Native American patchwork inventions, sun faces, Thanksgiving feasts, turkey drawings - art by students in adult and kids’ drawing classes, 11/25-26/19

Adult art classes started by drawing a series of 4 gridded rectangles on a single sheet. Place in horizontal layout. These rectangles were of varying ‘cell’ numbers. You may find these cell amounts in some of the examples.

‘Box’ A using a dark crayon, create a design or pattern across that grid. Create by coloring in various cells.

‘Box’ B pick two random crayons/colors and create another pattern/design.

‘Box’ C pick a third random color and do as above.

‘Box’ D choose 4 colors as you wish and make a design/pattern.

Final drawing: Reduce paper sheet down to the biggest square possible. Remove excess by cutting or very careful tearing. Fold square into 4 squares by 4 squares. Fold diagonals if you wish. Color squares to create something like a patchwork square.

Put all the these explorations up on the wall arranging to create one large image.

December Children's Drawing Workshops at Rockland Library, with Catinka Knoth, 2019

"Let's Draw Pictures and Cards for the Holiday Season!" 

 Press Release

Rockland - Children will explore motifs from the traditional celebrations of December in the free drawing classes at Rockland Public Library led by Catinka Knoth. Classes meet most Tuesdays, 4-5pm, in the Community Room, Rockland Public Library, 80 Union St. Children 10 and under need adult accompaniment. The program, sponsored by Wendy and Keith Wellin, is free with all materials supplied, and hosted by Friends of Rockland Library. Contact the library at 594-0310 for more information.

Christmas, Winter solstice, Chanukkah, and the New Year offer lots of imagery for creative fun. Students will create images such as holiday wreaths, trees, gingerbread houses, ornaments and decorations; Santa Claus, toys, & elves; reindeer and sleighs; gift giving and more.

12/03    Gingerbread houses & holiday decorations

12/10    Christmas & holiday cards

12/17    Holiday cards & winter solstice

12/24   No class, library closes early.

12/31    No class, library closes early for New Year's Eve

Class often starts with a period of guessing and brainstorming ideas for the session's drawing. Knoth then leads children age 6 and up in "follow along" drawings.  She expects children to work independently and encourages adults to participate by making their own drawings. If time allows, Knoth takes group photos of the students' work at the end of class.

Holiday Motif Demonstration Drawings  by Catinka Knoth

Woodland animals and turkeys, student drawings, adult art class, 11/18/19

We warmed up with a set of drawing exercises working from reference photos.
1) draw a critter in white by just coloring in the background.
2) draw a blind contour drawing of a critter - keep your eye on the reference image, tool on the paper, and don't look at the paper. Go slowly and quietly. It is not supposed to look like anything!
3) draw a continuous line of the reference image, keep tool on the drawing
4) draw the forms of a reference image. Egg shapes? But imagine their 3D form how it takes up space.
Turkey - half a sheet drawing script like scribbling. Each line should be connected script forms repeating a mark like a letter. Hmm - would this work as the actual letters of the name?
The other half of the page is to translate the elements of a turkey image into the scribbles of script/calligraphy.

In Remembrance , Veterans Day, Poppies digital touch drawing screencast, CK, 11/11/19

In Remembrance - poppies screencast ‘Touch drawing’, CK, 11/11/19
Hopefully you can watch this drawing as it ‘draws’.

The time change, loss of light, and dread(?) coming of winter.

Text sent to family:

4:25 PM, 5 PM pitch black out! Sundown in Maine. I had to make a new ‘good things about winter’ list because I can’t find the first one, yet. Writing that had been a godsend, even though I never referred to it. I highly encourage people to make such a list. Love, Catinka

‘Rewriting’ some of that Lost Winter - good things about Winter - List.

Friday, 11/8/19, 7:45 PM

1. Beautiful winter formations that made for good abstract photographs
2. The pleasure of watching the animals go about their business no matter what the weather
3. The coziness a storm inspired
4. The /come Ratterree/ the camaraderie and community that one felt once the storm was over.
5. Special recipes and ritual tradition food dishes
6. The holidays: Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year
7. Special holiday programs on the television and on the radio
8. Martin Luther King day and the focus on that level of ideas to live by uplifting ideas
9. The music of the holidays
10. Making holiday decorations
11. Baking holiday dishes
12. Baking Christmas cards making Christmas cards not baking I said oh gosh she was getting so furious at that at that dictation the way it was misinterpreting her words. She had screamed at the dictation phone because of what it was typing out wrong way
13. Lovely lights and holiday displays that people put out at night.
14. The time for reflection and turning inward.
15. Everything was so much sweeter when the warm weather finally returned just by the fact of the contrast
16. Special treats only for winter special
17. Special drinks only for winter
18. The beauty of winter scenes not just the natural formations
19. That black and white quality the positive negative The high contrast
20. All the celebrations that happened in February-Chinese new year, Mardi Gras, Valentines    
21. The challenge of dealing with the cold weather it was a personal challenge
22. The cat stayed in for the night willingly, or somewhat willingly.
23. Laundry dried easily
24. It was conducive to lighting a candle and sitting at dinner with a lit candle.
25. Giving gifts?

Limited editing because of ridiculous dictation app errors to have fun(?) with.

Deer, exercises and drawing display by students, adult art and kids’ class, 11/04-05/19

Our references for drawing deer came from the Art of Animal drawing, by Ken Hultgren, a Disney animator who worked on the Bambi movie. We also had a set of old silhouette art to work from

We started with a set of experimental exercises. In four rectangles we drew a series of pre-decided lines. The first rectangle was 13 lines crisscrossing perpendicular, like plaid. The next box
Was 13 diagonals crisscrossing. They touched two edges of the box. The next box was the series of 13 arcs crisscrossing and intersecting at two edges of the box. And finally the last box we drew 13 overlapping circles. Then we went through each box and tried to invent or find a creature or critter. We did them in one color of our choice except not yellow.

You should be able to see the connection between the arcs experiment and Hultgren's drawings. Students made their final drawings as they wished using the reference art of Hultgren.

And then from kids’ class:
What fun to have rainbow colored deer. I want to make one as a color wheel spinner!

Woodland Animals and November Themes Adult Art Workshop Series with Catinka Knoth at Rockland Public Library, 2019

Press Release

Woodland Animals and November Themes Adult Art Workshop Series with

Catinka Knoth at Rockland Public Library, 2019

Rockland - Catinka Knoth will teach drawing woodland animals and themes

of November, with a focus on drawing in color, 11 a.m. Mondays, in the 

Community Room, Rockland Public Library, 80 Union St. Knoth leads 

participants in working with colored pencils and crayons to create their 

own colored drawings of woodland animals and

November themes. Students will use a variety of exercises and methods to 

help develop new ways of seeing, observing, and designing. Knoth 

provides the classes free of charge and open to the general public, with

materials supplied; Friends of Rockland Library host. FMI Rockland Library at 594-0310.

Knoth will give instruction and guidance in drawing November's themes.

Each week is a different subject, as follows:

11/04      Deer

11/11      Library closed for Veterans Day

11/18      Woodland animals & wild turkeys

11/25      Native American motifs

Knoth paints watercolors of Maine and whimsical animal scenes, which she

offers as cards and prints. She teaches a free weekly children's drawing

class at Rockland Public Library, sponsored by Wendy and Keith Wellin.

For more information about Knoth's work visit www.catinkacards.com.

attachments - art and photos by Catinka Knoth

November Children’s Drawing Classes at Rockland Library, 2019

Press Release:
Rockland -  "Let's Draw in Celebration of Native American Heritage
Month, Thanksgiving, and the Coming of Winter!" is the November program
for the ongoing free drawing classes led by Catinka Knoth at Rockland
Public Library. Children will explore such motifs as woodland animals; Thanksgiving;
Native American designs, lodging, hunting, and game; and foods and
family gatherings.  Knoth leads children age 6 and up in these "follow
along" sessions every Tuesday, 4-5 pm, in the library's Community Room,
80 Union Street. Children 10 and under should be accompanied by an
adult. Knoth expects participants to be able to work independently and
encourages adults to join in the drawing fun.  Local patrons Wendy and
Keith Wellin sponsor the program, which is free with all materials
supplied, and hosted by Friends of Rockland Library. Contact  children's librarian, at 594-0310 for more information.

Each week is a different subject:
11/05  Let's Draw Deer!
11/12    Let's Draw Woodland Critters - Bears, raccoons, foxes, chipmunks, squirrels, and mice! 
11/19    Let's Draw Turkeys, a Pilgrim Feast, and a Cornucopia for
Thanksgiving!
11/26  Let's Draw Native American Designs and Motifs!

Attachments: art by Catinka Knoth