Watercolor Gesture Drawing

We are in the middle of what I consider a drawing boot camp. To spice things up, I had the students create their gesture drawings on top of a watercolor wash. They turned out great!

Art Room Window

When I made these no sew window valances, I knew I needed something to spruce up the windows themselves. I hate old blinds! I decided to hang our 6th grade name mandalas on the windows. It has a really cool light filtering effect. I might fill in the empty space between the paper with black tape, to give it more of a stained glass look.

Painting the Classroom

Which Paint is Best to Paint Over Bright Walls?

I started this school year in a new school, which meant moving into a new classroom.  When I first visited my room this summer, I was shocked at what I saw.

This room was bright!  Being an art room, I thought about keeping the bright colors.  But, then I thought ahead a couple of months and I just couldn’t see myself working in a room so “in your face”.  I decided to take on the task of paining this giant, double room.

I wanted to do it in the cheapest way possible, since I was spending my own money on materials.  After some research, I decided on the KILZ primer and paint in one from Walmart (Complete Coat).  I bought two gallons of paint, a roller set (with a brush) and a plastic drop cloth.  Everything together was around $60, which wasn’t so bad.

After a full day of painting, I was so happy with the results!  The paint covered well in most areas.  I needed two coats in certain areas like the red and purple, but it covered the yellow and green perfectly.  I am confident that this paint would have painted over a more normal color with no problems whatsoever.

Here is the after!  We’ve been in school for three weeks now, giving me some time to live with the color.  I am so happy I decided to repaint!