Art Every Day: The Challenge Begins

Let the challenge begin at A. A is for Apples.

Though I've posted a few images in the last week to give myself a taste of what it will be like to do this, the Art Everyday challenge officially begins today, November 1. The goal is to create and post something everyday this month. I am already feeling the pressure to find subjects to paint, and more to the point, paint something I am willing to share. I hope to learn a great deal, and to work even more than that.

Funny, though I mostly work in pastel, most of my recent work has been in other media. There are several reasons for this: First, I do what I am told in class :-), also, I am trying out project ideas for classes I am developing to offer this spring, and, I am currently teaching classes for Young Rembrandts, a program that teaches drawing to young children.

For these classes, I receive a curriculum packet that specifies all the details and every step for each lesson.This week, we draw a basket of apples using colored pencil. It took me several hours of uninterrupted drawing and coloring to even begin to get the richness of color I associate with apples (and art) I am curious to see how my students do with this project. They surprise me every week - so we shall see.

This image is actually my practice for the lesson I will present this week. It was interesting to layout the fruit in a circle, consider the light source, and have fun with the color. One of the advantages to teaching these classes is the opportunity to see how someone else approaches drawing different subjects. Not surprisingly, I learn as I teach.

I plan to keep with this apple theme a little longer and see what appears. See you tomorrow.