Wayne Thiebaud Pop Art Cakes

Wayne Thiebaud (born 1920) is a contemporary American artist who belongs to the pop art tradition. His delicious paintings of cakes and bakery goods are created using thick impasto applications of paint, which gives them a finger-licking, whipped icing quality. We created these using oil pastels on colored construction paper. We payed special attention to value and volume, and used lots of white oil pastel to blend into our colors to render softer, creamier and lighter values. 

Bonus: we learned about ellipses and parallel lines in the process of drawing the cakes, which extended our math vocabulary! These yummy beauties were done by kids aged 6-12

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Abstract Acrylic Roosters

Abstract Acrylic Roosters - Adult Class

 These lovely roosters were painted by the adult class. To ensure that we maintained a loose, abstract and textured look, we used one single, large, flat end brush (about 2 inches) for the whole painting. The eye and beak were added at the end with a finer pointed top brush. We strove for a quick, imperfect painting without fussing about too much 'fixing' or 'touching up'. The results are beautifully abstract, whimsy and feathery. These roosters are full of panache and character!

Ton Schulten Abstract Landscapes

Ton Schulten abstract landscapes! These were done by the little class, kids 4-6 years old. We looked at the work of contemporary Dutch painter Ton Schulten. We noticed how he used lines to 'cut' his landscapes into various shapes. Common characteristics of his work are his cute little Dutch-syle houses with steep roofs, a sun or moon, and lollipop or popsicle-shaped trees. His colors are bold and bright, often darker near the edges and brighter at the center. Our little guys drew their landscape using white or black oil pastel on their choice of colored construction paper, and then filled in all their shapes with a limited choice of oil pastel colors. These are such beauties.

Mixed Media Baby Penguins

 How adorable are these! My 'little' class (ages 4-6) made these cute penguins in chalk, charcoal, permanent marker. Charcoal sticks were lightly rubbed on fingertips and them smudged on wings and around the outer body to create shadows and volume. Heads were colored in sharpie. They were cut out and pasted on a blue construction paper background. We collaged the bottom half of the background with old atlas pages to look like ice. Inspired by the art teacher over at the Marymaking blog.

Kids 4-6

Rune 4