Greetings artists!!
Hopefully you were able to enjoy that wonderful sun before winter came again...ugh. So a few more Great Quarantine Art Adventure prompts for you:

Search for Lines in Nature
Take a walk, look for lines...in leaves, trees, plants, wood, branches etc. There's so much out there! Paying attention to those details and incorporating them later in your own works of art will only make you work more realistic and believable.

Hanoch Piven Portraits
Google him!!!

Hanoch Piven is a collage artist. He using paper, paint, yarn, bolts, nails, found objects, etc and creates simple yet effective portraits of famous people. Pick someone to try and after looking at some of his work, try to channel his process with your own work.

Greetings Artists!
So, strange times right? This is so bizarre to me...
I've been teaching for 17 years and have never really run into a situation quite like we are currently in. I've had some snow days here and there but this is definitely uncharted territory. Now we can sit and worry about it all, our we can accept the challenge and use it to our advantage. We all have a little bit more time on our hands now, so let's use it the right way. Find something you're really into and dive in head first. If it's music, do some research, pick up an instrument, watch a you tube video. If it's a sport, get outside, throw the ball, kick it, work on fundamentals. Whatever it is that has made you curious, now is the time to take something that might have been a hobby and make it something more.

As an art educator and an artist, I've been working on both. I've done some illustration, I've gave some pointers to a photography friend of mine thats taking this time to get better at drawing. I've done some painting and will be doing a lot more of that as well. I've done a Zoom meeting with some artist friends of mine and had a draw off but also enjoyed some fun conversation. Stay active and use this time to grow, I am.

Teaching is going to be a little different going forward. The art department is working on solutions as to what might be the best options going forward and how to we give you high quality instruction outside of a physical classroom? A great question, but also a great opportunity. As a teacher in grades 4-6 it's my role to introduce you to as many different art styles, materials and techniques as I possibly can. Introducing you to some basics and some advanced concepts so that going forward you are prepared to meet the challenges at both the junior high and high school levels. This becomes a bit of an issue because of materials that I have in the classroom that you don't have at your home.

However, one thing we all most likely have in common is a paper and a pencil. Drawing is the foundation of all art, if you can learn to draw, and to do it well, you will be able to translate that into almost every art style.

The art department is currently working on next steps and as information becomes available it will be communicated to you. If we stay in this pattern of suppling information, lessons and instruction remotely I will work on developing drawing lessons to help you take those next steps.

Until then, the latest Great Quarantine Art Adventure topics are as follows:

Make art with someone you love
Make a color wheel with found objects * remember colors have specific locations and are not just randomly put into a circle*

Stay safe, stay healthy, and find something to feed the soul...
-Mr. Perry

Greetings Artists!
Well I've been waiting for it and it's finally here! The new Great Quarantine Art Challenge is:

MONSTERS!!!!

Yes!! Well if you know me, it's all about monsters! Gruesome, disgusting, hairy, etc. You can do this! Think about the Daily Monster and Creature Box. Go for it on this one, no holds barred! Some inspiration for you...

Go simple, go super detailed, go black and white, go full color! Options are endless...

Creature Box, Stephan Bucher, Venom are all great places to start! Think about animals and combine them, most monsters are based off of actual animals. It's up to you what to combine to bring them to life! Let's do this!

-Mr. Perry

Greetings artists!
The new Great Quarantine Art Challenge for today is:

Art like Andy Goldsworthy

So this definitely worth looking up. Andy Goldsworthy works with nature and things that are found. He does amazing creations using sticks, leaves, stones, sand...you name it. The pieces are built, he photographs them, then he leaves it there. His art pieces have a life cycle. Some last for months, weeks, days, hours, or mere minutes. The key do doing work like Andy Goldsworthy is to use what is already down, so don't cut down trees or pick all the leaves off of plants. Find the sticks that have already fallen, or the leaves and make something out of that.

Good day to get out and enjoy this warm winter day, um I mean cold spring afternoon.

Wear a jacket, be safe!
-Mr. Perry

Monday Madness

Greetings artists!
The new theme for the "Great Quarantine Art Adventure" is:

Make a Mobile

For those unaware, a mobile is a balanced kinetic sculpture. It's something that usually hangs and rotates. Many are created through the use of wire. A good wire to try is a hanger. Please ask before ripping the clothes off them...thanks! Pipe cleaners would also do the job if you have any of those lying around. Use paper, beads, found objects and use them in creative ways to balance your mobile.
Alexander Calder created some great examples of these and might be worth checking out before you begin to see what he was capable of creating.

If sculpture's not your thing, you can always try the scribble game:

1. Grab a sheet of paper, pencil and others if interested. This can be done as a solo activity or can be done in groups.

2. Using your pencil, draw a line in the center of the paper.
-The line should not cross itself
-The line should be drawn about half a sheet long
-The line can be straight or curved. Think about something that would be a small, loose scribble.

3A. If playing alone, turn the paper around and look at it from every side. Once you see a drawing that you can make the line into, start to add details to it so that everyone will be able to see what you are seeing. The catch here is you can't erase (you may bend or break this rule as you see fit). Finish and repeat.

3B If playing with others, scribble a line, take your paper and pass it to the person on the right. Once all papers have been rotated, you must look at the line you have been given and try to make it into a drawing. Rotating the paper gives you different options ...try it if you get stuck.

Then every minute or so, one person yells "Switch!" and you will again pass the paper to your right. This time you will get a beginning drawing instead of a line. You must continue to help develop the existing drawing. Think details, backgrounds, foregrounds etc. Continue to switch and pass until you get your original line back. Check out all the drawings and then repeat.

Sometimes when working with a group it helps to pick a theme before starting. Something like, Monsters, landscapes, Under the Sea etc.

Try either of these to help nurture that creativity. I'll be playing here!
Mr. Perry

Greeting artists!
So had some internet issues yesterday but everything is back on today! So nice out! Summer is on it's way, can you smell it in the air? So don't be afraid to venture outside while it's warm, 30 degrees tomorrow...ugh. Some new additions to the Great Art Quarantine :

3. (Thoughtful Thursdays) Draw +/ or write something for a nursing home resident.
4. Smile

So we're up to date there. The art department is submitting lists or awesome links for you to enjoy and as they are approved, I will share with you! I myself have been working on some paintings of portraits. I'm working on a CD for a local band. Here's the one I just finished:

Lots of layers of paint on this, probably 8-9? I lost track as I painted. Well, stay posted, get some fresh air and when it rains, break out those pencils!
-Mr. Perry

The Great Quarantine Art Adventure

Greetings artists!
So we had some issues with this link, but the great people at West Irondequoit, especially Dan Fullerton, fixed the problem and we are up and running. Well the good thing about all this is I now am able to properly spell Quarantine without the help spellcheck!

Alright, moving forward for today, there is a daily drawing prompt going on that was created by art teachers in Webster. Think "Inktober". That's when we have 31 drawing activities or ideas in 31 days. Artists from all over the globe participate and it's really wild to see how each artists tackles each word. The list began yesterday and the first 2 are as follows:

Day 1: Growth
Day 2: Melt

You can draw, sculpt, animate any of these ideas. The main page is on Instagram @greatquarantineartadventure. If you have access to instagram you can follow and tag your art with #TGQAA You don't need to post though, get a collection of papers or whatever you create with and start a portfolio. The great thing about art is it is a document of your time spent. I love seeing friends I haven't seen in a while and when they say "what have you been up to?" I break out my sketchbooks and paintings. I will post the new prompt here every day so if you don'y have access to instagram you can get it here. You may contact me through schoology if you have questions or comments.
Stay safe and happy arting!
-Mr. Perry

Back from the depths of the internet!!

Greetings artists! If you're here that means you actually looked through the huge packet attached to your laptop and found the best part! With all that's going on, you might be a bit scared or have some anxiety, know that you're not alone. I feel it too. However, look at all the time we now have to DO ART!!! ...and maybe some of those other subjects. So on this platform I will try to provide some instructional pieces to help you out with your creative exploration. I provided a series of drawing prompts on the sheet in your packet, pick one and try it. Sometimes when I'm given a choice of things to draw that are outside my comfort zone, I still try it, because maybe, just maybe, I might learn something new. The goal is always to get better.
Now the hardest of the list is hands, its always hands. Drawing hands correctly is difficult. You have to practice time and time again to get them right. It's like trying a skateboard trick, you're going to have to bail and crash a few times before your start to get it. My advice is trust your eye! When you start drawing your brain will pipe in and offer its opinion of how it should look, but the eye already knows. Below is a mini tutorial with some notes, try it. You can even draw my drawing just to get started. Get a nice cold glass of water, some good tunes, and get after it!

You don't need to work from a photo, but it helps.

This isn't a necessary step, but it helps.

Tubes help keep the hand and fingers 3-d. Watch the angles

on how the hand actually bends not how you "think" it bends.

DRAW LIGHTLY!!!!!

you will make mistakes, I did