Introduction to This Stone Soup Art Activity Halima’s colorful picture is made in felt pen. It is so completely colored in it looks like painting! But because it is made with felt pen, it is the kind of painting that is easy to do at home or at school. What makes this picture so wonderful to me are the colors. Halima approached the task of coloring her scene with great courage. She said to herself, “I am going to make a bright, strong picture, a colorful picture that makes me think of cool water and the bright hot sun shining on fishermen at the beach.” And then she went ahead and did it! Look at the picture closely, and look at it from a distance. Notice the effect of the bright colors. Look carefully at the black lines—at the faces and fish and nets. One might say that, with colors, Halima tells the story of the bright hotness of the day. And, with lines, she tells another story—the story of the fishermen and the fish they caught that day. Project: Make a Picture That Tells Two Stories Using lines, tell us what some people are doing outdoors on a clear bright hot summer day. Using color, tell the story of the weather, the story of that brightness and hotness that make certain summer days so special. Using pencil, lightly draw the basic shapes of people, some details of their faces and clothes, the buildings, cars, trees, whatever you need to tell the story of what your people are doing. Then, using felt pens, colored pencils, or paint, boldly and courageously transform your sketch into a brightly colored painting. Use color to tell the story of heat and brightness. You may discover that in some cases the “right” color to use is not the real color that you seem to see with your eyes. For instance, let’s say the day is very hot and the sky very blue. What color sky will best give the idea of a hot day? It might be blue, but it might also be red, orange, or some other “hot” color. So, in choosing your colors, be brave, and experiment! Go with all your senses! Follow Halima’s example and make your picture exciting as a carnival! From the May/June 1986 Issue of Stone Soup Fishing, by Halima Said Ali, age 6, Oman
art activity
Art Activity: Capturing activity in image with ‘Collecting Wild Hares’
Introduction to this Stone Soup Art Activity Hares are a bit like rabbits, and this picture from Hungary by Katalin Kiss, 13, shows a group of people hunting hares for food. Look carefully at the picture. There is a lot going on! There are thirteen people, nine hares, four houses, four trees, bells, bags, sticks, a fence, clouds, and there is even a well. This picture is in one color only, but look at all the detail in the men’s clothing. Some men wear hats, some don’t. There are a couple of styles of trousers, of boots, shoes, shirts. What is most amazing to me about this picture is the way each figure is posed. Everyone, including the dogs, is doing something. The characters are frozen in time, in the midst of moving, as we might see them in a snapshot. Project: Capturing an Active Moment Like Katalin, make a drawing in one color. Katalin’s picture is a linoleum print or lino cut, but you will probably use pencil or pen. For a subject, choose something where lots of people (at least six) are doing something active. Following Katalin’s example, capture the movements of each person in the scene at the moment you freeze the action. Examples of subjects you might choose where you could “catch” a number of people in interesting positions are in sports, people working together building or repairing something, a family working or playing together, chefs in a kitchen cooking, all the different activities in a railway station or airport, or people buying groceries in a supermarket. In this last example you could show someone leaning over a shopping basket dropping something in, a couple of people walking down an aisle, a child reaching out to touch something on a shelf, and a worker unpacking boxes of cereal. The more people you can show making different gestures, the more interesting your picture will be. Whatever subject you choose for your picture, follow Katalin’s example and use the entire paper for your scene—from the top of the paper to the bottom. From the March/April 1986 Issue of Stone Soup Capturing Wild Hares, by Katalin Kiss, 13, Hungary
Art Activity: Depict being in the center of the game with ‘Soccer Game,’ by Brett Penman, 10
Introduction to this Stone Soup Art Activity This picture is from New Zealand. Brett Penman, age 10, shows us what it feels like to play soccer when the ball is moving fast and both teams are on the run. To get across the tension, speed, and emotional feelings of being on the field playing a hard game, Brett depicts the players as big, bold, and wild. The boldness of the picture matches the boldness of the game. Project: An Exciting Moment Most pictures of sports show athletes from the point of view of the spectators—the people standing outside watching. For a change, make a picture, like this soccer picture, that shows what it feels like to be involved in an athletic activity at an exciting and challenging moment. In baseball, this moment might be when you jump up to catch a fly ball; in jumprope you are doing doubles and the count is 85; in hopscotch you are on one foot reaching for a rock that is almost too far away and you are doing everything you can to keep your balance. When making your picture, make strong shapes, show bodies stretched and distorted in unusual ways. Don’t be afraid to show the world upside down from the point of view of a person who has fallen down and is winded or from the viewpoint of a person turning cartwheels. Make your picture as exciting as the sports event you are depicting. From the September/October 1985 issue of Stone Soup Soccer game, by Brett Penman, 10, New Zealand
