Little and Big

 

The story of Little and Big is about two lemurs named Faly and Mahandry. Like most siblings, they are never quite content with their birth order. Faly always wishes he was a little bit older. At times, Mahandry wishes he were just a little bit younger despite loving the privileges of being older. Faly dislikes going to bed so early.   

Whenever Faly climbs up on his mother's back to explore for the day Mahandry wants to be on her back too, but there just isn't room. He wishes he was still small. 

Whenever it is necessary to cross the waterfall, Manhandry must do it alone. It is frightening for him. Faly must be held by his mother.

In order to dry off, Manhandry climbs high into a tree. From high in the tree, he can see everything. Even the hippos are visible to him. Faly wishes he could climb the trees too, but he is too small. 

For Faly, mother peels lychees. Mahandry doesn't like peeling them and says, "If only I were still little." As night falls, it's time to head home. Faly soon snuggles up close to his mother as he falls asleep. During a conversation with his mother, Manhandry asks if they can snuggle like they did in the past. Mother gathers both of her children in her arms and says, "Go to sleep, my children,...Tomorrow, you will both wake up a little bigger than you are today. But you will always be my little ones. My sweet little ones." 

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If You Happen To Have A Dinosaur

 

The book, If You Happen To Have A Dinosaur, discusses all the things one could do with a dinosaur if one owned it. The dream of owning a dinosaur is one that every child has. Maybe after reading all of the wonderful things a dinosaur can do your child may convince you that having a dinosaur at home wouldn't be such a bad idea after all. Hey mom, a dinosaur would be quite handy in the kitchen. Dad, you may be able to save money on your monthly security system and lawn maintenance costs. 

You would have a built-in babysitter, mom. 

Yes, not everything is perfect! Even dinosaurs need to eat! 

Perhaps you don't have a dinosaur in the house. So what about...

Painting To Gogh

Painting To Gogh - Scenic USA Kit  is an artist-led video tutorial for students to learn art at home. Using acrylic paint, students will paint a mountain scene, a winter scene with birch trees, and an orca splashing in the water using step-by-step instructions. The curriculum is designed for students aged 14 and older. Painting to Gogh is part of the Timberdoodle 2024 Tenth-Grade Curriculum Kit. 

In the review kit, I was given an easel. Before beginning Frosted Sunbeams, I asked if anyone wanted to try using the easel but no one wanted to try it. I tried it out a few times over the course of the other paintings but found that using a flat surface was much easier. 

So how does painting with Painting To Gogh work? 

The process is pretty straightforward. The first thing you need to do is choose your painting. There are hundreds of options available on the website. The next step is to choose your kit type. One kit is required per person. The kits include all art supplies and access to the video tutorial. There is a section on the website entitled, Which Kit Should I Order? When deciding what you need, this is extremely helpful. 

Second, sit back and wait for your kit(s). Usually, this takes one to five business days. Any phone, tablet, laptop, computer, or connected device can be used to view the tutorials. 

Thirdly, have fun! You will be guided through the creation of your work of art by your artist-led instructor. Feel free to work at your own pace. Most paintings take one to two hours, but if yours takes longer that's okay.

Rocky Mountain Hike 
with Laurie 

Colors: Cobalt Blue, Phthalo Green, Chrome Yellow, Fire Red, Burnt Umber, Titanium White 

Brushes: 5 various brushes 

Supplies: cup of water, paper towels, palette, apron/old clothing, canvas

In atmospheric perspective, the top is darker and the bottom is lighter. 

For the mountains, make gray using blue and brown. Avoid zigzag mountain tops. Mountains have shadows.

Shade adds distinct value to an image. 

When you have a large area of one color, in this instance green, you should vary the shades of green. This will prevent you from having a lot of one color.

Start light and add in some yellows and blues as you go darker. Blend and mix. Be creative. A combination of cool and warm colors. In order to highlight the flowers at the bottom of the canvas, use a dark green color at the bottom.

Grass-like brushstrokes, pulling up, dry brush, and remember edges.

Adding dimension to the painting by tapping and pulling from side to side. By tapping, you can add some yellow flowers.

To make trees in the distance, dot and tap. Trees with a larger diameter work in a zigzag pattern down. Leaving little windows in the trees. One side of the tree, the left side, should be highlighted. 

Video lesson...

Such majestic mountains. They are just waiting to be paired with a beautiful landscape. 

I considered Rocky Mountain Hike to be one of the easiest landscape scenes to paint. The lush green colors contrast beautifully with the mountains in the background. Walking path adds the perfect final touch to the painting to highlight its depth. The scenery is breathtaking, and I could almost imagine myself walking among the flowers inhaling their fragrant essence. Under my toes, I can feel the cool green grass. As I breathe deeply, I am captivated by the crisp mountain air. In my view, tiny animals scurry about carrying pine cones and sticks to enhance the security of their homes. In the distance, you can hear the faint sound of water coming from a river. Being alive on such a beautiful day is a blessing!

Let the fun begin... 

I am utterly stunned at how well this painting turned out. I'm not sure if it was the instructor, if I was having a good day, or if this painting spoke to me. This is something I am extremely proud of. 

Alaskan Whalesong 

with Amy 

Colors: Titanium White, Phthalo Green, Cobalt Blue, Magenta, Black 

Brushes: 5 various brushes 

Supplies: cup of water, paper towels, palette, apron/old clothing, canvas

Draw an outline of the orca, the mountains, and the horizon line (red and white to make pink). An even horizon line can be achieved with the paint brush. Next, begin painting the sky, then the mountains, then the water. Once you reach the bottom of the water, begin swooping your brush strokes. Shaped like a swoopy smile. 

Next, we have trees. Pull up the brush. From the top of the tree, you can also zigzag down. 

The next step will be to work on the orca again. Outline the orca with pink. Color doesn't matter. Later, it will be covered up. Fill in all of the white parts of the orca with pink. Again, it's okay, it'll be covered up in time. Next, let's start outlining and coloring the orca with black. Using the white, color in the white areas. If some pink shows through, it's okay. In the final step, we will outline the orca and add splashes. Prior to moving onto this step, make sure all of your other colors are completely dry (5-10 minutes). 

Add some pink clouds to the sky. The brush should be almost dry. 

The horizon line should be cut in white. Make some thin white brush strokes next to the horizon line. By doing this, you can see how far the orca that has just emerged is up out of the water. 

In white, outline the orca. 

Swooping brush stroke of blues and magentas in the water give the orca definition. 

The last step is to add bubbles and splashes to the fins and tail of the fish. 

Video lesson...

Let the fun begin...

Frosted Sunbeams

with Laurie

Colors: Titanium White, Chrome Yellow, Bright Red, Burnt Umber, Cobalt Blue, Magenta

Brushes: 5 various brushes 

Supplies: cup of water, paper towels, palette, apron/old clothing, canvas

Laurie shows viewers helpful tips for making shadow lines for the trees. Breaking up shadow lines takes a simple technique. Instead of trying to find the right shade of gray for your project often times it is just as simple as mixing blue and brown to make gray. With a bit of trial and error you will find the perfect shade of gray. A dark tree base defines the shadow from the object that is making the shadow which is the tree. Use a note card with a thin layer of paint spread at intervals makes for the perfect way to make notches on the birch trees.

Video lesson...

Let the fun begin...

Painting party of seven ready to start. We have all levels of skill tonight. Among us are one very skilled artist, one talented artist, one crafty person, one wanna-be artist, two along for the ride, and one trying to please his mother-in-law. We are all anxious and ready to begin this uncharted journey. Some are more hesitant than others. God bless the person who invented the pause button. Wow, we paused this video a lot! I forgot to mention that the video was still unfinished 1 1/2 hours later! We paused the video a lot. As we painted, we laughed and shared Bob Ross words of wisdom. As Bob Ross would say, "Anything we don't like, we'll turn it into a happy little tree or something; we don't make mistakes, we just have happy accidents." Preach it, brother!

Even the dog got into the fun! 

My grandson decided that he needed to try his hand at 

creating his own masterpiece too. 

Emily is a naturally gifted artist. 

Hannah is very talented artistically.

My son-in-law is having so much FUN! 

Aunt Kristin is very crafty and was very excited about this adventure.

Karis is just hoping for success!

Chloe is a bit quiet.

Back to Emily...she is just waiting on us slow pokes to finish up.

Awesome job Karis!

Way to go Kristin!

 It looks like I have pine trees. I got too tree HAPPY! 

After almost two hours of painting, the grandchildren were tired and it was getting late. It was time to call it a night. To complete the project, we will need to find another time for everyone to come together. 

I'm actually impressed with how well this painting came out. I love Laurie's trick for getting the markings on the birch trees! These videos provide your student with valuable art techniques and tools. Plan a semester of paintings from the Painting To Gogh website with your high school student.

With the QR code included with our review material, I was able to access the courses and lessons easily. My hope is that when you purchase a course online, you'll be provided with a QR code that you can simply scan to gain access to the material. If not, I'm sure they have an easy way for you to access your purchases.

The material could easily be broken up into multiple sessions. Finding breaking points in the videos was not difficult.

Besides my friends and family working on one of the paintings, I was given plenty of paint in order to complete all three paintings.

In some ways, painting becomes addicting; it's easy to reflect upon a painting you've just finished or recently completed and wonder what you could have done better. In order to better my technique, I listened to the painting tutorials twice and sometimes three times at a higher speed. As a result, I purchased a number of smaller canvases and decided that I would practice different techniques on them.

We loved Painting To Gogh!