Paint Your Own Bookmark

Yes, it’s a second bookmark project. Can you really have too many, though? Today, you’ll paint your own picture before turning it into a bookmark.

Supplies Needed:

Crayons
Watercolor paints
Paintbrush
Construction paper
Thick watercolor or sketch paper
Scissors
Ribbon
Glue Stick
Hole punch
Ruler
I decided to make a fall-themed bookmark but you can choose any subject you want to paint. In crayon, draw the outline of your picture or design onto your thick paper. Add any details that you want to stand out. Make sure to press hard with your crayon. The watercolor will not stick to the waxy crayon and your outlines will show through. When you’re happy with your picture, fill it in with watercolors. Watercolor dries pretty quickly but you’ll want to make sure to wait until it is completely dry before you continue.
Use your ruler to cut a bookmark-sized rectangle out of your painting. Choose the most interesting strip of the painting. Use your ruler to mark where you want to cut. It doesn’t matter how thick you make your bookmark (as long as it isn’t thicker than a book!) or how long you make it. Cut it out.

Next, spread glue over the back of your bookmark picture. Glue the picture to your piece of construction paper and then trim away the extra. If you’re feeling fancy, try trimming your paper with decorative-edge scissors.
Punch a hole near the top of your book mark. Fold your ribbon in half and thread the folded end through the hole. Run the ends of the ribbon through the loop and tighten.
If you’d like, write the date and your name (as the artist) on the back of your bookmark. Enjoy your bookmark at home or at school, or give it to a friend or relative as a gift!

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Create Your Own Fine Art Bookmark

Today I’ll show you how to make your own fine art bookmark. This project is quick and easy and you probably already have everything you need to complete it.

If you’re anything like me, you have tons of old art calendars lying around. If you’re not like me, you can find a picture online and print it off yourself. You’ll want to use paper that is thicker than your average printer paper. Try white construction paper. The archives of this site are a good place to start your search for a picture.

Supplies Needed:

Calendar page
Construction paper
Scissors
Ribbon
Glue Stick
Hole punch
Ruler
Choose an interesting strip of the painting and use your ruler to mark where you want to cut. It doesn’t matter how thick you make your bookmark (as long as it isn’t thicker than a book!) or how long you make it. Cut it out.

Next, spread glue over the back of your bookmark picture. Glue the picture to your piece of construction paper and then trim away the extra. If you’re feeling fancy, Try trimming your paper with decorative-edge scissors.
Punch a hole near the top of your book mark. Fold your ribbon in half and thread the folded end through the hole. Run the ends of the ribbon through the loop and tighten.
If you’d like, write the date, the artist, and the painting on the back of your bookmark. My bookmark is a detail from Vincent van Gogh's Starry Night Over the Rhone. If you're inspired to, make several bookmarks from the same picture. Now you have a beautiful bookmark to use when you go back to school!

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Create Your Own Kaleidoscope

We haven't been having enough fun around here lately. I'm going to post a lot more art and craft projects in the next couple weeks. Fun is what summer break is for, after all!

I found this great project today. It is definitely a project for older kids and they will need adult help. Fortunately, adults will like this project, too! If you want to make this a family project, younger children can help their older brother or sister or parent by gluing sequins and beads to the lid (but they should use a more kid-safe glue).

In case you had the same idea that I had, aluminum foil cannot be used instead of reflective contact paper. It isn't shiny enough and the beads and sequins don't reflect like they would in a real kaleidoscope.

I also tried using wax paper and tissue paper instead of a plastic lid with beads and sequins. That doesn't work either. Follow the directions and the result is beautiful. Your own working, handmade kaleidoscope!

Here is the link to the video at eHow.

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Phidias and Classical Greek Sculpture

Phidias was a great Greek sculptor who lived and worked during the Classical Period of Greek art. During the Classical Period (440BC- 323BC), sculptors were interested in showing people and animals from all sides and from all angles. Sculptors wanted people to be able to walk around their sculptures and admire every part of them. They still carved decorations into walls, but they produced more large, free-standing sculpture.

During the Classical Period, artists focused on learning how to create perfect bodies. Sculptures were meant to celebrate man as the perfect creation of the gods. Sculpture didn’t show fat or wrinkles. Instead, it showed strong, muscular bodies.
Phidias was an important sculptor during the Classical Period. He directed the sculptors who created the Parthenon friezes (sculptures that are set into walls) at the Parthenon. Experts believe that Phidias designed the building and decoration. He also created the sculpture of Athena that stood at the Parthenon. Above is an example of a relief from the Parthenon.
Experts also believe that Phidias created that huge sculpture of Zeus that stood at the Temple of Zeus at Olympia. The sculpture was seven times the size of a man. It was carved from ivory and decorated with gold. It is counted among the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World. Above is a drawing of what the sculpture may have looked like.

More about Greek art:

Geometric Period

Archaic Period

Decorate Your Own Greek Vase

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Art Fraud Detective by Anna Nilsen

I was at the book store yesterday and came across a great book. Anna Nilsen’s Art Fraud Detective is a clever find-the-difference book that allows readers to compare paintings to slightly messed-up fakes.

The pages are split with the fakes on the top and the originals on the bottom. Each original painting appears next to an artist biography. The biographies are written for ages 9-12 but younger children can also enjoy studying the paintings.

Some paintings have not been changed, some have only one change, some have two, three, or four. Each painting that has been replaced with a fake includes a hidden symbol that tells you who created the fake. When you have studied every painting and discovered who created the fakes, you will be able to solve the big mystery: who is the good guy?

The book includes 34 paintings. Many are by artists you have already read about on this blog. Van Eyck, Botticelli, Raphael, da Vinci, Brueghel, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Degas, Monet, Seurat, Rousseau, van Gogh, and Picasso are all featured in Art Fraud Detective.

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