Written by: Kristin Harris Saturday afternoon, October 14, the Academy Center of the Arts in Lynchburg, VA hosted a Big Draw17 Living Lines event. I knew I was going to have a good time and was thrilled when we had a full house with kids and adults making art and animation and loving it. I am most indebted to the Academy Center of the Arts for sponsoring this program. As a family event, it was very exciting to have so many adults actively participating, parents and adults who came to experience the Big Draw in Lynchburg. I had not realized, we were one of only three Big Draw happenings in the US this year. Time is running out, but not too late for you to register for a Big Draw event at your school, museum, art space, park during the month of October. Table One Zoetrope We had four activity areas, three were hands-on drawing with traditional tools, but animation related. Table One was all about zoetropes. These pre-film animation devices spin a sequence of images to simulate motion. Learn more about my process in fabricating one in this post. I was a little surprised the zoetrope table was a big hit and consistently full. I […]
iPad Camp: Challenging Student Creativity with Great Results
This week, we had the pleasure of having Kristin Harris at Academy Center of the Arts to teach an iPad camp for kids ages 9 – 12. After the camp ended, Kristin wrote a blog post on her personal website and we have featured it here as well. The last full week in July was iPad Camp at the Academy Center of the Arts in Lynchburg. This was an especially wonderful group of kids. There were 3 boys and 3 girls. That turns out to be a great balance of energy and skills. The girls were older and more focused, the boys were younger and higher energy. These camps provide kids with an opportunity to challenge their creative problem-solving skills by learning media production tools in a non-structured environment. I am most appreciative of ACOA efforts to develop arts/technology programming. I was very impressed with the work these students were able to do during the week. I have been teaching iPad workshops for a number of years and of course, each has its own unique characteristics. The tools we use are Animatic by Inkboard, Animation & Drawing by Do Ink, Procreate, iMovie and Composer Pro. I love to start my iPad Camp with this question, what does “to […]
5 Reasons to Love Making Art with Procreate
I am very pleased to have the opportunity to offer a Procreate workshop at the Academy Center of the Arts. This iPad app is the most robust digital drawing and painting tool I have ever used. What really pleases me is how much kids like it. Don’t be confused; this is a tool for professionals and adults too. Here’s why it so great. Look What I Made Skill building is confidence building. Few things please me more than to see kids (and adults) show me their work and radiate pride at their accomplishments. Here is a gallery view from a student’s Procreate app from last summer. This collection shows not only a mastery of the tool but also the pure joy of creation. Another collection of student work created in Procreate. These young students are obviously not intimidated by this robust app and one image inspires another. Ease of Use Some very smart interface designers worked on this app. I find that with a good introduction to the tools, students are off and running on their own. There are tips and tricks I can add along the way, but most students find their way fairly easily. This is what the […]
New iPad Classes at the Academy!
We are very excited to offer two new courses built around the creative potential of the iPad. Our instructor, Kristin Harris (instructor at Lynchburg College, www.kristinharrisdesign.com) offers two classes this winter as we explore new ways of creating art in the 21st century. Memory Movies (Ages 8+, Register by February 1st) The workshop is perfect for families who want to share memories about their favorite vacation or grandparents who want to tell stories to their grandchildren. Parents can put together a baby memory movie for their children with stories or children can make a memory movie with images of their friends. During this workshop, students will use a very accessible iPad app that lets you take images of your favorite photographs or import them from your camera roll and add narration. Participants are encouraged to bring their own iPads. The instructor has 5 iPads available to borrow that day at a rate of $10 each, first come first served. REGISTER HERE iPad Animations (Ages 8+, Register by February 29th) To animate means to bring to life. Learn how to use iPad animation apps that bring your drawing and characters to life. Students will start out with a few simple exercises and then […]
