John James Audubon

Happy New Year! I know, I'm a little late. I had a fun vacation in Florida, though, and now I'm ready to write about art again. It's worth noting, I think, that I'm beginning this year with my 100th post! If you've never been here before, please flip through the other articles and projects and let me know what you think!

And now, on to John James Audubon...



For John James Audubon, painting began as a hobby. His major interest was studying birds. He was the first person to track the habits of birds by tying string around their ankles. When you go to the zoo, you’ll notice that many of the animals have tags somewhere, maybe clipped to their ears or attached around their legs. Audubon began this.
While he studied birds he made his living by running a general store in Kentucky. He experienced many successful years before the business failed and he had to close his doors. This led him to commit to his study nature and his paint because he now had the time to lend to his passions.
In order to paint and draw the birds, Audubon first killed them and arranged each into a natural position. This may seem like a terrible thing but by killing each bird and studying it before drawing, Audubon was able to create pictures that were more realistic than any done before them.
Audubon could not convince anyone in the United States to publish his drawings so he took them to England. His paintings were combined into a book called Birds of America and he became an instant success among the British who were fascinated by Audubon’s pictures of rural America. He even caught the attention of King George IV who made him a fellow of London’s Royal Society and he spoke at a conference that Charles Darwin attended.

After John James Audubon’s death, the Audubon Society was founded in his honor. The Society now prints the best (in my opinion) nature guides just like Audubon’s Birds of America was the best guide to American birds in its day.

Scattered through this article are copies of Audubon’s original paintings: the Roseate Spoonbill, the White Pelican, and the White Headed Eagle.

Return to main page.

Create Your Own Edible Painting

Merry Christmas Eve! This is the last project before Christmas so enjoy. Paint a few of these while you’re baking other cookies for a little edible art.

Supplies Needed:

Sugar Cookie Dough
Rolling Pin
Parchment Paper
Cookie Cutter
Light Corn Syrup
Food Coloring
Paintbrushes
Small Cups

Bake your sugar cookies according the direction on the package. You can, instead, use your own recipe or buy undecorated sugar cookies already made from the grocery store. If you bake your own, let them cool completely before painting on them.

Pour some light corn syrup into several small cups. You’ll want about a teaspoon in each. Squeeze one drop of food coloring into each cup and stir to make your paints. To make the black color I just mixed one drop of each color (and two drops of red) to one of the cups. The other colors are standard food coloring colors.

Use a clean paintbrush, preferably one that has never been used, and paint your cooled sugar cookies. The paint is very sticky and you must wash the paintbrush in the sink between each color. For this reason, it would be useful to have a different paintbrush for each color.

Please note that the colors run together if you don’t wait for the paint to dry between each; however, the paint dries extremely slowly. I painted mine all in one sitting and I think they came out fine.


Also note that the Jackson Pollock inspired cookies are very messy to make. Place a cookie on a plate, set it in the sink, and then splatter paint like I did (shown in the picture below). Have a parent help you with this one.
Below are pictures of my cookie masterpieces, inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright stained-glass windows, Jackson Pollock, and Piet Mondrian. I thought I had posted on Wright stained-glass but I guess not. So below the cookie, notice the inspiration.




I think they turned out quite nicely. Use any artist for inspiration or paint your own pictures using the fun recipe.

Return to main page.

The Wright 3 by Blue Balliett

I know I said I’d post on a topic related to yesterday’s post, the painting demonstration but I want to show you a specific picture that I can’t seem to find. Last week I had a computer crash and, while I am certain I have those pictures backed up somewhere, I’m sure where there are. So it will have to wait for another time.

It’s been awhile since I posted a book review and I have come across a novel, meant for ages 8-12, in which a Frank Lloyd Wright house is a character. Sounds pretty cool, huh? It’s called The Wright 3, by Blue Balliett, and is the sequel to Chasing Vermeer.

Robie House, a Wright-designed house in Chicago, Illinois, is being threatened with demolition. Petra, Calder, and Tommy must learn to get along as a trio and use their diverse talents to save to house. But they aren’t the only ones determined to save the Wright’s creations; Robie House itself is determined to fight back.

Balliett does an excellent job of providing details about Robie House and about Frank Lloyd Wright. I recommend, however, that you bookmark this page so you can look at the pictures of Robie House, shown below, as you read.

Return to main page.

Painting Demonstration

I have been quite busy this week, finishing up the school year at the middle school where I have been working, making last minute Christmas preparations, and getting ready for a trip to Florida where I will spend the holidays with my family. These things add up to a short post today. I didn't want to leave you completely art-less so here's something I have been waiting to share with you at the right moment.

I came across a website a few months ago where some painting demonstrations had been posted. I found it very interesting to see all the steps that go into creating a realistic painting. Notice that the artist, William Whitaker, first drew a rough sketch of the painting and then slowly filled everything in, layering paint onto paint. It must have taken a long time to fully polish a painting like this!

There are a few other demonstrations on the site but you should look at this one especially. It seems that you would paint the background first and then layer the girl on top but that's not the best way to do it, as you can see in the demonstration. If you were to paint the background first, the colors and textures of the paint would show through the foreground subject (the girl).

Tomorrow I'll post on a related topic.

Return to main page.

Color Your Own Christmas Ornament

This project was more difficult than I expected so you’ll see pictures of the ornament I made but the directions will modify the project to make it simpler.

Supplied Needed:

White Tissue Paper
Crayons
White Glue
Water
Container with a pour-spout
Paintbrush
Glass Ornament
Glitter
Scissors
Tweezers

Draw a pattern onto the tissue paper using your crayons. I drew music notes but you would be better off drawing one larger picture like a Christmas tree or a bell. Cut out the picture. You should cut away as much of the excess tissue paper as possible. Remove the metal cap from your glass ornament and set it aside. Paint a thin coat of white glue onto the inside of the ornament where you would like the image to appear.

Push the picture into the ornament with your tweezers. Stick it to the glue so the drawing shows through the glass. Use the back of your paintbrush the secure the picture to the ornament. Make the image as smooth as possible.

In your container, mix 1/3 white glue with 2/3 water. Pour the mixture into the ornament and shake it so the glue coats the inside. Dump out the extra glue mixture.

Pour some glitter into the ornament and shake. The glitter will stick to the inside of the ornament. Dump out the extra glitter.

Replace the metal cap and tie some ribbon or attach a hanger to your ornament.

Click here for more Christmas crafts.

Return to main page.