Puppets and Animated Story-Telling on YouTube

If you are interested in encouraging animating puppets and story-telling in the class room or in your art room, you might want to look at these short videos for ideas.

U film major Keri Hopkins engages 5th grade students by teaching them how to make their own cutout animation.


Keita Funamoto and Masahide Kobayashi's stop-motion and flash animation from Tokyo, Japan.


This video is Keita Funamoto Puppet and Clay Animation School's Student film.


Lior's second single from his second album 'Corner Of An Endless Road' featuring Sia in duet. Shot by award winning director, Natasha Pincus. This clip is a "Stories from the Ground Puppetry" and "Starkraving Productions" collaboration.


Animation by Tany & Subrin Our first cut out animation for Intro to Animation final project semester 3, SEGi University College Kota Damansara, Malaysia


The Little Chimney Sweep, a 1954 film by Lotte Reiniger

"Altering recycled books into sketchbooks" By Jean Littlejohn

This came in an email today from Quilting Arts so I'm sure they wouldn't mind if it is shared!:

Boost Your Creative Vision

If you ever get the chance to take a class with Jan Beaney and Jean Littlejohn (a.k.a. Double Trouble Enterprises), jump at it. They are two of the most innovative people I know when it comes to creative embroidery and textile art. Plus, they are just a hoot to be with!

Jan and Jean are fearless when it comes to artistic experimentation and firmly believe in the practice of sketchbook keeping to inspire ideas for textile work. However, we all know that the blank page can be very daunting.

A couple years ago in our sister publication Cloth Paper Scissors, Jean Littlejohn shared a trick to dress up the blank page and give it some texture and depth on which to add your photos, drawings, and ideas. Although Jean works in different types of sketchbooks, she finds using old recycled books an effective vehicle for developing themes.

Altering recycled books into sketchbooks

By Jean Littlejohn

Materials

Recycled hardbound book (Look for some unwanted books: children's annuals, cookery books, and road atlases, etc. that are no longer special or have outlived their usefulness to me, a book of 40 to 60 pages is ideal; too many pages will prove unwieldy.)
PVA glue
White gesso or white acrylic paint
Plastic container
2 Foam brushes
Waxed paper or parchment paper
Old maps, magazine images, bits of text, and other printed ephemera
Sharp paper scissors or craft knife, ruler, and craft mat

A finished spread from Jean's “Falling Roses” sketchbook. These pages contain splattered paint, text, quotations, and layers of collage and paint.

Directions

1. Mix 1 part water to 1 part PVA glue in a plastic container. With a foam brush, glue the pages together in groups of 3 or 4. You are gluing sets of pages together to make a base that is strong enough to handle layers of paint and collage. Make sure to paint each page thoroughly with the glue mixture and press firmly so no air bubbles appear.
Step 1. Once the sets of glued pages are dry, a collage of ripped papers is glued down to add texture.

2. Place waxed or parchment paper between each set of glued pages to prevent the sets from sticking together while drying.
Step 2. A gesso wash is applied to create a drawing surface.

3. When you are finished gluing the sets of pages together, allow the book to dry standing upright on a plastic sheet with the pages fanned out.
Step 3. Here, a light acrylic wash was painted on top, creating a colored background for the drawing surface. Now your journal is ready for some featured imagery and text.

4. Now the pages are ready for further texture to make a complex background for your sketching. Some pages already contain print and photographs. Further elements can be added with the application of collaged old maps, tissue papers, color magazines, etc.

note: If the edges become ragged with these added layers of collaged paper they can easily be trimmed when dry with a sharp knife or scissors.

5. Once dry, paint the pages with gesso or white acrylic paint to make a good surface for drawing. If a thin wash is used, some of the print or imagery shows through and can add an exciting serendipity to the drawings. Paint and ink react differently on the uneven surfaces and add an unexpected dynamic to drawings, as well.

Video from Pam Carriker

Here's a lovely video tutorial on using the "Pan Pastels" (like Teesha talked about in the previous post) to create a Modigliani type portrait. Very clear. Hope you enjoy it!



Want more?


Pam's blog is wonderful as well. Do visit!

Teesha Moore's Art Journaling Videos!!

You can now find art journaling videos from Teesha Moore! I'm so excited! Teesha and Tracy got themselves a video camera and are now documenting the amazing process! So here you go, in order that makes sense. (If you look on You Tube it's a little bit hard to sort at first.)

Need some motivation?

Check it out! Very encouraging!

Let's get busy and fail! LOL!

Recycled Doll Swap

Joyce Kliman's Angel

When I received this beautiful doll in the Recycled Doll swap, I couldn't help but wonder what the story was behind her. So here's what Joyce said...

...this has been a year of acute loss for me, and I have ended up with a lot of stuff that belonged to people who are no longer here. The doll body itself was made by a patient who died (since this is my line of work I end up with a lot of artwork that I am not always sure what to do with, and there is no family to give it to). This year I have decided that I have to clean out my studio and can't hang on to everyone's artwork. I have hundreds of pieces...so it is with mixed feelings that I am recycling some of it. The fabric of the dress is from Malaysia and there is a story of loss behind that as well. This year angels seem to be a theme and a comfort for me.

What a lovely idea! I'm so glad that I received this angel and I'm so glad I asked about it! I'm thinking that something like this would be a wonderful way to create something positive out of our loss and sadness. I'll bet of we created angels from our sorrows, there would be a lot more light in the world!

Susan Tuttle's "Visual Poetry" class.

I posted this on my blog but it bears repeating here.

Collage by Lani

Just to let you all know that Susan Tuttle is almost ready to offer "Workshop 1: Digital Photomanipulation" again. The four week class will be held from November 1st through November 29th. Registration will begin Sunday, October 25th, 7 PM EST. Spots are limited, so be sure to register promptly at that time. It is an amazing course, "Visual Poetry" is a great name for it, but it's so much more than visual poetry. It's filled with visual delights, wonderful gifts and magical learnings! I've had such a wonderful time learning a whole new "language" and I think you would enjoy it too! Do take a look at our class photos in the flickr group here and sign up soon.

Collage by Lani