art

Orange beams that chase the moon

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I think of you while you're away
and as night dances on the day
and failing light segments are strewn
as orange beams that chase the moon 

I think of you as silhouettes 
can etch the land as day forgets
and blue, then red, once more regress
and night presents its sweet caress


DEE GRANT 2021

This is a rewrite of the poem I wrote earlier called Night Presents it’s Sweet Caress. I’ve been reading a couple of articles to improve my rhyming style.

References

E.L Literature (2021)“Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost — EL.Literature – Form, Meter, Rhyme in ‘Formal’ Poetry

Masterclass (2020) https://www.masterclass.com/articles/poetry-101-what-is-a-rhyme-scheme-learn-about-rhymed-poems-with-examples

Rhymezone https://www.rhymezone.com/

As the tide of information dissipates thumbnail sketches appear like cocktails at a resort

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After many years of university study, words become scrawl. Scrawl becomes a treasure trove of inspiration. Text turns into it’s own motif. The greater the need to focus the more text becomes a rhythm. A rhythmic sea of text that appears and disappears like waves on the beach.

Unexpected words from a speaker cause a flurry of scrawl barely readable. Then, as the tide of information dissipates, thumbnail sketches appear like cocktails at a resort. 

Discerning the message – Dee Grant – 2002

Drawn at a professional development weekend on teaching ethics. Discerning the Message was drawn on a Best Western notepad while listening to a keynote speaker.

BY DEE GRANT

Art Yoga – Warm Up

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BY DEE GRANT(with audio) I have a great treat to get your mind thinking outside the box. This sketching warm up exercise is about giving a bit of a yoga stretch for your mind. Are you ready?

Equipment

  • Pencil
  • A4 pieces of paper (4 pieces)
  • Pencil sharpener
  • Capsicum (I am using a capsicum. Capsicums have an interesting shape)

1st sketch

  1. Sketch the vegetable how you normally would. (5-10 min)
Sketch as you normally would

2nd sketch

  1. Sketch the vegetable again but this time without lifting the pencil off the page.
  2. Without lifting the pencil off the page, draw an outline of the vegetable so it takes up most of the page. (3 minutes)
Outline without taking the pencil off the paper

How did you go?

OK, lets challenge your brain a bit.

3rd sketch

  1. This time put the pencil in the hand you don’t normally use, your least dominant hand. You know what comes next!
  2. Without lifting the pencil off the page, draw an outline of the vegetable so it takes up most of the page. (3 minutes)

I’m always intrigued by this exercise. There is a totally different feel to each work. It’s almost like it was drawn by another person.

Use your other hand

Game to take it one step further?

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#Art – Create to Frame

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How to choose department store frames to exhibit your student artwork. If you are doing art school save money. Get savvy. Create to frame!

The goal for this post is for you to try out creating your artwork so that it will easily fit into a standard frame. A frame from a department store. The example here is framing a 12 x 12 painting.

Department store frame with custom mat

I could cry when I think of the amount of expensive custom frames I’ve had made up in my days as an art student. This was all because I created artworks that didn’t look right in standard size frames. For an art student that’s ‘flat out rubbing two sticks together’ framing is a necessity rather than a luxury.

Think neat and tidy.

Think neutral tones so that you can use and reuse the frame/s for various presentations.

Think about something that scrubs up well in your student exhibition. Are you better to have 3 or 4 the same size and colour so that they can be grouped together?

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#Art -Watching Pencil Muddy the Paint

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(with audio) “Every artwork is a potential masterpiece” but you don’t always know what will look good, especially when you are starting out. I never want to set up people for failure so today I am sharing some tips on life drawing when you’re starting out.

Difficulty spells disinterest

My students one year were given a 12 inch square canvas to paint a picture of themselves and something that identifies them. One student showed me her detailed pencil drawing drawn directly onto the canvas.

In my mind all I could see was the frustration she would be setting herself up for. Having to paint such detailed information onto that small canvas. Watching the pencil muddy the paint or the paint beading over the graphite. Watching the paint go in spaces not intended. Alarm bells as difficulty spells disinterest at the early stages of artmaking in my books.

You live and learn as a art teacher. I bet the next lot of students were bored to tears when I advised on keeping it simple and not too detailed.

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#Poetry – Why artists paint

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It’s colour, it’s form, it’s shade and technique. It’s the artist personified, original, unique!

We’re all just creative and passionately draw. We’ll draw on your woodwork, your wall or your door. Just give the OK and we’ll be there today, drawing pictures and paintings ’til the day gets away.

Did you want a commission? We can help you with that. We’ll pull out our paints and put on our hat. With berets in place we’ll draw up the plan. We’ll sort out the colours cause you know that we can.

At the end we’ll stand back with arms folded and beam. It’s no longer blank space…it’s an artists dream.

DEE GRANT 2021