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Friday 31 August 2012

Bug Art at The Green Centre

For the Basildon Art Trail (5th- 15th October) I will be showing a selection of drawings and painting based on natural form at The Green Centre at Wat Tyler Country Park.
Dragonfly Face by Lisa Smith, drawn in water-soluble crayons at the Green Centre
As part of the build up for this years Art Trail , my venue has given me the opportunity to hold two workshops a 2D workshop and the other a 3D workshop. For the 2D workshop we invited children of all ages to come along to the centre and draw their favourite bug. The Essex Field Club has an amazing selection of specimens, computer logs and books that the children used as resources along with a slide show of bugs I had put together. Most of the children chose to use specimens that had been collected and encased in resin. This allowed the children to really observe what they were drawing, to hold it in their hands and look up close to where the legs joined, what colours the bugs were, where their antennae and wings were placed and so forth.
Having volunteers from the Essex Field Club on hand meant that the children could ask questions about the bug, where they were from, what was their habitat, what they ate ... etc and be provided with expert answers.
I encouraged the children to take their time, to spend at least 5 minutes observing what they were going to draw and guiding them as to what parts I would draw first and how I would section the drawing off.
Close Observation of a Scorpion

Even the parents got involved holding specimens whilst their children concentrated on their drawing

A stunning drawing of a Stick Insect

Children enjoyed using the site specific build frames to draw on

Even the police turned up to draw a bug!

Children enjoyed using pastels, oil pastels, coloured pencils, graphite sticks, charcoal and pencil to complete their drawings. I think it is important that children are given the opportunity to explore varied mediums and the use of colour

We had a fantastic response to the workshop and discovered some very talented young artists as you can see in the pictures below.
What an amazing collection of bug drawings ranging from children aged  2years to 12 years old

This drawing was drawn completely from the child's imagination

I love the colours and the attention to detail in this beautiful oil pastel sketch

The Preying Mantis illustrates all of the key features of an insect, the six legs, 3 body parts, antennae and big eyes. How beautifully has this been drawn and coloured in

If you would like to join us for the 3D session and fancy building your own bug - then come along to the Green Centre on Saturday 1st September between 10:00am - 4:00pm. for more information check out the Essex Field Club website http://www.essexfieldclub.org.uk/portal/p/News 

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