Right after the still life project I asked my students to work on a composition that would involve animals of any shape or color and style. I wanted them to apply the painting skills they developed while working on the still life. A special attention was payed to shading, color transition, and light and dark areas interaction.

Hi everyone! Despite my long disappearance from the blog the school is alive and well and going strong. I was gone on a trip to Bavaria, Germany and want to share my impressions of Munich and it’s stupendous art museums.

From our visit to  Pinakothek der Moderne

Looking at art and visiting museums inspires me and gives me new ideas for school projects. Stand by, kids! There is a lot of fun work coming your way!

We finished last summer semester with some fun lessons in Van Vorst Park. Children did live drawings of the trees, flowers, wild life of the park including cats and squirrels and cars on near by streets.

Starting this fall with the traditional still life project gave the kids a good opportunity to get back into the working mode. Kara and Emily are seasoned painters now and both of them have spent good amount of time perfecting the light and shadows effects to create the most three – dimensional  impression. The colors are brilliant but the transition from tone to tone is subtle and complex. Please see below.

Dear parents!

You are invited to the open house and free trial lesson for your kids interested in art.

Saturday, September 23rd, 12-2PM. The lesson starts at 12:30pm.

It’ll be a good opportunity for the kids to meet the teacher and each other and to get familiar with the environment of the school. You can ask questions and get all necessary information.

Downtown Art School Announces Fall’17 Semester for toddlers and children 5 to 15 years old.

I believe it’s important to explore one’s creativity early on. Doing so, teaches young people how to think independently, so that they can develop a fresh and unconditioned way of looking at the world and learn to make their own decisions. 

This fall we’ll be working on various projects that involve learning drawing and painting techniques, understanding principles of composition, and most importantly, what it is to be an artist.

During this 10 week course, I’ll be talking to the children about art history. That should help them begin to see their own work in an art historical context, and see the connection between various styles and artists throughout time.

Class outline:

1. Learning the correct and sophisticated way to mix paints in order to achieve the fine distinction between tones of colors and hues.

2. Drawing with colored pencils, crayons and other dry materials.

3. Experimenting with unusual techniques, exploring unconventional tools and media to produce new, surprising results.

4. Sculpting with clay. Creating 3D objects with other materials.

5. Live drawing of a still life, 3D objects/models. – Learning to observe and compare sizes. shapes, textures, colors. Practicing realistic rendering.  Understanding of  the importance of quiet and extended observation of objects and nature.

6. Learning different approaches to composition. Creating multiple options in the same piece. The topics based on the studies of still life and interior paintings of famous artists.

7. Abstract composition. Learning about the relations between colors, shapes, negative spaces, lines and marks. Making the work dynamic or static.

8. Composition on a specific theme – possibly using a text (a story), or a scene from memory – city or country, sea side, mountains, etc. Learning how to express a message or a feeling using visual means – composition, color, dynamic without becoming too literal.

9. Experimenting and playing with scale of images. Learning about the symbolism and power of relation of sizes in a work of art.

10. Learning from the masters – copying a great work of art by one of the famous artists. By doing it the students will be getting into the artist’s thought process.

11. Development of the final personal project.

The length of a class is 75 minutes. Thursday and Wednesday evenings from 6:15 to 7:30 pm.

The price is $30 per lesson including the art materials.

Art class for toddlers 3 to 4 year old. 

Because toddlers naturally make new discoveries every day for them art is a process, not a product. The art activities for toddlers must be set up to allow them to simply discover and explore different art materials and mediums. 

Giving young children an appreciation for art encourages self expression, logical thinking, self-esteem, imagination, and creativity. Early art experiences also teach kids to think openly, create new meaning, be more tolerant of others’ differences, and gives them the courage to take risks.  

The length of a class for toddlers is 45 minutes. Thursday evenings from 5:15 to 6:00 pm.

The price is $28 per lesson including the art materials.

The classes will take place in my studio in downtown Jersey City.

The first day of the course as well as the final schedule will be determined once I know how many kids are signed up.

Bella Marskaya is an experienced art teacher and a practicing fine artist currently showing her work at I B Clark Gallery in Hew Hope, PA and at MORA in Jersey City, NJ.

She’s graduated from NYU with MA in Studio Art. She works as a textile designer in New York City.  She is living in Jersey City.

You can get in touch with Bella by calling or texting at

862-754-6245 or emailing at bmarsky@yahoo.com

Please visit our blog at downtownartschool.com

One afternoon we were talking about Greek amphorae  and how incredibly skilled the ancient artisans were. The way they decorated the pottery told the story of the Greek myth, history and culture. Gods, heroes and mythological beasts adorn the surface of the vases. My students got so inspired by the glorious images of the pottery that they created some true masterpieces of their own!

 

Looks like the spring is the time of traveling for my students. Half of them have been away a lot visiting all these exciting places around the globe. I hope they come back full of new impression and fresh ideas they could use in their art work.

Meanwhile those of us who stayed behind kept the good work going in the art studio.

Here is what the students have been doing.

 

When I finally put up the displey of the childrens work last Tuesday (the snow storm came very handy giving me an extra day to deal with the massive amount of art work) both Sergei and I were stunned by how impressive and beautiful the pieces looked put together side by side. Great work, kids! A wonderful and well deserved result of the hard work and learning! And I wantvery much to thank the parents and friends of the students for coming to see the show and to support the kids and Downtown Art School.

On to the next semester, my friends! The first lessons is on March 23rd, 2017 at 6PM.

See you then!

 

After three weeks of hard work the still life is finished.  I’m so happy to share the final result! I wonder what Juan Gris would say?

 

 

 

A new student, Emily Claire has joined the class on week 7. A great addition to the group – highly motivated and gifted girl!

Here is how the kids continued working on the still life.