art lovers as well~

One of their great contributions is a project called i-Map, an online art appreciation resource especially designed for visually impaired learners. In one of the i-Map pages, I found an inspiring quote:

"Painting is a blind man's profession. He paints, not what he sees, but what he feels, what he tells himself about what he has seen." said Picasso

I sincerely recommend this website; I hope you appreciate it as much as I do!

Andy Goldsworthy: a brilliant environmental-artist/sculptor

I fell in love with Andy Goldsworthy's art work when I first saw it in a creativity class I attended some time ago. When he creates, he experiements with various natural materials, such as stone, grass, flower, feathers, snow and clay. Since his work is "mortal", he would use photography to capture them. In fact, the wearing away of the product is part of the projects.

Many schools have included an "Andy Goldsworthy" unit in thier art curriculum; students are encouraged to create an art piece from natural materieals, like Goldworthy did. The process of gathering material is an important step; somtimes, it takes a long time for him to find the most appropriate size and colour pebble or feather to complete his art work. No matter how difficult, he insists to search for that perfect piece from nature, there is nothing artificial about his art work.

I think this is such a brilliant and environmental curriculum idea! Children can literally start creating from scratch; they come across the mortality of nature as they experience the creation process. I can't find any excuse to NOT start this at a young age - young children are natural nature-lovers, they may have better idea of where to find a missing piece.

Below is s a slideshow that documents a Goldsworthy art project prepared by a group of 6th grade students. It's a joy to watch them create works of art made of what they have found in their school's backyard! I hope you find it as inspiring as I do.

You may visit the MEET THE GREAT ARTISTS page to find out about other artists!