Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Primary Dragon

I signed up to teach an enrichment class in our local elementary school.  I received notice about a week ago that I would have 10 first and second graders for an hour watercolor class.  It has been so long since I have been around first and second graders that I wasn't sure what their capabilities would be, so I thought I would start with the color wheel.  My next thought was, what fun is a color wheel for that age group - none!  Ok, fun things, fun things - dragons!  I went online for some clip art dragons and found one that I like the face of and another I thought I could make the body into a, sort of, color wheel.  I sketched until I came up with one I thought would work.  Here he is, The Primary Dragon.  I traced my sketch, transfered it to some inexpensive watercolor paper and then used a permanent black marker to out line the Dragon.  I painted this Dragon at home as an example and painted another as a demonstration at the class.  After the little darlings got their seats and quieted down, I handed out the prints, paintbrushes, water containers, and three small jars with not very much paint in them.  I was hoping the paint would last for all eight classes, but I am pretty sure now that won't be the case.  One boy used most of his already.  I tried to explain, lots of water and little dabs of paint.  After the primary colors were painted, we started the secondary colors.  It was so much fun to watch their faces as the colors mingle to creat a new color.  Some of the children knew what was going to happen, but not all.  My 16 year old daughter came to be my assistant and was a very big help when the water got to dirty, someone had to go to the bathroom, paper towels ran out...........  She wants to be an elementary teacher and this class is giving her a try.  She does so well with the younger children, I am sure she will make an excellent teacher.  When the fins were all done, I told them to wet the middle of the dragon and dab colors on to mingle as the wanted.  Some children followed that suggestion and others just want one solid color, which is OK to.  One little girl was upset because she made a smudge on the outside edge of her paper and I told her there weren't any rules to follow on "her" painting.  If she wanted to paint the outside, she could.  I know how it feels to be young and expected to "stay in the lines".  I don't want to convey that feeling to any of these children, I want them to have fun.  The next class is tomorrow at 3:15, guess I had better start getting ready!

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

On Duty

My husband and I visited Sanibel Island, FL a couple of years ago.  We took a kayak tour into the Gulf of Mexico.  Not very far into, which was fine with me.  I am not a fan of being in or on the ocean.  Big stuff that can eat me!  This fellow was waiting patiently at the entrance to the bay making sure that we all understood what this sign meant.  By the looks of the sign, I had a feeling I knew what his punishment would be for offenders.  I have sold a couple of prints; the original is still available.