Art and Emotion at Canvas: 23.10.18

The previous art club at Kangus had focused on drawing what was in front of us. For this one, we wanted to think about how art can be used to convey things we can’t see.

We started by hanging ‘Feelings’ words at different points around the room. We then prepared about 60 images of various artworks from the Renaissance to now, and as our starter we asked everyone to come up, grab an image, and without thinking too hard about it put it with the feeling word they felt best described it. We had a space on the table for ‘Not Sure’ as well. After the dust had settled and all the images were out, we went through the ‘Not Sure’ pile with the whole group, talking about the images and how we could figure out the feelings in them. We then asked if anyone thought an image belonged in two places, which prompted thoughtful discussion within the group. We focused on how we all interpreted the colours used and the types of marks made to figure out the emotions of the artwork.

We then explained that we would play some pieces of music, and we would paint along to that music. Once the music stopped we had to put our brushes down. We did a series of A3 paintings to music independently (starting with Happy – Pharrell Williams) and ended with a group painting to ‘Shake It Off’ by Taylor Swift, which was a great high energy way to end the session.

As our warm down, we each chose a piece of artwork from the starter and stuck in it our sketchbooks and reflected on the Feeling word that it had been put under, and what feelings we got from it and why!

 

Still Life Drawing at Canvas: 11.09.18

For this art club we were focusing on exploring drawing things that were right in front of us, using line and tone. We did several shorter exercises, on white and black paper, where we explored light and shadow, the importance of looking, and how we can use line to make objects look 3D on the paper. We finished with a longer drawing exercise, where everyone chose an object that interested them.

Printmaking at Kanvas: 21.08.18

For our first Kid’s Art Club at Kangus coffee house, Kirkcaldy, we wanted to get the young people making their own sketchbooks. Having a sketchbook is a fundamental part of artistic practice and a great way to start any group! We wanted to get the young people thinking about sketchbooks not as a place for finished work, but as a place where they can experiment, develop ideas, and reflect on their work and themselves.

We needed the group to think about printmaking, pattern and repetition, and different ways we could create these. This was the first time we’d met this group, so we began with a communal activity. On a long sheet on brown wrapping paper I drew a small illustration of Kangus. We talked to the group about the idea of communicating their journey to Kangus today through printing using various objects, including foam board, potatos, carrots and lino, and had them do this standing together around the table. The result was a map of our seperate journey’s converging Kangus which was a great and dynamic start.

We printed the covers of our sketchbooks using various materials onto different colors of sugar paper. We then went through how to bind a simple book, and attached the front covers later once they were dry.

Finished Sketchbooks