School Paints: Free Painting Activities for teachers in the classroom

Know your Colours | By Artist Ron Gribble www.rongribble.com Follow us on Pinterest , Facebook , Twitter , Goggle Plus and Flipboard .    Know your colours It does not matter what colours that you are using on your Pallet, you need to know them inside out!! Therefore it is reasonable to keep these colour to a minimum, without restricting your combinations. I have kept to the same colours, with very small variations for about 35 years. The first consideration in choosing these colours is the colour fast qualities of each. I have two options for each of the varieties below, one lighter in value, and one darker in value; Warm reds, earth colours, blues, yellow or orange, greens, and of course white. It does not matter what colours you start with, you should not change them unless you have a very good reason.  Colours This way, you will know EXACTLY what happens when you combine them in a mix. I have begun to try different colours to check that I have not been...

Using and reading the Colour Wheel: Follow us on Pinterest , Facebook , Twitter , Goggle Plus and Flipboard .   The colour wheel is a great guide used to understand the theory of colour and of mixing colours that go well together. So how does it work? Find the 3 Primary Colours - Red, yellow and blue on the wheel.   Notice how they are evenly split around the wheel. Find the colour directly in between any two primary colours on the wheel. E xample: Find - Yellow & Red the colour in between is Orange. This colour (orange) is made my mixing two primaries either side.   The same can be done with the other primary colours R ed & Blue = Violet Yellow & Blue = Green Follow us on Pinterest , Facebook , Twitter , Goggle Plus and Flipboard .

Subject Master: What to Paint By Ron Gribble So often I see people who are trying to learn how to paint and they choose to paint a portrait of their friend, son or daughter.   Often, it is their dog or cat that gets the treatment. I know that what one artist thinks is difficult, another will find easier, but I have never met one artist yet who has found the above subjects easy! Portrait of Norman Rockwell Painting the Soda Jerk Why are portraits so hard? Several reasons actually… 1.        Every one of us is an expert on the anatomy of humans and animals. We may not be able to recall and draw every detail, but if you get it slightly wrong even a young child knows there is something that doesn’t look right.   Eyes too small or one above the other, nose in the wrong place, relative to other details, mouth too big, not straight or ears in the wrong position.   A variation of a tiny fraction of a millimetre can m...

Teachers Tips on ideas for making art in the classroom: Always try to use the best materials that you can lay your hands on for each art lesson. Safe non-toxic paints with bright colours will give much better results than cheaper watery colours. Paper weight also makes a huge difference on the outcome of a painting. Promote fearfulness. New techniques sometimes require more than one go at it.   Let the children know that they are trying a new technique today and play with it and get fun ideas. Then the next day you can do this again using the ideas learnt today. This will get a no fear creative flow going. Try to use thoughtful language when working with children.   For example.   “Tell me about what you are painting” works much better than saying “what is that you are painting?”    Supervision: This is not just about safety.   Children are much more creative when they feel emotionally attached to what they are trying to create. ...

How do YOU get paint out of clothing? FAS: Total Wash Kids Paint [ Follow us on Facebook  and Pinterest  ]   One of the questions most often asked about children’s paint is, "Is it washable?" Really totally washable from kids clothing? Parents often get annoyed when children come home with paint on their clothes. More than often the most colourful paints are "mostly washable" but not completely. And even with "washable" paints, the reds, dark blues and purples and some of the other colours don’t wash out completely. Stain Removers: There are stain removers that wash out the pigment but it still leaves a slight residual stain.  This is worst on lighter fabrics. Sometimes the chemicals in the stain removers react with the paint chemicals and set about helping to set the stain rather than removing it. We have tested some of the top international known brands and have found they don’t completely washout. That is why they ...

Primary Colours School Paints: Follow us on Pinterest , Facebook , Twitter , Goggle Plus and Flipboard .   Red , Yellow and Blue are the primary colours. Primary means first, so when you think of these three colours, think of them as the first colours.   Each one is a pure colour that cannot be created through the mixing of other colours. They are colours in their own right. The three primary colours can be seen below RED - YELLOW - BLUE. These three primary colours are ones you mix together to make all other colours. Primary colours are really bright and bold. This is because each one is pure, with no other colour mixed in with it.   This also means that they really stand out when you use them in your artwork. Mixing primary colours together creates the secondary colours. Secondary Colours: These colours are made from mixing the 3 primary colours together. Like Red and Yellow make Orange. Yellow and Blue make Green Blue ...

How do you mix a colour as dark as black, without black??  by Ron Gribble. How do you mix a colour as dark as black, without black?? I use a very dark blue, like Ultramarine, or Thalo, and mix it equally with a dark red, like Alizarin Crimson. These opposites tend to cancel each other out, and the result is a very dark neutral colour. You can add more of one or the other to make it tend towards hot or cold, or equal amounts to make it neutral. One thing that I look for though, is to make the colour "believable". The two pigments are very strong, and need toning down with an earth colour. If you make it as dark an earth colour as you can, you will still have a deep rich, almost black. I use Burnt Sienna, and add little at a time until I have the colour I need. This idea with Burnt Sienna is a good one to remember whenever you are mixing any very strong pigments together. Colour mixing; RULE TO NEVER BE BROKEN . 1. Add little bits at a time. Mix it together, and a...

COLOUR :  by Ron Gribble [ Follow us on Facebook  and Pinterest  ]   Lets look at colour. There is so much that can be said about it. We all know what colour is, but how do we mix it? How do we control it? How do you decide what colour you want, and where? How do we use complimentary colours? After a demonstration that I did at the Downtown Hilton Art Gallery once, a chap said to me that he had observed that I spent 80% of my time mixing colours!!! That leaves only 20% for all the other things!! It seems to me that we should be devoting a similar proportion of time in research and practice for this activity. I suggest that everyone should have a simple colour wheel beside their easel!! Go down to the hardware shop and pick one up. The colour wheel is very basic knowledge you could say. You left that behind at school, right? Then why is it that I see a very bad lack of the use of the colour wheel in paintings? Maybe, like me you did not fully...

Application & Personality: By Ron Gribble If you cannot do more than a photograph, then why take a photograph in the first place and save yourself a lot of time and agony! This is to a large degree my personal opinion, but it is also the opinion of many top art judges who allocate points to what they call "application" and "flair". In brief, how was the Paint or other medium applied? With confidence? Accurately but boldly? Can we see the artist's personality in the way he applies the medium? Does this application contribute to the over-all mood of the work? Lets look at a portrait for example. Is it rendered with brush strokes that are bold and angular to depict movement, or youth, or vertical and horizontal to depict a more conservative subject? I often see work that is very well done, but too photographic. The artist has used too little personal flair. This is a real problem when painting a portrait of a person or animal, that has to be abs...

UNDER-PAINTING: by Rob Gribble I first prepared the board by applying an acrylic, warm, mid tone colour to cover the white board. This is a lot more helpful than the dead plain white of the canvas. Light is warm, so whatever I am painting, this warm colour will not fight against my efforts. Once this is dry, apply what I call the TINT COLOUR . These pigments will be used in variations, throughout the painting. THESE PIGMENTS ARE ULTRAMARINE BLUE, ALIZARINE CRIMSON, COERULEUM BLUE. (There are many spellings of this pigment). I mixed these first in acrylic, as this will dry quickly, and be more stable as an under-painting. The patterns of colour that you will see (page 3) are random. I did allow the tint to be thicker where I intend to place the bluff and details however. I am going to attempt to work through a complete painting from start to finish.   I suggest that you read this whole demonstration through several times before you attempt to paint i...

Painting looses is no excuse... By Ron Gribble  [ Follow us on Facebook  and Pinterest  ]   When I see a painting that is painted ‘loose’, I immediately look to see if it is accurate in the draughmanship. By loose, I mean ‘Broad brush’, with impasto brushstrokes, or like pallet knife work. I had this discussion once with an ‘educated’ artist – who suffered many years in art school to learn the trendy definitions but with little practical application. I pointed out that is you want to illustrate a subject (in this case, a boat) in a landscape there are certain rules to obey.  My friendly degree holder retorted, “There are no rules in art”.  My response was “If that is true, what did you spend six years learning”?  I did not get an answer! Of course there are rules, a you must obey them if you want to accurately give the impression of the subject. The trick id to them so well that you know how to bend them, and which ones to bend, to ...

By Ron Gribble I will attempt to address the composition in artist painting question. That is, the arrangement of the elements, of a subject to compliment the focal points and create a harmonious, inviting place for the viewers eye to rest in. Probably not the best definition in the world, but will do for now. To achieve all of the above, a good composition should have all or most of the following: : Foreground, : Mid-ground, : Background : Eyepath : Primary point of interest : Area of mystery : Non-geometric arrangement of elements There is a lot of personal preference involved in all of this, but lets take a ‘broad brush’ look. Foreground, Mid-ground and Background: Yes, even still life, or ‘key hole’ subjects. You should be showing depth. One of the three maybe very under stated, but leave it out altogether at your own risk. Eye Path: That is, an element of work that guides the viewer though and into the point of interest and deposit in the ‘area of m...

Artist Paint Application. By Ron Gribble   This is one of the most neglected areas in painting courses. The bottom line is that you, the artists have to decide the application that suits that particular subject. Loosely applied, bold, exposed brush strokes Fine glazes Smaller detailed brush strokes Palette knife Variations such as ‘spatter’, or ‘scaffitto’, ‘scrumbling’ etc. I would like to give some overall “things to look out for”! A bold apparent loose style is a lot more “painterly” and has a lot more character than the alternative detailed.  If you are very talented as a draftsman and your style is developed the fine detail may well be for you.  However most artists tend to over-work a painting when using a smaller brush.  The work becomes boring repetitive and predictable. Often when completing an important detail I will go back to into that area specifically to make it more bold.  I will over paint an area that is correct, with a larger br...