February Showers Bring April Flowers

Spring Break is quickly approaching and there is no better way to celebrate than painting some flowers! Little Ashcan got to choose their favorite live flowers and paint from life. From Tulips, to Sunflowers, to Orchids to Daisies—they had the opportunity to not only look at these beautiful flowers, but the ability to learn how to draw from life!

Drawing from life is an essential skill! This skill builds hand eye coordination, helps students understand shadow, light, and perspective. A consistent practice of still lives helps students notice the finest details: from composition, to shape and form.

Coffee Now Part of Their Daily Grind!

Last week Little Ashcan had the opportunity to finish up their natural pigment paintings and we are impressed!

The crushed coffee beans and tea leaves provided an excellent base for the students to create the illusion that they are painting on their very own cave. Other naturally occurring pigments they used were chalk! All very easy to use and require no special preparation. Next class, they are returning to the classic art supplies, watercolors!

Life Is The Flower For Which Watercolor Is The Honey!

Little Ashcan is traveling back to the present and learning about American contemporary realist painter, Joseph Raffael. A lot of his paintings are done in watercolor and feature various flowers. Last week, students experimented with a lot of watercolor-like natural pigments—from coffee to beet juice. This week, they are learning to use actual watercolors!

Little Ashcan is moving on from simplistic cave inspired art onto realistic paintings of flowers. Students will sketch these flowers from life, and paint. They will learn to paint from light to dark—so they can build contrast easily.

Back to the Past

Last week, Little Ashcan learned about the Lascaux caves located in France with paintings dating back 20,000—now they are learning about the types of animals and peoples on those caves! From Aurochs to Megaloceros, they got to see how they were depicted on caves walls and how to recreate these depiction with their own spin!

This week, they’re using their own natural pigments to mimic the warm tones seen in the images of the Lauscaux caves. Next week, they will create their own pictographs and complete their very own charcoal cave painting!

Collaboration of Paint & Clay

Our final week of sculpture has arrived, and Little Ashcan applied some painting techniques learned a couple weeks ago!

Unlike Beate Kuhn, Little Ashcan took a more colorful approach. As you can see, they learned how to apply paint to a 3D form versus a 2D surface. The application process is especially more complex when the sculptures have so much detail. Each student made it their own with their choice of color and where to apply that color. The use of gold is what brings these pieces together!

Want to see more of an up close look at some of these sculptures? Check out our instagram: @LittleAshcanArt!

Did You Know...

…that the first recorded use of charcoals as an artistic medium was in cave paintings? The Lascaux Caves located in France has paintings dating back about 20,000 years. The artists used pigments from rocks, animal fat, and dirt to paint various animals and people.

For this project, students will mimic their techniques by using natural pigments as well! From beet to coffee beans, students will explore how to use unorthodox artist materials to illustrate their own depictions of animals and people!

Bringing Thumbnails to Life!

Last week, Little Ashcan made thumbnail sketches for this weeks activity: sculpture!

Little Ashcan did a wonderful job bringing their ideas to life! Learning how to get started was imperative for this process. There was a lot to learn with Air Dry Clay, how much moisture it needs to stay moldable, how to form and sculpt, and how to seal it with a special mixture once they are happy with their forms!

Tune in next week when they paint their masterpieces!

Learning From the Beate!

This week Little Ashcan was introduced to Sculptor Beate Kuhn. She is a famous ceramic artist who creates unique sculptures using organic forms. The works are meant to be subjective, to be interpreted by the viewer. Inspired by this, Little Ashcan drew thumbnail sketches of the organic forms they have in mind!

Next week, stay tuned for when they bring their sketches to life using Water-Based Sculpture Clay.

All That Glitters is Gold!

Congratulations to Little Ashcan for completing their first project!

From learning how to do an underdrawing and an underpainting, these students learned how to start and finish a realistic painting full of rich detail! Each one of them had the opportunity to experiment with composition, patterns and gold! In contemporary culture, gold continues to convey a plethora of different meanings, primarily symbolizing prosperity, fortune and success. What better paint is there to use on their Year of The Rabbit painting!

Having a Great Hare Day!

This week, Little Ashcan got started on last week’s sketches and began painting! Using acrylic paint is a fun way to introduce painting to beginners as they dry quickly and are easier to handle than oil or watercolors. To begin, they learned the basics: organizing paints in a paint palette, how to mix paints in said palette, and using their establish layout from last week to apply brush strokes and begin filling their canvasses!

Little Ashcan learned to use an angled brush for heavy and fine lines and a round brush for finer lines and details, like fur! Next week they’ll be switching up mediums, see what they’ll learn about next!

Welcome to 2023: The Year of the Rabbit!

Welcome to those returning to Little Ashcan and those who are just starting their artistic journey with us! We hope you all had a happy and safe New Years! Little Ashcan is kicking off the new semester with wonderful activities that revolve around this period of time—from drawing the best memory of 2022 to sketching new ones for 2023!

Little Ashcan’s first project is inspired by the Chinese Zodiac. Each new year is represented by an animal, and this year is the year of the rabbit! For this project, students are learning about how to sketch, create an underpainting, and use acrylic paint. This past week students were familiarizing themselves with new materials, canvas, drawing, and composition. Stay tuned for next week!

Happy Holidays from Ashcan Art Studios!

We hope everyone is enjoying their winter break so far, we have two more weeks until Little Ashcan begins their Winter 2023 session on the week of January 9th 2023! 

Why Little Ashcan?

Every semester is different but the idea stays the same: an individually tailored curriculum and involves a plethora of mediums, techniques, and lessons. Each class begins with a mini lesson of Art History & Design, from traditional to contemporary. Each student gets the opportunity to learn about an artist, their techniques and their mediums. 

The very first step to creating is how to see things. Little Ashcan is introduced to the world of creation through observation. Observations can be made from the simplest materials like pencil, pen, or paint, or the more complex materials like chalk pastel, oil pastel, and sculpting clay. We also place emphasis on foundational concepts in art. Along with these foundations, we introduce still life, portrait, and landscape; thus, our students have the opportunity to learn different visual art genres. 

Have any questions about our curriculum or signing up? Don’t hesitate to reach out! Our contact information is available via the contact page above.

We wish everyone a Happy New Years and we can’t wait to see you all in January! ❄️🌸

A Clay to Remember

For our final week of our Fall 2022 session, Little Ashcan had some fun with clay! Perfect for sculptures, they used white air-dry modeling clay. The medium is durable, lightweight, incredibly pliable, and easy to shape. Our air-dry clay does not require a kiln or oven to cure and dries within 24 hours. Just wait for the clay to dry and they can decorate with markers or paint to bring their creative vision to life! 

In addition to this medium, Little Ashcan explored different types of figures. From snowmen to monkeys–and all of the expressions and emotions that can be found within. Using clay as their medium, they allowed the material to guide them through the act of sculpting, finding the character as they move through the process. We are so proud of Little Ashcan and commend them for their impressive works of art! We can’t wait to see what they’ll make this upcoming semester. Until then, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

We will see you again the week of January 9th 2023!

Little Ashcan Really Puts Things Into Perspective!

This week, Little Ashcan is learning perspective!

There are multiple ways perspective is used in art; however, the most common is linear perspective: which gives the illusion of three dimensions on a two-dimensional surface, like a piece of paper.  We are introducing our youngest students to perspective using the elements of overlap and size. By using simple three-dimensional shapes like a cube, cylinder, and a sphere, our instructor is showing them techniques that use overlap to create the illusion that certain faces are closer than others. 

For this upcoming and final week, we’ll see what Little Ashcan will do with this new found information! Don’t forget to sign up for our next session beginning January 9th, 2023!

Happy Mask Monday!

Those paper mache masks were ready to be decorated with paint!

This week Little Ashcan got creative with their rhino masks. Finishing off their project from last week, they were able to make their own mark on their own masterpieces. They incorporated different elements to make each one more unique than the last–from vibrant color combinations to organic patterns. Great job!

And here we have a sneak peek into the next project. How will they get creative with these? Stay tuned!

#WIPs and #PSAs!

Happy Monday everyone! 

And a Happy Thanksgiving! A reminder that Ashcan Studio will be closed for Thanksgiving this week from Nov. 21 through Nov. 26th. Please note that Little Ashcan classes are not going to be in session and will resume the week of Nov. 28th! 

Food is one of the most important parts of Thanksgiving Day, but there is so much time to spare before and after the feast! This week Little Ashcan has been filling the time with instant paper mache sculpted on masks! Here is a snapshot their #WorksInProgress rhino masks:

With the end of this session of Little Ashcan just around the corner, parents and students are ready to sign up for our winter activities! Ask us about our Little Ashcan winter and spring 2023 semester! Registration opens up this week, and space is limited!

Little Ashcan Makes a Point With Joan Miro Inspired Dots!

Fall is here and our little rockstars are back and ready to make some serious art! Don’t let their size fool you, these little ones came back to make a point, literally. Opening up with a lesson on famed Spanish artists Joan Miro (1893-1983), our Little Ashcaner learned all about the relationship between dots and composition. Demonstrating what they learned, they used various mediums including markers, pastels, and watercolor paint to make stunning pieces of their own. To that we say, point made!

Summer Kicks Off with A Larger Than Life Still-Life; Lights, Camera, Draw!

This past weekend was full of fun with fireworks, lights, and sparklers galore! Keeping up with the festive weekend, Little Ashcan’s first Saturday class was held on July 2nd, 2022. Our kids started with a very aesthetic still-life class led by our beloved Instructor, Jacqui. Jacqui gave our kids a true studio feel, with special lighting and a new setup. Our kids dove right in and executed some amazing still-life works and that emphasized reflective surfaces on the objects as the light hit them. The. little stars picked up incredibly fast and displayed technique and skill far beyond their years. What a great start to the Summer!

Mushrooms Are More Than Just Food: Observational Art!

Designing a creative village is very important for story telling. From native Indian villages to minecraft villages, there are lots of different styles and designs throughout history for us to explore and enjoy. From this project, students came up with amazing ideas for people or imaginary characters to live and interact with each other in the village they created. However, unlike a conventional village, we challenged our little artists to create a mushroom village by bringing in real mushrooms into the classroom! The students got to feel and see the mushrooms and then replicated them with clay. They then got to design and paint their villages, complete with their own choice of characters, amenities, and features. Be sure to take a look at all of these impressive villages, from accommodations for the handicapped in a wheelchair to gorgeous ponds and lakes for their characters our Little Ashcaners thought of everything and more. Just be careful not to go too close to the lake, some villagers spotted at an alligator there!

To Infinity and Beyond; Value and Space!

This week at Little Ashcan our artists took a trip to outer space! On their journey, they learned the artistic concepts of value and you guesses it, space! “Value is the lightness or darkness of tones or colors. White is the lightest value; black is the darkest. The value halfway between these extremes is called middle gray. Space- An element of art by which positive and negative areas are defined or a sense of depth achieved in a work of art “ - Massart.edu.

In class, our students used ink and canvas to depict a whole image of the moon or an image of the earth from the moon. Using ink, they all applied the concepts of value and space and did an astronomical job, using shades of grays, white and black. They truly aced this adventure and returned back to Earth with amazing pieces of art!