Do you know Alexander Calder, Alvin Lustig or Isamu Noguchi? They were artists who were into a style of art and design called modernism. They believed that good and exciting designs and ideas are for everyone. These modern artists experimented with new ways of seeing and with fresh ideas about the nature of materials and uses of art. So open up yourself to this form of art and create craft projects patterned after their works. Check out Kid Made Modern by Todd Oldham. You’ll surely be inspired with its easy to follow steps and awesome pictures. Happy creating!
A pear house, a UFO house, a house of stairs and a nut house are just a few of the very original houses you will see illustrated in this new book. H.O.U.S.E stands for Habitable Objects Unique Spatial Extraordinary. Translated from Polish there are 35 fascinating houses drawn here plus plans and details.
My favourite is the house for the homeless which is a cart. Although the shrinking turtle house or inflatable House are pretty cool too!
Find out the insider’s scoop on how artistic illusions are created with this book. It’s called Trick of the Eye: Art and Illusion by Silke Vry. It was really fascinating how the artists can create depth and dimension by just using their brushes. What’s cool about it is you can have a go at recreating some of the illusions yourself. There are also some fun activities for you to do like eye tests which tests your ability to spot the hidden images in a picture. I had fun reading this I hope you will too!
Make Your Own Art: Paper Folding by Sally Henry
I like this book because you learn LOTS of art folding. 5 stars.
Review by Fia of Kilbirnie
I would quite like to go to Hobbiton in spring, maybe catch a quidditch game at Hogwarts, Oz looks like a bit of fun and I would love to travel through Narnia – but I am not so sure about the archipelago of islands that make up Earthsea. Earthsea is a realm surrounded by a different sort of magic – one that is deep and dark and knowing. A boy called Ged was born there though, and he has no choice but to stay and discover its secrets.
A Wizard of Earthsea is like a lot of other children’s fantasy novels in that it is about a boy growing up and travelling, going to a school for wizards, making friends and enemies, saving his village, learning and making mistakes. The thing that makes it different is the magic. This is not just an adventure tale, or a school story, or a friendship quest that happens to have some cool magic: this is a book about magic and a young wizard’s battle to find its balance within himself.
The magic isn’t all fun and games and biscuits either. It isn’t magic that makes a star at the end of a wand shine or turns your teacher into a toad. It is old magic with old rules, hidden traps and an all-knowing awareness. Sometimes the magic is dark and dreadful. I listened to A Wizard of Earthsea on audio book recently: I was walking through town with my headphones on – it was a windy, rainy day and I was very caught up in the story. Suddenly something TERRIBLE happened (I won’t tell you what, you might get a fright) and I SCREAMED right there in the middle of the footpath with the people in suits on their way to work staring at me and shaking their umbrellas.
But don’t be scared: it is only a book, and it is really a very good one. I won’t tell you that it has a happy ending, or that it is sooo funny and cool and easy to read, but I will tell you that if you truly like fantasy you really ought to come down to your library and get A Wizard of Earthsea.
This painting is by Astrid Nielsch who was inspired by Ursula Le Guin’s writing. She is exhibiting her paintings next week; you should go and have a look. They will be showing at Thistle Hall in Wellington – Cuba Street corner Arthur Street from 17 to 22 August, Tuesday to Saturday 11 am – 8 pm and Sunday 11 am – 6 pm. The opening is on Tuesday the 17th of August from 6-9 pm, and Astrid says you can expect dragons, wizards and magic!
Are you into creating monster characters in your active imagination? There’s this cool book called How to Draw Monster Battles by Marc McBride that will help put your imagination onto paper. It has lots of good tips on how to draw and create monsters and even has some information about the ones he has already created. It also has a monster lettering template at the back to help finish off your drawings. So go grab a pencil and paper and head on down the children’s non fiction area and check the book out. The call number is J 743.87 MACB. Happy drawing!
For more books on how to draw visit this link.
Have you been to the Monet exhibition at Te Papa yet? I’m going tomorrow. There are some amazing paintings there at the moment. Don’t wait! The exhibition finishes on the 17th of May. Check out the Te Papa website for information.
If you’re really into art but you don’t have a lot of time (or any paint!) you could have a go at painting like Monet on the Te Papa site. It’s really fun – you can pick one of your own photos and then convert it to an impressionist-looking artwork. Give it a go!
Finally, if you’re after information on Monet and other impressionists check out our library catalogue for heaps of books:
Find out about art history
Read about paintings
Check out books on how to paint
Read books about famous artists (and also New Zealand artists)
And much more!
(Thanks to Magalie for the paint like Monet link.)
Posted in
Factsby
The Doll
Vincent van Gogh was a Dutch artist in the 1800s. His most famous paintings are ‘The Starry Night’ & ‘Sunflowers’.
He became a painter in 1880 & died in 1890. In the last 10 years of his life he finished 900 paintings as well as 1100 drawings & sketches. Unfortunately, Vincent wasn’t very happy and he killed himself when he was only 37 years old.
His best friend was also an artist, his name was Paul Cezanne. 2 years before Vincent died, they had a big arguement & Paul didn’t want to be his friend anymore. Vincent was so upset that he cut off his own ear !
Once the police had to close his house & put him in a hospital,after thirty of his neighbours complained about the fou roux (”the redheaded madman”).
There’s lots of books about Vincent van Gogh in our libraries so you can read more about this wild redhead:
You can simpsonize yourself on the Simpsons Movie website
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When you’ve got your looks just right you can save the avatar and you can email it to your friends!
Hey guys, ever wanted to make your own comic strip? Try these two places on the website: http://www.toondoo.com and
http://www.comicstripgenerator.com/maker.asp .
You can publish your own cartoons. I know you guys are talented and will have lots of great creative ideas!
