I used this book for my inspiration for my art lesson How to Draw a Truck. My fourth grade students had a blast flipping through Megan’s illustrations for their own inspiration. I was so inspired by Megan’s work, I emailed her and asked if she would be kind enough to share her  thoughts on what it is like to be a children’s book illustrator. Isn’t that the most glorious job title?

Patty: I was ten when I discovered that drawing was something I was good at. How old were you when you realized that you were an artist?

MH: I don’t recall a defining age or moment. From a very early age I loved drawing and making things. My mother would check on me in my room fearing I had runaway or was dead because I was so quiet! She always found me safe and sound usually with a pencil or crayon in my little hand! My father remembered a Valentine shoe box I made for elementary school that was masterful and artistic. He knew then that I was an artist. Another sign was when I took piano lessons. Rather than practice, I colored in the sheet music! To this day, I love music, and I love to color, but cannot play the piano.

Patty: Did you follow the traditional path to publication—sending art to publishers and waiting, waiting, waiting—or did it happen differently for you?

MH: After college graduation (where I majored in art/illustration), I studied art in New York City. When I took a children’s book illustration class I knew, right away, I wanted to be a children’s book illustrator. I “pounded the pavement” like most artists. I would set up two or three appointments a day. One day I showed a story I wrote and illustrated, Something To Crow About”. Two of the three publishers wanted to keep the project to consider for publication. Once that book was under my belt I had some credibility so it became a little easier to get published.

Patty: I vaguely recall my elementary school art class but there was one project I remember well. We colored crayons really hard onto a piece of paper then took a tissue to buff the wax bright and shiny. I loved it! Do you remember any special art projects from your school days?

MH: I loved any project when I got to make something! I remember making a 3-dimensional Egyptian pyramid and shoe-box dioramas. In eighth grade I made a poster of wildflowers for a book report. I remember standing with the poster in front of me, peering just over the top edge, while speaking to my class. I was shy and didn’t like talking in front of people! I still use my art to communicate and to tell stories all these years later.

Patty: The collage techniques in your book Trucks Whizz! Zoom! Rumble! are fantastic They are also quite funny which is why my art lesson based on this book worked so well for my fourth grade students. You showed how art can be both beautiful, complex and silly. How did you create these collage pieces? Do you have a step-by-step procedure?

MH: I was nervous when I received the manuscript because it was so simple…”Red truck, blue truck”. The publisher hired me to do something special with it. I was so excited when I thought  to play with the truck drivers; A lobster to drive a red seafood truck, a camel driving a blue water truck! I start with big 18 x 24 sheets of paper for every book I do. I doodle and doodle and don’t edit my thoughts. I don’t make pictures as much as play with ideas, whether the book is serious or silly. Then I take those doodles and start to design the pages keeping in mind what the story says on each page. For this collage art process I look through my old clip-art books to find images- like the lobster, camel, etc. If I can’t find the image I draw it or have Sean, my creative partner draw it. All the pieces are painted using acrylic paints and matte medium (it makes the paint more transparent so the line from the image shows through). I cut out the pieces and collage them to the painted background using matte medium.

Patty: It’s no secret that my biggest dream is to have someone publish one of my books. What is your biggest dream and/or have you fulfilled it?

MH: I am continually grateful for my creative life. My dream is to be able to make as many things as possible before I’m dead! If you look at my website you’ll see I also do work for magazines and products like mugs, bookmarks, greeting cards, kitchen towels and wall art. I also make things with clay. My favorite thing to do is to be in my studio making things just like when I was a kid in my room with my pencils and crayons!

Patty: Thank you so much, Megan! You are truly living an artful life!

Megan has a great website filled with all things creative. She is not only a children’s book illustrator but sells her own line of giftware. Now, here is your chance to win a copy of Megan’s book….

To win a copy of Megan’s book, Trucks; Whizz! Zoom! Rumble! “like” Megan’s facebook page then come back here and leave a comment telling me what your favorite truck is! I will be accepting comments as your official entry until Monday, February 27 at midnight. I’ll announce the winner on Tuesday, February 28th.

Please, US Residents only!

Drawing trucks is one of my most requested how-to-draw subjects in art class. I love the stories of the people who drive them, the cargo they haul and the best question of all…where are they going?  Inspired by the incredible picture book,Trucks: Whizz! Zoom! Rumble! by Patricia Hubbell and illustrated by Megan Halsey, my fourth grade students created amazing trucks and placed them on colorful collage backgrounds–just like in the book!

A surprise for you…

Read my interview with Megan Halsey in my next post for a chance to win this fabulous book!

Supplies

• 12″ x 18″ white drawing paper
• black waterproof marker (Sharpie brand is good)
• pencil and erasers
• small plastic salsa cups or other small circle shapes
• watercolor paints
• crayons
• markers
• scissors & glue
• Colored background paper/assorted craft paper

Drawing the Truck

Coloring the Truck

Basic Steps:

Now for the background…

To make a background, let the child create a setting for the truck. Some children took the theme of the truck and drew appropriate backgrounds: farmer with an agricultural background, cupcake truck in a city, etc. This part of the project can take as much or as little time as you want. I set out many different papers to use as collage pieces, including some old highway maps I purchased for a quarter at a thrift store. I photocopied some sections of really cool looking road maps.

Pretty cool, huh? This lesson took about three, Forty-five minute sessions. A few kids still need to finish their piece, but most finished in the allotted time.

Don’t forget to check out my next post where I will interview the fabulous illustrator of Trucks: Whizz! Zoom! Rumble!

I happened across We All Went on Safari by Laurie Krebs and Julia Cairns. I’m always on the lookout for great visuals on Africa and this book delivered. Count along with the Maasai as they go on safari. Discover leopards, giraffes and lions but also ostriches, hippos and wildebeests. Any one of the lovely watercolor spreads would make a great inspiration for an art lesson. The next time I do my Maasai Figure Drawings, I’ll showcase this book. I love the graphic colors and designs. Aren’t the illustrations beautiful?

Visit Laurie Kreb’s website for a listing of all her books, many with similar styles.

Julia Cairns website features her amazing illustrations…you really need to check them out. Simply stunning!

What makes a picture book work in the art room?

I love incorporating great visuals with art lessons but not any book will do.

• The text can’t be too dense. As much as I love picture books, I teach art so if a book takes too long to read, I can’t use it. Of course, if the pictures are glorious, I will skip the text and talk just about the illustrations. Sorry authors!
• I look for the illustrations to be approachable for my students. Often we will try and imitate the illustrator so the more child-like the drawings are, the better.
• For non-fiction books about famous artists, I prefer narrative non-fiction to a biography. Often this format provides a closer connection to the artist for the child. The perfect ones have dialogue as well as pictures that feature images that inspire the artist.

What do you look for in a picture book?

To start, my students sponge painted a piece of 12″ x 9″ paper with blue, red and white paint. I provided the paint, but left the children to create whatever background they wanted. Some smeared the paint over the paper with the sponge while others dabbed very carefully. Then we traced a pre-cut bell template onto brown construction paper and painted gold metallic paint over the surface. The consistency of metallic tempera paint differs from regular tempera in that it feels slimy or smooth–depending on your persepective. Either way, it’s fun to paint with. They set the bell aside to dry.

The kids looked at a few books and pictures of the real Liberty Bell and observed the wooden beam that the bell is hung from. They drew this onto some brown paper with a black oil pastel and added scribbles to imitate wood. When the bell was dry, they used the oil pastel to create the crack on the exterior of the shell. Next, they glued the bell and the beam to the painted paper with white school glue. Press down so everything is flat. Now add the small details such as the bell ringer and the straps that attach the bell to the wooden beam.

Art room dynamics

I love the active dynamics in my art room. I enjoy seeing children engaged with their art; laughing, talking, painting, experimenting. It’s my ultimate goal each time a group of students step into the classroom; to provide and teach an art lesson that resonates with them. Art is meant to be interactive. I don’t teach an adult education watercolor class to seniors. I teach children. They should have fun.

Last week, however, my groups of older students were having a rather difficult time remembering what class they were in. Too much talking out of turn, too much fooling around, but the worst of all,  disrespect to one another and to me. I know this happens to all of us. Sometimes there is a concoction of circumstances that lead the kids to believe that forgetting their classroom manners is okay.

I understand that, but I don’t accept it.

A positive but practical approach

So here’s what I did: I asked three kids to leave art class. I felt horrible. But it was a better idea than my first reaction which was to ask the entire class to leave. I’m glad I didn’t do that. Problem with what I did was that I let my ego get the best of me. I was a little more than put out that my students weren’t acting their best. I felt they didn’t appreciate the opportunity that was given to them.

I wish I hadn’t asked those students to leave. I could have avoided it.

So when my next class came in, I asked them to sit near the front of the room so I could speak to them. I realized in the 5 minutes between my classes that I don’t reinforce my expectations as often as I should. Kids need reminders. Since I’m not into bribes, reward systems, countdown systems (for reasons only to do with time management), I just expect my students to act accordingly. So when my next group came in, I reminded them how few times they get to create art with me (just 15 times a year). I reminded them that this is art class, not art recess or free-choice time. I reminded them of all the cool projects we  have done and will still do that involves great techniques and cool supplies. They listened respectfully and we quickly moved onto the art project. They got it.

Lessons learned

My lesson in this is that I teach children. A positive, ego-less approach always works best. Reminders are helpful. Expectations need to be set high from day one and be maintained. Kids can do it. They don’t want to be disrespectful (well, most don’t.) It’s up to teachers to set the stage.

We can blame alot of things, but it’s so much easier to fix and adjust our approach. When this class comes into art next week, I will sit them down and remind them again of what my expectations are. We’ll see how it goes. Hopefully, I won’t resort to asking another kid to leave!

 Your turn

I would love to hear what your expectations are or how you would have handled this situation. I asked my DSS Facebook readers the same question and some of the responses were brilliant and others just plain funny!

Drawing the Cow

We drew in oil pastel and painted with liquid tempera paints. To learn how to draw a cow, I start by drawing one myself on the white board. As I go, I like to talk about the different parts of the body, spending some time on the head as that’s the hardest part. I have a great little cow handout in my Drawing Animals PDF but basically, it goes like this: draw 2 dots for the eyes, then a horizontal line over the head with little droopy ears at the end of the line. Add two horns then connect the ears with a big letter “U” for the face. At the bottom of the face, add a square with two nostrils. The body is pretty much self explanatory but add the two side legs first, then the udder and finally the back side legs.

Look at the udder in this drawing...this is the joy of teaching Kinders!

Painting the Picture

I used black, blue, green and pink paint on white Tru-Ray construction paper. When the background and cows were painted ( I encouraged the kids to leave their fence posts and cow bodies unpainted) children outlined their cows with black tempera paint. To check out what art supplies I use, visit my Art Supply page.

About outlining with black paint: I tend to outline this way as I think it really develops fine motor skills. They learn not to press too hard with their tiny brushes and they can see how little paint a small brush holds compared to a medium sized brush. I think these are good practices to learn early, so if you are fearful about this last step, don’t be. It’s a great thing to learn.

Kinder Painted Cows…each one a delight!

Here is another Cow Art Lesson I did with my Kinders.

Want to learn more about Holstein cows? Check out this site about cows.

About Modigliani

An Italian artsist working in Paris, Modigliani is famous for painting wonderful figures. I love his portraits of the women in his life and I wonder what he was thinking when he purposely omitted irises and pupils in his eyes. Instead, the faces are strangely mask-like. He drew his figures with the graceful lines of a fashion model, with gentle oval faces and elongated necks. The colors he used were mostly warm and earthy. Here is a link that gives more information on Amedeo Modigliani.

Instead of Kathy’s technique of using a ruler and pencil to divide the paper, I took a short cut and folded the paper in half lengthwise, then crosswise. Two more crosswise folds from the top towards the middle crease and the bottom up towards the middle crease and a grid was formed. This is far easier and takes up a lot less time than pencil lines. Just be sure not to form deep creases; a light fold line is all you need.

Using Kathy’s drawing aids, we drew the outline, colored in the face and neck, then the hair and finally the background and clothes. I pointed out the use of warm, soothing colors for the portraits but didn’t limit the kids if they wanted to choose a bright color. The same with the eyes. We talked about how Modigliani painted “mask-like” faces with almond-shaped, empty eyes but if that was too creepy, they could add irises and pupils.

As a final detail, I encouraged the kids to outline their shapes with a black chalk pastel. I demonstrated some blending techniques which some children really got into while others were a bit timid. Either way, the portraits came out lovely.

Have you tried this lesson? Anyone use paint before? I’d love to hear if you used a different media other than oil pastel or chalk.

Within the pages of the book, not only will you find inspiration to create your next seahorse art lesson but other bejeweled and beaded sea creatures as well. I loved the sea turtle, the sequined jellies and especially the preening mermaid. The illustrations are done mostly in fabrics: felt, calicos and cotton. Beads, sequins and colorful threads provide the details. I think my younger students would enjoy making their own sea creatures from felt and gluing on colorful embellishments. Hmmm. So many ideas!

The story is simple: a search for a little seahorse and the creatures we see along the way. It’ll be a quick read in the classroom, which is good, as you’ll want to move quickly into whatever lesson you try.

Would you like a copy?

I’m giving away my copy of Secret Seahorse. To enter, simply leave a comment and tell me what your favorite sea creature is! Enter once until Sunday, February 12th at midnight PST. I’ll announce the winner via Deep Space Sparkle’s Facebook page.

Please, only US residents and one comment per reader.

Update: The Winner (via Random number generator) of Secret Seahorse is #14 Lisa!

This is what Lisa wrote:

Who doesn’t love mermaids? My little one always did and I’ve always called her my ‘lil’ mermaid’, because she swims like one! Aside from fantasy mermaids, I love the sea dragon and the lion fish.

Congratulations, Lisa. Please send me your mailing address and I will mail you this delightful book.

Supplies

The supplies are simple: white 12 x 18 paper, tempera paint and small, medium and large brushes for the paper painting and splattering, medium for the owl painting and small for the black detailing.

How to Paint an Owl

The children began the project by choosing either turquoise or magenta paint for their sky. You can get creative here and add more colors but I wanted to keep the prep simple. After painting the surface on the white paper (it’s okay to have some white paper showing), children began sprinkling and splattering white paint over the entire surface. It would help to have some baby wipes on hand to clean faces as the paint gets everywhere.

You can stop at this point and let the background dry, but who has the time? Onto the owl….dip medium sized brush in white paint and draw a circle (head), letter “U” (body), small side wings and two small ears at the side of the head (not on top). Color everything in with white paint.

This is an ideal place to stop to let the white paint dry. But if you need to press on, children can then choose to leave their owl white or use another color to paint over the white. Laying down the white paint first provides a neutral backdrop for other colors. For instance, if a child painted a yellow owl directly onto the blue paint, the owl would look rather greenish. Perhaps not what the artist intended.

The Fine Details

Finish painting the owl, add big circles for eyes, add a beak and finally a brown branch. At this point, you might feel as though the project is just one big blob of paint. And it may be true. It’s the last step that really makes the difference. Using a small brush, dip into black paint and outline the following:

• The owls body, including wings, head and ears
• Add skinny legs
• Add dots for the pupils
• Add small feather strokes…little “u’s”
• Add details to the branches or add extra twigs
• Finally….ask the child to sign his name to the bottom of the artwork.

Now, I ask you…aren’t the owls absolutely adorable?

To start, children drew a vase and then the flowers. We used one color to draw with (preferably a light color oil pastel). It was my intent to have the students chose warm or cool colors to for their flowers. I showed Van Gogh’s Sunflowers and we talked alot about the color wheel, but alas, when I set the trays of beautiful oil pastels on the table, it was extremely hard for the kids to choose just one color palette! No biggie. I’m like them. I prefer lots of colors anyway!

I showed how to draw a few vases and later when we began the coloring, I showed how to add hi-lights and shading. Not every student understood this or took the time to add the shading, but for the ones who did, they did an amazing job.

We colored the flowers first, then the vase, table and background. I asked the students to keep the background simple so that their beautiful flowers stood out.

Outlining their flowers with a dark color, like black, created interest for many students, but others chose not to outline. As always, the students really did a great job.

Note: Take a peek at the top right hand corner of this photo. Notice how the child opposite this finished piece is still working on her flowers. The only problem with this lesson is that it takes some children a long time to complete the coloring. For these kids, I don’t want them to rush, so we put the piece into their portfolio and instead of doing free-choice after another art project, they can return to this piece and finish. I’m sure you all experience the same thing when working with oil pastel!

Enjoy!