Dan's Truck

June 6, 2015

Dan’s Truck

When I arrived this morning, Cannon was excited to show me the gift Dan had sent him. It was a model of an eighteen-wheeler like the one he drives.

I asked mom who Dan was and she replied, “Dan Kennedy is a childhood friend of Leonard’s.  Dan is an 18-wheeler truck driver. Cannon has never met him in person. Initially they communicated through Leonard (cell or text) and now they message each other through Facebook.   Dan sent him the truck because he knew that Cannon loved the big trucks.  He has sent him other gifts over the years too.  Cannon and Leonard hope to visit Dan in Texas and see a Dallas Cowboys game together.”

Cannon pointed out all of the features of the truck and it was clear that the truck would be our inspiration for this lesson.

Cannon is just the right age to fit into what Viktor Lowenfeld (Creative Growth and Development) calls the “The Gang Stage -The Dawning of Realism 8 -12 (years of age), this dawning of how things really look is usually expressed with more detail for individual parts.”

The challenge was to find ways that Cannon could express this developmental need for realism within his fine motor skill set.

We spread out our tools and supplies to find the right things to use in this project. We settled on the small brayer/ink roller the small sponge paint roller with the rounded sponge end, empty medicine bottles (for tire outlines) and small brushes.

Cannon’s color choices were – black, gray, white, blue and yellow ochre.

Again using the brayer he loaded it with the gray for the trailer, then black for the cab of the truck. I used my hand and forearm to support his arm and hand while he rolled out this major forms.  

At other times I used minimal manual guidance to add smaller details the wheels etc.

 

Cannon considers possible tools for adding license plate numbers.

I hold the canvas while Cannon uses the brayer to color the sides and edges of the canvas.

Cannon really wanted to add Dan’s name on the truck.  We decided on an alternative way of adding his name to the composition that would match Cannon’s skills.  The rounded end of the sponge roller stamped his name in cloud like circles over the truck. 

Cannon was very proud of his truck “portrait”.

Dan's Truck Acrylic 20"x16"

Cannon Paints the World

Map Acrylic 11"x14"

March 15, 2015
This week Cannon faced the challenge of finding his inspiration all by himself. He spent some time looking around and thinking he went to the supply closet and selected his dictionary as a possible source for ideas.  We looked through the pages and considered several ideas but when he turned to the page with a picture of a world map that was it.  He had found his inspiration.




 We got out his large map of the world and we looked at the colors on the map and the idea that all the countries touching another county had to be different colors. Cannon then selected the colors of paint that corresponded to the colors on the map.  Directing the placement of the colors on the canvas he began painting with the small brayer.  Using the edge of the brayer he made lines to represent the impression of the longitude and latitude lines on the map.





He took up his brushes to add more color, texture and details.

He took a break to allow the paint to dry before adding more colors and more textures.








Details, more details! With just "a little help from our friends" - my thumb under Cannon's hand gives a very minimal manual guidance as he wields his brush.

What do you think?  Are we done?












Cleaning up.  Cannon washes my hands for me.

It was a very good day.

Fireworks at The Children's Museum

 January 18, 2015

Fireworks in Glass Acrylic 11"x14"

Cannon visited the Children's Museum last week and found this week's inspiration in the glass sculpture by Dave Chilhuly titled, Fireworks.


Cannon worked from a photo they took similar to this one.

We tried a masking technique to cover different shapes and reserve white canvas for later layers of color.

Cannon selected colors from the set tubes of acrylic paint based on the photo of the sculpture.

Then he directed the placement of the first colors and began moving them over the canvas with his small brayer.

Layer after layer was added and tools changed to smaller and smaller brushes for fine lines and finishing details.

Reflecting.  I think it is finished.

Snow in the Ravine

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Snow in the Ravine Acrylic 11"x14"

February 8, 2015

A heavy blanket of snow on the ground this week was our inspiration for this Sunday's work.
Cannon looked at Indiana artist T.C. Steele's work titled Snow in the Ravine and he referenced it in his own work

Cannon sets to work on the textured canvas we had prepared with the modeling paste the week before.

 

Colors - yes it is snow but it it more than just white. Cannon looked carefully at T.C. Steele's painting and picked out the pinks and browns and pale blues and maybe a bit of lavender gray.  Then he selected the colors for his inspired canvas.  

He directed the placement of the dabs of color for the background and used the brayer to cover the canvas. 

He helped open the tubes and we filled his palette with bits of the colors for the next layer of color. He used his brush for  shadows and

While the "snow" painting dries before adding another layer of details in the foreground, Cannon paints the edges of the "Fireworks" painting".  

Then he returns to the ravine and adds final details.

Reflections on Snow

The Book of Life

 January 25 and February 1 2015

The Book of Life Acrylic 11"x14"

Cannon enjoyed the movie The Book of Life and liked the colors and patterns in the animation so we decided to use it as our inspiration for this two weeks of work.








 
We also decided to experiment with texture using the acrylic modeling paste and one of the stamping tools



And then a close look for the colors that will be needed.  Cannon selected a wide range of colors that mirrored the colors in the inspiration "frame" from the film.

Action!
After spreading the medium over the canvas with a plastic knife Cannon selected the spiral stamping tool to add pattern to the medium. Then...Cannon had to be patient and let it dry.  We used the hair drier and we took a break and then finally Cannon could take his brush in hand and go into action.

Stage 1 
Some of the colors but not all, another break for some drying time. Cannon gets ready to do some clean up during the break.

Back to Work!

More colors are added after another careful look at the inspiration. Compare the inspiration to Cannon's canvas.

What do you think?  Yes, I think it is done.

Oh, and another selfie.