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This Sunday between 4-6pm will be the opening night of the UVic Art Ed grad show Passed: with flying colours.  The show will be hung at the A. Wilfrid Johns gallery in the A wing of the MacLaurin building at UVic.  Come by to see some amazing artworks by graduating art education teachers and their students - including a piece by yours truly! 

 
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Sculptures by Andy Goldsworthy Clockwise from top left: Rowan Leaves & Hole, Ice Spiral: Treesoul, Sticks Framing a Lake, Iris Leaves with Rowan Berries
 
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This Tom Tompson painting was recently found at a garage sale in Vancouver along with a watercolour by Group of Seven member Frederick Varley. Click on the image for the full story.
 
In the first blog about AESA's drawing workshop I discussed blind contour drawing.  In this entry we'll be looking at ways to better understand the human body and how it moves.  During the workshop the participants explored gesture drawing.

A gesture drawing is work of art that is done rapidly.  In terms of figure drawing, it means that the artist is concerned with capturing the essence of the pose. During the workshop participants drew a series of poses in a short amount of time, ranging from as little as 30 seconds to as long as 2 minutes.  Creating gesture drawings
allow an artist to capture poses that cannot be held by a model long enough for a detailed study.  As well, this practice reinforces the importance of movement and action which can be overlooked during a longer drawing session. 



Below are examples of gesture drawings done during the workshop.




The primary purpose of gesture drawing is to help artists understand how the human body moves.  Gesture drawings allow you to focus on the effects of twisting on the body, the exertions of muscles, and the natural range of motion in the joints.  By making gesture drawing a regular warm up exercise, your students will develop an instinctive understanding of human body proportions which will help them when they go to create more elaborate drawings.


Try This Trick
Having students mimic a model's pose for a few minutes before drawing also helps them to physically understand how the model's body is in tension.



 
Salvador Dalí The Persistence of Memory 1931
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Image Source: http://www.friendsofart.net
 
Open Art Surge
I have been volunteering with Open Art Surge, and the program been extended until June.  The studio is open every Monday from 3:00-6:30 starting April 16 at the Fernwood Community Association (1923 Fernwood Road). 

We are looking for youth ages 14-25 who are interested in creating art, and all artistic abilities are welcome.  Every week participants will be provided with studio materials and a supportive environment to explore personal expressive imagery and join in building a creative community.

Participants of Open Art Surge will also be showcasing their work at the Fernwood Art Stroll in June. This is a great opportunity for emerging artists to professionally display their works.



For more information you can email us at [email protected]






 
This week the Art Gallery of Ontario became the first Canadian museum to join the Google Art Project.
If you haven't explored it yet, this online project allows you to take a 360-degree virtual tour of museums and their artworks. The Google Art Project was launched last year with images from 17 international museums including London’s Tate Gallery and the Uffizi in Florence.  For students, it means that they can explore high definition images of art that they normally would never be able to see.

Click here to explore the AGO's artworks on the Google Art Project