Central Skagit Library District

This book introduces artists to basic drawing concepts and describes in step-by-step instructions how to turn simple shapes into people. Young readers will learn to draw a man, a woman, a boy, a baby, and a grandma. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards.

"Nashville art teacher Cassie Stephens makes clay a focus of her elementary school classes with amazing results. In Clay Lab for Kids she shares 32 creative hands-on projects."--

Our visit with Thomas Chimes, one of Philadelphia’s most important contemporary artists, begins at the Philadelphia Museum whose collection inspired him as a schoolboy to become an artist. Here he was drawn to Thomas Eakins, a fellow Philadelphian, and to Duchamp and Van Gogh. Anne d’Harnoncourt, Director of the museum, joins Chimes to revisit the galleries of these influential artists and to “compare notes” with Chimes. Just as many other...

Christo’s Wrapped Walk Ways is a stunning work dedicated to public interaction and communal observation. As we follow Christo down his path, he shows us exactly what those who lend themselves to the piece experience. Covering a total of 2.8 miles of walkway in Kansas City’s Loose Park, Christo’s golden nylon morphs and molds with each step, touch, and breeze. By encouraging visitors of the park to interact with the piece, the artists makes them...

Brice Marden's paintings and drawings have long been at the forefront of contemporary abstract art. Marden’s much acclaimed retrospective at MoMA in November 2006, provided an opportunity to accompany the artist and the curator Gary Garrels on a tour of the exhibition to discuss his key works of the last forty years. Marden speaks frankly about his approach, his beginnings and influences. At the time of the retrospective, Peter Schjeldahl named...

Hans Haacke visits his retrospectives taking place simultaneously in Berlin and Hamburg with art historian Jon Bird. The work in these long awaited, non-chronologically arranged exhibitions reveals Haacke's strong convictions and desire for justice for all. Haacke is a key figure in contemporary art whose work intersects with conceptual, pop, minimal and land art. The artist is particularly known for his research into the hidden economies and politics...

Elizabeth Murray has been moving forward fearlessly during more than 4 decades constantly inventing new shapes for the unique style of painting for which she is known. Her decision to become an artist was the result of an encounter with a still life by Cezanne at the Art Institute of Chicago as a student. Subsequently many artists had an impact on her thinking, the Surrealists, deKooning, and Guston, just to name a few. Earlier influences were the...

First published in 1865, Mary Mapes Dodge's "Hans Brinker, or The Silver Skates" is an endearing children's story about a hard-working, honorable Dutch boy and the challenges he faces as a result of his family's poverty. Hans dreams of entering a big ice-skating race with his sister Gretel so that he may win the beautiful silver skates he desires. Yet, he is also very concerned for his father, who has been injured from a fall off of a dike and in...

"Ocean's Eleven meets The Farewell in this lush, lyrical heist novel inspired by the true story of Chinese art vanishing from Western museums, about diaspora, the colonization of art, and the complexity of the Chinese American identity. History is told by the conquerors. Across the Western world, museums display the spoils of war, of conquest, of colonialism: priceless pieces of art looted from other countries, kept even now. Will Chen plans to steal...

Dive into the challenging diversity of the natural world, starting with bodies of water and clouds. First, identify common elements and look closely to determine color temperature and value areas. Then, work from simple structure to finer details as you build up your painting. Finally, add shadows and highlights to capture shape and atmospheric conditions.