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Tuesday, November 25, 2014

more from sketchbook skool

I just finished my sketchbook skull "beginnings" class. It was a great 6 weeks. It really pushed me to keep drawing, and to try new things. One week between new lessons barely felt like enough time to explore the learnings and then I was off to something new. Even though I was eager to see the next lesson, I think I would have enjoyed having two weeks to explore and draw between the lessons. Here are a few more views from my lessons.



this is the clutter corner in my kitchen!

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Palm Leaf Poetry Books--a classroom project

I've already written about the squash-fold hanging poetry books here and here and here. Those were done in a joint project with 2nd and 6th grade classrooms (working in mixed-age pairs). Here's another classroom project I did with the same pair of teachers, two years earlier. Again, it was part of their poetry writing unit. I wrote about it briefly once before, but am updating it to include instructions.

Based on the palm-leaf books of SE Asia, our hanging books had 4 "pages" with mat-board covers top and bottom. We first discussed possible layouts of text and illustrations, and then made draft pages on copy paper sheets in pencil. Second grade students used pages with lines for their text; sixth graders used blank pages. Books were woven together with waxed linen thread leaving a long tail with a button at the top, both for hanging and to wrap around the folded pages when closed. Pages were made from white tag board; covers were cut from colored mat-board. All covers and pages were cut and pre-punched at my local printers. Labels were designed by the students, usually a title on one cover, their name on the other.

Want to try this project in your own classroom? Download instructions, draft sheets and printing sheets here.

Here are some examples of students' books:








Here is a hand-out I made that shows possible layouts of text and illustration.






Monday, November 3, 2014

Sketchbook Skool

I've been taking the "beginnings" course from Sketchbook Skool. The first of 3 current offerings. I'm in week 4, and am really enjoying it. It's a six-week online course, and each week features a different teacher that uses a sketchbook in their own creative practice. I love the diversity of approaches, and am learning lots of helpful tips about sketching on the go. It's a nice change to be drawing from life (outside, buildings, natural objects, household items etc) instead of creating from my imagination. Check out their website: www.sketchbookskool.com

Here are a few of my sketches from the homework assignments: