Last year at this time I had written only 35,182 words (70%). That's right. I was behind schedule last year on the 22nd. (Though I suppose it's only fair to note that Nov. 22, 2007 was Thanksgiving.)
This year I will finish well before Thanksgiving! 50K by Monday night!
Saturday, November 22, 2008
NaNoWriMo
Just had to post my word count today. I wrote more than 5,000 words today which is more than I've ever written on a novel in one day. And I passed 44,000 words. Woo!
44051 / 50000 words. 88% done!
Friday, November 21, 2008
Happy Birthday, Rene Magritte!
Today is the anniversary of Rene Magritte's birth. Wish him a happy birthday by learning about his life and art, creating your own Magritte masterpiece, or reading Dinner at Magritte's by Michael Garland!
Dinner at Magritte's by Michael Garland
Dinner at Magritte’s, by Michael Garland, is a great introduction to Surrealism, Rene Magritte, and Salvador Dali.
Pierre lives in the country outside of Paris. He is very bored because there are no other children to play with. One day he goes to visit his neighbor, Rene Magritte, and the evening is anything but boring!
While Pierre watches Magritte paint, Magritte teaches him about how he paints and why he paints the things he does. Pierre, Magritte, and Salvador Dali play croquet, eat dinner, and play charades. Sounds like an ordinary evening but nothing the Surrealists do is ordinary.
In the illustrations, you’ll notice pieces from paintings by Magritte and Dali. Every ordinary activity is shown in surrealistic glory. At one point, Pierre races through the rain as cats and dogs fall from the sky all around him. Later, Salvador Dali joins them for dinner which features flying fish soup with real flying fish.
You’ll discover something new and surprising in the illustrations every time you read this book. And you’ll want to read it over and over.
Return to main page.
________________________________
My Current NaNoWriMo Word Count:
39030 / 50000 words. 78% done!
Pierre lives in the country outside of Paris. He is very bored because there are no other children to play with. One day he goes to visit his neighbor, Rene Magritte, and the evening is anything but boring!
While Pierre watches Magritte paint, Magritte teaches him about how he paints and why he paints the things he does. Pierre, Magritte, and Salvador Dali play croquet, eat dinner, and play charades. Sounds like an ordinary evening but nothing the Surrealists do is ordinary.
In the illustrations, you’ll notice pieces from paintings by Magritte and Dali. Every ordinary activity is shown in surrealistic glory. At one point, Pierre races through the rain as cats and dogs fall from the sky all around him. Later, Salvador Dali joins them for dinner which features flying fish soup with real flying fish.
You’ll discover something new and surprising in the illustrations every time you read this book. And you’ll want to read it over and over.
Return to main page.
________________________________
My Current NaNoWriMo Word Count:
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Create Your Own Magritte Masterpiece
Yesterday you learned about the Surrealist painter, Rene Magritte. The project I’m sharing with you today was inspired by his painting, The Dominion of Light. In The Dominion of Light, Magritte painted night and day in the same painting. He thought that including both night and day in one scene would give the viewer a nice surprise. I think he was right!
Supplies Needed:
Two photos of the same scene taken in different light
Scissors
Glue stick
The pictures I chose I shown below. I printed my pictures onto plain white copy paper instead of photo paper. It’s easier to work with the pictures this way and it’s less expensive.
Supplies Needed:
Two photos of the same scene taken in different light
Scissors
Glue stick
The pictures I chose I shown below. I printed my pictures onto plain white copy paper instead of photo paper. It’s easier to work with the pictures this way and it’s less expensive.
Look at your pictures and decide which pieces you want to use. I knew I wanted the walkway in my picture but it was buried under snow in the nighttime picture. I also liked the way the tree truck from the nighttime photo fit together with the colorful leaves in the daytime photo.When you have decided what to keep, cut out your pieces. I recommend keeping one photo complete and adding piece from the other photo on top of it. You do not have to cut straight lines, like I did. Let your imagination guide you.
Lay your pieces where you want them. When you’re happy with your picture, glue down your pieces.
Return to main page. ________________________________
My Current NaNoWriMo Word Count:
Another slow day yesterday.
I hit a roadblock but I think I’ve
fixed the problem. The write-in
tonight should help.
tonight should help.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Rene Magritte
Rene Magritte was a Surrealist painter who was born in Belgium in 1898. He wanted people to look at ordinary things in different ways. He sometimes painted objects in places were they didn’t usually belong, like in Time Transfixed in which a train is coming out of a fireplace. Other times, Magritte confused the foreground (the things at the front of the painting) with the background, like in Blank Signature, The Large Family, and The Seducer.
Magritte did not enjoy school, and he knew he wanted to paint, so he went to the Academie dex Beaux-Arts in Brussels to study art. During this time, he worked to find his own style. He tried cubism and futurism (which I have not yet posted about) but neither would become his style. Instead, he painted in the Surrealist style.
He got married in 1922 and designed wallpaper and posters in order to make enough money to live.
Magritte was not a huge success right away. In 1927 he had a one-man show that did very poorly. Critics did not like his artwork.
He moved to Paris to work with other Surrealists. After three years in Paris he disliked the other Surrealists so much that he moved back to Brussels and burned everything that reminded him the Surrealists. He continued to paint in the Surrealist style and as the Surrealists became more popular, so did Magritte.
He experimented with other styles during his life, including Impressionism and a style he called Vache which poked fun of Fauvism. Magritte, still unhappy about the time he spent in Paris, disliked the French and wanted to annoy them by making fun of their art. He returned to Surrealism at the end of his life.
Magritte died in 1967.
Magritte is well-known for including men in bowler hats in his paintings. He often wore a bowler hat himself and, though you usually can’t see the men’s faces, these paintings are commonly thought of as self-portraits.
I especially like Magritte’s paintings of paintings, like this one and this one.
I should also mention that he created several paintings that included a picture of an object and a sentence that the object wasn't what it seemed to be. For example, he painted a picture of a pipe and the words “Ceci n’est pas une pipe,” which means “This is not a pipe.” He wanted to point out that the names we give things are completely random. Why is a pipe called a pipe? Couldn’t it just as easily have been called a snoolo or a dorbling?
Tomorrow I’ll show you how to make your own Magritte-inspired masterpiece. (I promise. It’s already ready to go.)
Return to main page.
_________________
My Current NaNoWriMo Word Count:
36631 / 50000 words. 73% done!
Tuesday’s NaNoWriMo Word Count:
33784 / 50000 words. 68% done!
Monday’s NaNoWriMo Word Count:
32867 / 50000 words. 66% done!
Magritte did not enjoy school, and he knew he wanted to paint, so he went to the Academie dex Beaux-Arts in Brussels to study art. During this time, he worked to find his own style. He tried cubism and futurism (which I have not yet posted about) but neither would become his style. Instead, he painted in the Surrealist style.
He got married in 1922 and designed wallpaper and posters in order to make enough money to live.
Magritte was not a huge success right away. In 1927 he had a one-man show that did very poorly. Critics did not like his artwork.
He moved to Paris to work with other Surrealists. After three years in Paris he disliked the other Surrealists so much that he moved back to Brussels and burned everything that reminded him the Surrealists. He continued to paint in the Surrealist style and as the Surrealists became more popular, so did Magritte.
He experimented with other styles during his life, including Impressionism and a style he called Vache which poked fun of Fauvism. Magritte, still unhappy about the time he spent in Paris, disliked the French and wanted to annoy them by making fun of their art. He returned to Surrealism at the end of his life.
Magritte died in 1967.
Magritte is well-known for including men in bowler hats in his paintings. He often wore a bowler hat himself and, though you usually can’t see the men’s faces, these paintings are commonly thought of as self-portraits.
I especially like Magritte’s paintings of paintings, like this one and this one.
I should also mention that he created several paintings that included a picture of an object and a sentence that the object wasn't what it seemed to be. For example, he painted a picture of a pipe and the words “Ceci n’est pas une pipe,” which means “This is not a pipe.” He wanted to point out that the names we give things are completely random. Why is a pipe called a pipe? Couldn’t it just as easily have been called a snoolo or a dorbling?
Tomorrow I’ll show you how to make your own Magritte-inspired masterpiece. (I promise. It’s already ready to go.)
Return to main page.
_________________
My Current NaNoWriMo Word Count:
Tuesday’s NaNoWriMo Word Count:
Monday’s NaNoWriMo Word Count:
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