Category: Virtual Art

This video features my sweet kitty, Lady Gray, for two reasons: 1) this week I decided we should talk about pet portraits and 2) I wanted to raise awareness for Great River Rescue’s upcoming art contest.

Great River Rescue holds an art contest every year around this time to remind us humans about the importance of keeping our animal companions healthy. This years theme is SAVE THE DAY – NEUTER AND SPAY! The contest is for two dimensional art in any media done by children in K-12th grade. You can read more about this contest and find out how to take part here.

I figured now was as good a time as any to show you the basics of what a dog and a cat look like. In this video I show how to create a line drawing of a cat and a dog face and then also show how to draw eyeballs and noses. This lesson is for all ages and artistic abilities. It can be adapted and modified for young children as well as expanded upon for adults.

You will need:

• Paper
• Pencil
• Possibly a pencil sharpener
• And possibly your own sweet furry friend to help you out

Portraits are a wonderful way to preserve a likeness of a loved one for the rest of time. They have a personal touch that goes beyond a photograph. Practicing portraits is also a great way to get better at looking and really capturing what the world looks like. Seeing and recreating what you see is the first big step in becoming a skilled artist so encourage your young child to give it a try. It doesn’t have to be perfect or even “good.” It is all about practicing. I hope that after you watch this video you use the techniques to draw your own pet. Lady Gray and I would love to see what your furry friend looks like! Get creative with us! And then if you you feel comfortable please share your creation in the comments or email to diamond.knispel@headwatersmusicandarts.org.

P.s. Please create a piece for the art contest! I am one of the judges and looking at all of the submitted art is one of the highlights of my spring 🙂

Diamond Knispel
Art Teacher | Marketing & Arts Program Coordinator
Headwaters Music & Arts

Paper Quilling is one of the more simple forms of sculpture. It only involves paper and adhesive and then the rest is up to your imagination. I love paper quilling because it is so low pressure, and I feel like even without much practice or know-how it tends to look awesome – unlike some other types of sculpture and fine art 🙂

You will need (I didn’t get this list exactly right in the video):

• Paper
• GLUE – liquid glue is preferably
• Possibly a pencil
• And possibly a ruler
• You might want a pen, toothpick, popsicle stick, or a sharp fingernail – whichever tool you like for bending.

Quilling is pretty old art form that started back when folks made a point of using EVERYTHING. Many old quilling pieces are made with scraps of paper leftover from bookmaking. I think this means you don't have to worry about getting fancy at all. During our collage video I told you about my years old box of paper scraps – that is what I dug into for this piece. Being that Earth Day was this past Wednesday it only seems fitting to challenge yourself to use some (if not all) paper scraps for this project. And also, if you don’t yet have your own paper scrap box you should start one. I call my box of paper/ribbon/cardboard scraps my treasure box because when it comes to creating scraps and found bits are truly like gold 🙂 Please – get creative with us! And then if you you feel comfortable please share your creation in the comments or email to diamond.knispel@headwatersmusicandarts.org.

Diamond Knispel
Art Teacher | Marketing & Arts Program Coordinator
Headwaters Music & Arts

Right now is a lovely time to send some snail-mail to someone you love. The United States Postal service is still running and everyone loves receiving mail from loved ones - especially pretty mail. This week I invite you to make some pretty mail for a loved one using a ball point pen. There are some easy ways to use a ball point pen to make something beautiful, all it takes is time and patience.

You will need:

• Ball point pen
• Pencil
• Paper
• Any other fun tools you may want to use

I practiced a lot of my drawing skills by doodling in class and as a teen I got really good with a ball point pen. I found out I could do almost as much with the right pen as I could a pencil - except erase 🙂 With a few shading pointers you don't ever have to use a pencil sharpener again! As always - this activity is for all ages and artistic abilities. You will be pleasantly surprised to see how nice zentangle art turns out even if you don't consider yourself an artist. If there is any part you don't like just black it out with the pen or cut it out with scissors🙂 Get creative with us and then please share your creation in the comments or email to diamond.knispel@headwatersmusicandarts.org.

Diamond Knispel
Art Teacher | Marketing & Arts Program Coordinator
Headwaters Music & Arts