The Big Draw - October

I love the idea of The Big Draw, an international celebration of drawing, started in the UK in 2000. One of these days I hope to organize a local Big Draw event - until then, check out The Big Draw LA's website and see what events are going on around the Southland. If you are interested in helping me organize a local event (maybe next year) - please contact me!



Make Your Mark in Exposition Park -

Sunday, 16 October, 2011

12:00 PM - 04:00 PM

Join Ryman Arts, the Natural History Museum and California African American Museum on a Make Your Mark in Exposition Park drawing activity. Help create a continuous drawing that winds its way around the Park, drawing the exciting activities and beautiful gardens before you. Teen artists will be there to help you "make your mark", no experience required. Help us create the longest drawing of an afternoon in the Park! Later, the long collaborative drawing will be photographed and will become a scrolling panorama on the web. Click here for details

See the scrolling panorama of the continuous drawing from last year's Make Your Mark in Exposition Park with Ryman Arts on the home page of thebigdrawla.org!

LET’S DRAW TOGETHER! (from the Big Draw LA website) Why not get young people, artists, seniors, scientists, and teens drawing together? Ryman Arts is partnered with Los Angeles museums and other organizations to present the The Big Draw LA 2011. Together, Los Angelenos will expand the boundaries of drawing, experimenting not only with pencils, paint, charcoal, and digital imagery, but also with sand, clay, choreographed movement—anything that makes a mark! Participation is open to all, and organizations of all sizes and kinds, from established institutions to small groups, are invited to sponsor, organize,or host an event during the month of October. Drawing is a universal language, connecting generations, cultures, and communities. Children draw to make sense of the world before they learn to write. Yet most adults, given a pencil, claim: “I can’t draw!” The Big Draw aims to remove this barrier and create opportunities for people of all ages to discover that drawing can make us SEE, THINK, and INVENT. The Big Draw L.A. is the first event of its kind on the West Coast and is inspired by the wildly popular Big Draw in London. The Big Draw LA is committed to promoting inclusiveness and offering a diversity of drawing experiences. Presenting organizations will register events open to the public online at www.thebigdrawla.org. Following The Big Draw L.A., presenting organizations may apply for the Drawing Inspiration Award (awarded to multiple organizations) that honors outstanding The Big Draw L.A. activities, big and small.

Draw and Foldover - a drawing

I just posted about Draw and Foldover. You can look at the drawings that people have done (disclaimer: there might be objectionable drawings on that site so be aware) and you can see them being drawn - always fun to watch an artist at work!

Draw and Foldover - interactive drawing

I found Draw and Foldover last year from The Big Draw and I had forgotten about it. It's a game that I showed the class on one of the Magical Mondays where you take a piece of paper, fold it and then take turns drawing on one of the folded sections. Each person draws on just one section, then passes it on to the next person who is not allowed to peek at the previous drawing/s. When it's done, the paper is unfolded and the random drawing revealed! I just learned recently from my I'm So Bored The Doodle Notebook that this is called exquisite corpse - a strange name for sure but a fun way to exercise your creative muscles.

Go play the game - they give you the drawing tools and all you need is your computer and mouse/touchpad. Plus, someone's email to send your drawing to. If you play, please feel free to send your drawing to me - I'd love to play!

Artist: Jayme McGowan

Jayme McGowan. This amazing artist makes neat art by cutting all kinds of paper and building layers to form an image. Check it out on Roadside Projects. It's so cool!

ArtWalk on the Bay

I'll post art events as I find out about them on my blog. Here's one that is coming up in September. ArtWalk on the Bay. I took my girls to the (related) Mission Federal ArtWalk in Little Italy over the summer and we all enjoyed every minute of it. Rows and Rows (aisles and aisles) of artists booths - all kinds of art styles. So much to take in if you like art. They have kids activities too - check it all out on their website!

Also - September is Arts Month in San Diego!

Zombie Prom Art Exhibit @ Nucleus

At Gallery Nucleus! It's a Zombie Prom art exhibit. It's an all-ages exhibit so if your kids like this kind of art (or if you do) go check it out. I haven't yet been to the gallery, but found out about them a couple months ago when I happened upon their Harry Potter tribute art exhibit. He's doing a drawing demo too!

Here's more about Zombie Prom - from Gallery Nucleus' website. Join us as we follow the lovable zombie, Mortimer, on his search for a date to the Cupid’s Ball. He tries wooing girls with worm-infested chocolates, bloody human hearts, and stunning diamond rings (with fingers still intact). He even reads up on love advice, serenades women on sidewalks, and takes ballroom dancing lessons, but nothing seems to impress the ladies. When Mortimer places an ad in the newspaper in the hopes of finding a sweetheart, will he finally meet the love of his afterlife?

Find out as Nucleus presents an exhibition of charming illustrations straight from Scott C’s forthcoming children’s book, Zombie in Love, written by bestselling author Kelly DiPucchio. The featured artwork from the book’s pages, old favorites from Scott C’s previous Nucleus shows, and copies of the book will all be available for purchase.

art project.Wax dripped paper

My friend Dixie from West Virginia shared this art project with me. I haven't tried it yet, but it sounds like an interesting art project to try out. I don't get the newspaper, but when I find someone who will give me some I'll try this out. It kind of sounds like how to do batik fabric dye-ing...?

My daughter Jenna is an art teacher, yesterday she came over and we dripped candle wax all over old book pages. After round 1, let dry and then paint one wash of water color paint. Let dry. Round 2 Repeat round 1 different color. Do as many rounds as u like. Just keep in mind what colors make brown. After completely dry, fold newspaper around art work, hot iron the art work wrapped in newspaper. This may take several clean sheets of newspaper to completely take the wax off the art. You will love the results!