Finding Inspiration for Christmas Trading Cards

Students are always asking me how do I come up with things to draw. Easy I look around my house or take photographs of things I like. First day of my Christmas break while the house was quite I made a cup of coffee, found a few photographs, ornaments then grabbed my pens and watercolors and started to draw.

This is what I accomplished on Saturday morning.

The Santa in the middle still needed to be inked up. But I was ready for a break.

 Sunday morning I worked on this little guy.

Watercolor was also added to the Santas and Nutcracker that day.

 Today finished painting my crazy buildings. I just love vacation days!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all.

Artist Trading Cards

What do you do with twenty very chatty  Drawing 1 students who are complaining that they don't want to improve their drawing skills or learn new techniques in class? They just want to do their own thing.  Quoting a student " Mrs. Maggio, Art is suppose to be fun I already know how to draw."
  My come back. Prove it. For the next two weeks everyone has to create 1 to 2  Artist Trading cards each day in class until Christmas break. I'm going to grade your efforts each day and want 10 to 15 cards by December 20th. The only requirement is that you must draw!!!No excuses!
For those of you that have never seen an Artist Trading Card  they are 2.5 x 3.5" in size. I had never created a trading card so I started the project with them. We started the assignment December 5th, and I have 16 completed cards so far. I'm actually having fun. As for the students only 2 are keeping up with me. What do you think?

Finished Student Work

Thought I would share a few of the Expressive Color Portraits as they are being handed in.

Very proud Art Teacher

Here is the one I did.

What a Fun project!

Working with my Students on an Illustration Project

In October I had my Drawing students read several children's poems. They were asked to choose a section from the poem that spoke to them visually, and develop several thumbnail images in their sketchbook.  Their favorite image would then be turned into a Pen and Watercolor illustration.
 I haven't done an illustration in a while and decided to do the assignment with them. This is my illustration from the project..
All the poems were written by Bruce Larkin

A Rare Look Into My Classroom

This is my HIGH ENERGY Studio Art class. They arrive to class after lunch and most of the time the volume level in the room is  louder then I would like. We recently started a new Color Unit combining Value, and Proportion. The students are creating Expressive Self  Portraits using a monochromatic color scheme that reflects their personality along with learning how to use a grid to enlarge their photograph onto watercolor paper.  They are so engaged in the project that you can almost hear a pin drop, so I decided to feature them on my blog. Maybe when they become celebrities around the school from this publicity they will be quitely engage in future endeavors.
Please leave comments to encourage all the effort they are putting into their art work. I'm very proud at what I'm seeing so far. Keep it up! .;))

Grateful for a Creative Family

 Having a husband that is a photographer and always notices the change of lighting in a room.

Having a son that loves floral design.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Its Starting to look like Christmas

Our favorite antique store

Dantiques is one of our favorite antique shops to visit, especially at Christmas. We received our holiday invitation to check out the store. Dan always has a cookie or glass of wine for his guests to enjoy as they browse through the store. But our favorite thing about Dantiques is Dan himself. He is hilarious, always sharing little details about his finds or how he transforms things into one of a kind pieces of furniture. But what is really amazing is how he remembers his customers and their purchases. He is such a delight we guarantee you'll leave with a smile on your face.

I have Joined the Digital World of Technalogy

Welcome to Studio Art from Karen Maggio on Vimeo.

 Teaching Art is nothing like it use to be evident by my latest project. I spent most of the weekend creating videos demonstrating how to create projects for students that have been absent from class for extended amounts of time.
As an International Baccalaureate (IB) Visual Art Teacher, we will soon be required to send digital records of our students Artwork, and Investigation Research Workbooks for Examiners.
Thank heavens for Lynda.com. I became a member of the online website, which is full of video tutorials on anything you could possible want learn in this digital age.
My head is spinning! 

Skeletons Are popping up every where

I  love getting ready for Halloween and celebrating Mexico's traditional holiday, Los Dias de Muertos by painting a few masks and dressing up my studio skeleton in honor of both holidays.

A few years ago my  International Baccalaureate (IB) students and I researched Mexico's holiday also known as "The Day of the Dead," by creating cigar box shrines. If your not familar with this holiday, it is a time for families to remember and  honor departed ancestors, friends and family.

If you would like to see the cigar box shrine that I created in memory of my good friend and artist Marlene Scott, click on her name.

Hope you enjoy the pictures, and a walk down memory lane with me.