What art supplies have you bought recently?

[stlukesguild]

St. Luke, loving the progression of this painting of yours. I’ve been watching your stuff for years, so I know of the ladies. But this one, I’m really taking to it even more than usual. Definitely want to see how that turns out!

Thanks I just saw this post today. I’m going to say that no one wants to see how this painting turns out more than me.

Olive… I started back to school today. A day of meetings to bore us all before the kids show up next week. As usual, the meetings began with one of those “ice breakers” loved by administrators everywhere. In this instance it was a game of bingo. You had to go around the room and find someone who matched the various squares on your paper: “has 3 or more children”, “has a tattoo”, “traveled outside of the country over summer”. The square I filled for many others was; “has a collection of odd items”. Beside the endless array of paints, pencils, papers, pastels, and other obvious art tools, I have stacks of old pieces of wood, glass, old papers, and other such detritus bric a brac that I’ve saved over the years because… well you know… I just might need it some day… so I fully understand your doodads Olive.

 

[PaintBoss]

What age do you teach St. Luke?

 

[stlukesguild]

Pre-school through 8th Grade. In the past I have taught High School (15-18) and I’ve been a guest/visiting teacher a few times at the college level.

 

[brianvds]

Pre-school through 8th Grade. In the past I have taught High School (15-18) and I’ve been a guest/visiting teacher a few times at the college level.

Me, I teach two classes once a week at a local school: a grade 4 class, and another group in which they put everyone from grade 5 to 7.

I'm glad it's only once per week; I don't really know what to do with the kids. Art cannot compete with TikTok. All they're remotely interested in drawing is manga, and they lack even the most basic skills with which to do so, so whatever one tries with them, it takes them all of ten minutes to be bored with it.

 

[stlukesguild]

Our district… and soon the entire state… will deal with social media by requiring that all phones and tablets be locked up when not in use for a project. Last year I got a good number of the students interested to a degree in Hokusai, Van Gogh, George Rodrigue, Jim Dine, Andy Warhol, and Sugar Skulls from the Mexican Day of the Dead. I wear shirts, etc… with prints of “Starry Night”, Hokusai’s “Great Wave”, Rodrigue’s “Blue Dog” and Sugar Skulls. While going over the artists/artworks I let the students know I will be rewarding those who can answer questions about what was discussed. At the end of class… or at the start of the next class… I’ll ask questions and reward correct answers (not shouted out… only responding when called upon with a raised hand) with a small candy treat. It sounds cheesy… but it gets the majority to pay attention and participate.

 

[stlukesguild]

Manga and anime may be an obsession… but then I remember that I started with comic books. You first need to get the students engaged before they’ll dig deeper into art. We had the issue with Tik Tok videos before removing the constant access to cell phones. Last year I had the students download an app with which they could use their camera to create simple short stop-frame animations.

 

[brianvds]

Manga and anime may be an obsession… but then I remember that I started with comic books. You first need to get the students engaged before they’ll dig deeper into art. We had the issue with Tik Tok videos before removing the constant access to cell phones. Last year I had the students download an app with which they could use their camera to create simple short stop-frame animations.

Where I work the kids are not allowed to have their phones with them either, so it's not a question of direct competition between phones and class; I was just making the general point that kids grow up with ultra-stimulating entertainment, and they expect school to be as entertaining, otherwise they soon lose interest.

Of course, this has to some extent always been the case. Dislike of school has always been pretty much universal among children. But it was possible to convince them that at least stuff like math needs to be rammed down their throats. With art it is more difficult.

As for all the anime, I do not mind at all in principle. Heck, I love a great of anime myself, and also the art. But it requires rather more skill than kids realize. They probably wouldn't mind at all if week after week we just drew this or that anime character. But at this point, most of them are not remotely capable of doing it. And it seems they think there's some magic shortcut, that an art teacher could teach them, to learn in ten minutes how to draw Naruto.

Well, I do not need to tell you that it simply doesn't work that way - learning any kind of skill takes a great deal of study and practice and patience. Grade 4 kids are mostly just not ready for that.

There seems to be a general misunderstanding about this, even among adults. Everyone understands that to learn any skill, whether a new language, reading and writing, mathematics, ballet, soccer, or whatever else, requires much study and practice, and a lot of work that isn't always fun. But when it comes to visual art, everyone seems to feel it is all about "self-expression", and the skills involved boil down to "talent," which you either have or you don't.

This is partly why the school rams everyone from grade 5 to grade 7 into the same class, and I have to come up with projects that all of them can manage reasonably well with, and will be stimulating to all. But there's a HUGE difference between grade 5 and 7 when it comes to such things as fine motors skills and cognitive abilities!

But that aside, I find the same problem with lots of kids: the stuff they want to do is way too advanced for them, they're not ready for it and if they try they end up disappointed, while the stuff they are ready for is "little kids' stuff" and thus boring. Twenty years ago it might have been possible to convince them that the boring stuff will get ever more challenging and interesting and will eventually lead to the more interesting things. But they nowadays grow up in a a culture in which, if it isn't entertaining within thirty seconds, it's not worth it.

On the whole, I'm relieved to be nearing retirement age.

 

[Terri]

I’m starting some paintings with big “futuristic” faces but they’ll also have some mixed media bits. I’m not exactly sure how to do this but I know I don’t want cutesy or whimsical or scrapbooky so…so far it’s me standing over the (3) 40x20 canvases that I just got from Dick Blick, moving stuff across the surface and going….hmmmm. Or yuck.

Instead of sitting on the floor as I usually do, I set up a temporary folding table which is better on my back. I already had all these oddball little bits and pieces which were accumulated over the years and I need to get rid of them! So while I wait for the final stuff from Michael’s to arrive (which I hope isn’t going to be a big waste of money), I continue to crack this nut.

the silly doodads on their way:

• silver and gold fabric scraps
• 2 jars of modeling paste
• 1 jar of matte ModPodge
• steampunk chipboard flowers
• pack of patterned paper
• grab bag of brown and gold charms
• adhesive paper cutouts

View attachment 42603
View attachment 42604

I love Ziggy!! Nice to see that I'm not the only one whose "mixed media" may include a stray cat hair or three.

I go from standing at the drafting table to sitting at the drafting table these days. I'm considering a desk or table to sit at with a better chair than the thin drafting table chair, but aside from being more comfortable it will make it easier for cats to join me.

I love the doodads. This looks fun!

 

[Nerys]

I had items in my shopping cart online at Gerstaecker and then when refresh cart the heavy gloss gel medium was sold out, same as last time, so have to wait again. They ad the new chromacolors open stock color pencils but no pictures and has been grey blocks since weeks.

 

[Artyczar]

I’m starting some paintings with big “futuristic” faces but they’ll also have some mixed media bits. I’m not exactly sure how to do this but I know I don’t want cutesy or whimsical or scrapbooky so…so far it’s me standing over the (3) 40x20 canvases that I just got from Dick Blick, moving stuff across the surface and going….hmmmm. Or yuck.

Instead of sitting on the floor as I usually do, I set up a temporary folding table which is better on my back. I already had all these oddball little bits and pieces which were accumulated over the years and I need to get rid of them! So while I wait for the final stuff from Michael’s to arrive (which I hope isn’t going to be a big waste of money), I continue to crack this nut.

the silly doodads on their way:

• silver and gold fabric scraps
• 2 jars of modeling paste
• 1 jar of matte ModPodge
• steampunk chipboard flowers
• pack of patterned paper
• grab bag of brown and gold charms
• adhesive paper cutouts

View attachment 42603
View attachment 42604

Can't wait to see what you will make with all this interesting stuff, Olive! But I know it will be good because you're good.

 

[Artyczar]

Where I work the kids are not allowed to have their phones with them either, so it's not a question of direct competition between phones and class; I was just making the general point that kids grow up with ultra-stimulating entertainment, and they expect school to be as entertaining, otherwise they soon lose interest.

Of course, this has to some extent always been the case. Dislike of school has always been pretty much universal among children. But it was possible to convince them that at least stuff like math needs to be rammed down their throats. With art it is more difficult.

As for all the anime, I do not mind at all in principle. Heck, I love a great of anime myself, and also the art. But it requires rather more skill than kids realize. They probably wouldn't mind at all if week after week we just drew this or that anime character. But at this point, most of them are not remotely capable of doing it. And it seems they think there's some magic shortcut, that an art teacher could teach them, to learn in ten minutes how to draw Naruto.

Well, I do not need to tell you that it simply doesn't work that way - learning any kind of skill takes a great deal of study and practice and patience. Grade 4 kids are mostly just not ready for that.

There seems to be a general misunderstanding about this, even among adults. Everyone understands that to learn any skill, whether a new language, reading and writing, mathematics, ballet, soccer, or whatever else, requires much study and practice, and a lot of work that isn't always fun. But when it comes to visual art, everyone seems to feel it is all about "self-expression", and the skills involved boil down to "talent," which you either have or you don't.

This is partly why the school rams everyone from grade 5 to grade 7 into the same class, and I have to come up with projects that all of them can manage reasonably well with, and will be stimulating to all. But there's a HUGE difference between grade 5 and 7 when it comes to such things as fine motors skills and cognitive abilities!

But that aside, I find the same problem with lots of kids: the stuff they want to do is way too advanced for them, they're not ready for it and if they try they end up disappointed, while the stuff they are ready for is "little kids' stuff" and thus boring. Twenty years ago it might have been possible to convince them that the boring stuff will get ever more challenging and interesting and will eventually lead to the more interesting things. But they nowadays grow up in a a culture in which, if it isn't entertaining within thirty seconds, it's not worth it.

On the whole, I'm relieved to be nearing retirement age.

I can agree with a lot of this. The younger generation seems to have a lot less patience, which I think is largely due to growing up with the internet and social media. It had its good and bad. I mean, I'm sure there are the good in some capacity regarding intelligence, or I sure hope so for the sake of the future.

I taught drums to young people for about 10 years, and in the latter of those years, they got more and more impatient that they couldn't play well enough to be in a band within a couple of months. A couple of months! They'd eventually quit. Among my first students, they continued to play, put in the practice, and had the correct expectations of themselves. It was evident within each of the kids' ages how they'd respond and how I'd have to up my game in keeping them interested and challenged. Luckily, there's been a resurgence in the music of "my day" that's been keeping certain kids interested in playing music, but it really depends on how they were raised (overall) that will gauge how dedicated they will be to learning an instrument. So, I assume it's very similar to learning art.

And Snoopy was a lot easier to draw than these anime characters!

 

[Marksmomagain]

At my favorite thrift store I picked up three framed watercolors. I get a lot a of my frames from thrift stores but I also build some in my wood shop. I almost always save the painting or drawing as I just cant bring myself to throw out someone's work.These three framed pieces are all framed w conservation glass. First time I've acquired framed art from a thrift store w this glass. Two are 16x20 and one is 11x14. One of them I'm going to keep as it is and find a place to hang in my house. I paid $9.95ea. for the two larger ones $6 for the smaller one. They also had some Liquitex acrylics hues and some unmarked canvases, but I didn't need (or want) those...

 

[john]

One summer when I was 19 I taught a nature class at a day camp for kids. Luckily the classes came with their own chaperones but it was completely up to me to figure out how to do this. So to tire them out we played White Pine and Oak team running games. I had them running back and forth between the trees. What power. Then I would have them do arty stuff like making collages with leaves and flowers. The boys would be too tired to complain and the girls generally liked it. Looking back I don't how I did it and it gives me some appreciation for what teachers do.

******************

As far as art supplies I just got a proper, dual mast H frame easel. I've been painting larger in oils and working around not having an easel in various ways but none were ideal. Especially now that I'm doing more painting-knife work I needed something sturdy. It's this one from Blick. It's exciting but I hope made the right move. At least now I have one less excuse not to paint.

 

[Artyczar]

John, congrats on that easel. That looks like a nice one!

 

[16ga]

I found these at a used book store yesterday and picked them up for $4 each.

I know I keep saying I need to move away from soft pastels but then I keep buying stuff for them. I'm starting to think that I need to see a therapist. lol