Snowman Painting: Let It Snow

Inspired by the first snow of the season, I have been drawing and painting snowmen.  Lots of them.  They are easy to draw and it is fun to get them to do funny things. 

Here is a quick and easy way to draw a snowman.  I wanted a "Let It Snow" painting with it.  It is fun to do and looks very pretty. 

I used Folk Art Acrylic Paint, a flat medium paintbrush and a small pointy one.  I also had a 9x12 inch stretched canvas that had an old sketch on it.  I washed the sketch off using water and a kitchen towel, let it dry and then used for these two adorable snowmen.  

To see step by step directions with photos for every step, please look on my website here:

http://www.happyfamilyart.com/Snowman-Acrylic-Painting.htm

Art Games

I tried this game yesterday with kids: In a bin I had all kinds of different words written down on pieces of paper (folded so that they couldn't see the words right away). I like a good mix of animals and household objects. The kids would p...ull out two pieces of paper and draw a combination of the words they got. They had a few minutes to sketch it out. After they did about 10 combinations each, they got to pick their favorite one and draw it out on a different paper, and color it in. It was a lot of fun! My favorites were definately the Book Chicken, the Elephant Trees, and the Cat Spaceships. There was also Alien Ice Cream, Balloon Pony, and many more. The kids had a blast doing it.

We also played the broken telephone with art. One kid would come up with a rather detailed idea for a picture, like a Big Blue Shark Playing a Loud Flute Under Water, and whisper it to the next kid, and the next and the next, etc. At the end everyone had a different idea. It is a broken telephone after all. :)

For the first game and more cool art games see the article below by Becca Swanson:

http://voices.yahoo.com/10-art-games-play-classroom-7177042.html

I have been busy

Past few months I have been very busy building my site: www.happyfamilyart.com 
There are so many new projects on there, and yet more to come. 
Here are a few of the most recent ones:

Learn how to draw this wonderful Landscape in Colored Pencil:

 

 

http://www.happyfamilyart.com/Landscape-In-Colored-Pencil.html

 

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Or you could make a few notebooks as stocking stuffers:

 

 

http://www.happyfamilyart.com/Handmade-Notebook.html

 

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Or you could check out my awesome list of kids books that includes our favorites through the kids ages:

 

 

http://www.happyfamilyart.com/Great-Books-For-Children.html

 

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You could also read the Tips For Nurturing Creative Kids that I wrote over here:

 

http://www.happyfamilyart.com/Tips-For-Creative-Kids.html

 

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There is also a few new art works, and mosaics:

 

 

I hope you enjoy it all!!!

Statue Of Liberty

This is our second trip to the Statue Of Liberty as a family.  After being there once only a few years ago, I don't know if we would have made this second trip so soon.  However, this time my aunt was visiting from Odessa, Ukraine.  We decided to go there and enjoy it together. 

We went on a weekday in October, and were not disappointed.  The weather was glorious, and since we took the ferry from the NJ side, it wasn't crowded at all.  The island hasn't changed much, and neither has the statue.  We took a nice leisurely walk around the island and shopped for some snacks and then souvenirs, and then caught the ferry back home.  None of us felt like climbing even a few steps up, so we were happy with just the walk.  I do have to say that the snacks and drinks have becove quite a bit improved.  Unfortunately, the Ellis Island was closed due to the government shut down this October.  We will just have to go and visit it next time.

Of course the views of NYC can't be beat from the ferry and from the island.  I do think that the ferry ride was the most exciting thing that day for kids and adults alike.  The statue, well, it is a statue. 

More about NJ Beaches

This year was the first year that we joined some friends on the Sandy Hook Beach every Wednesday night.  Every night there is a concert there at 5 pm and until sundown.  I do consider us to be very lucky to be able to do that every week.  It is beautiful.  We stay off to the side, a bit away from the concert crowd.  The kids get to play with their friends and enjoy some fresh ocean air.  We watch the sunset, and a few times even the moon rise, and make more friends along the way.  (Good friends make everything more fun!!!) It is like a small vacation.  Now that the weather is getting colder I cannot wait to start going to the beach often again.

Here are some pictures for me to drool over while winter goes by.

Sunflower Maze

We had an A-Maze-Ing time at the Sussex County Sunflower Maze in Augusta NJ.  They are open only for a short little while in the late summer and fall.  I can not tell you how happy I was that we made it!  It is so beautiful that there aren't enough words to describe it.  The kids enjoyed it as well.  I loved all the beautiful flowers and the photographs that I took and can paint later!  When my kids get older I am going there with a canvas and some paints and painting on the spot!!!  It was one of the best trips that we took this year. 

The maze itself isn't very difficult, and is more of a pleasant walk through a sunflower field.  The admission price isn't too bad, and I felt was worth it.  The bakery that they have on the premises has many options that are healthy for adults and for kids.  My boys enjoyed a nice grilled cheese with bacon and a fruit smoothie.  Followed by a beautiful walk.

Everyone was happy on the way home.  We are definitely coming back.

Here is their website: http://www.sussexcountysunflowermaze.com/  Where you can look up when they are open for the next go round. 

Here are some of the beautiful photos from that day:

 

Below is a building we drove by, I think it was an elderly care facility, that I thought was especially pretty.  Worth to be stopped by and photographed. 

 

In fact, from this angle it reminded of a Van Gogh Painting (just a note, the image of the painting is from ttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Van_Gogh).  Really though, look at them side by side. 

 

 

Between the sunflowers and this building it was a Van Gogh kind of day. :)

The Adventures of Petunia

After much hard work, collaborative efforts with the author and a lot of time, I am proud to say that 'The Adventures of Petunia' are finally printed and ready for sale. Written by Judy England-McCarthy and illustrated by me, Mariya Kovalyov, it is a wonderful story about one cute, brave, determined pink pig.
Below are a few pictures from the book, in a non specific order, so as not to give any spoilers and, ofcourse, no text.

 

If you would like to see more of them, please visit my website here:

http://www.happyfamilyart.com/Petunia-Illustrations.html