DoodleBugz Art School

- - The Doodlebugz Art School programs cover the various skills and techniques of Drawing, Painting, Mixed Media Art, and 3-D Building.   Several genres of art are explored including Realism, Abstraction, Expressionism, Intuitive Art, Spiritual Art, Illustration & Comics, Sculpture and 3-D Design, and Contemporary Artists are discussed. We also incorporate different academic subjects to show students how art relates to other areas of study, with a strong focus on Science & Mathematics.  Doodlebugz students will get the opportunity to work with exciting new materials such as sandpaper, fountain pens (pen & ink), and woodworking tools. Our philosophy is to challenge students by teaching them to use real tools, not just crayons!
- - Most schools run Doodlebugz as a 5-week after-school program that costs about $65/student - paid for by the parents.  We are a flexible local business and are willing to work with the needs and formats of any school or situation.  Doodlebugz also offers one-day workshops, week-long workshops or artist residencies, mural workshops, a puppet-making program, birthday parties, and boy/girl scout activities!

Here are some examples of our unique lessons:

Painting

Students will create, discover, experiment, splatter, splash, and learn all about Painting during this session. Each student gets their own palette to mix colors and explore the science of Color Theory. Painting classes promote creativity and discovery within the medium through the exploration of Abstraction, Expressionism, Finger-Painting and Mixed Media. Students create their own painting tools, practice palette knife painting, and learn all about the different kinds of paint brushes and their functions. They'll practice working in layers by developing a background, middle-ground and foreground, and use tiny brushes to add detail to their work.

Lessons such as "Painting Music" or "Painting & Poetry" teach students interpretive skills and help them translate feelings and thoughts into the visual language of art. Students will learn Realism by painting animal portraits, still life displays and landscapes. *Aprons are provided.

Working in 3-D

Students will playfully explore the world of three dimensions during this session. They will make colorful and imaginative creatures using clay and various tools... use Math & Geometry to build a mobile or design their own dollhouses or castles using cardboard construction... make paper mache creations... learn basic wood-working techniques... and more! Get ready to build and create.

Board Game Design

Students will design and create their own unique board games during this session! They will choose a theme, write the rules, plan the board layout (creating the board out of real hardboard), design and create pieces using clay... and whatever else they need for their one-of-a-kind game. Creating a board game is a challenging yet fun experience and promotes skills such as planning, spatial reasoning, working step-by-step, and writing -- and the last day is spent playing and sharing the games with the group!

Action Art

Go outside to play and create - make art while being active! Design your own hopscotch game or Four Square style game - draw and color it using sidewalk chalk and play it with the group! Splatter-paint like Jackson Pollock by dancing around the canvas while flinging paint. Aprons are provided. Learn how to build lifesize cardboard forts and clubhouses, construct 3-D artwork outside using Nature, and create your own artistic crazy relay race obstacles. These Doodlebugz will be imagining and creating all while actively playing and having fun. *This session should be scheduled during a time when students can work outdoors.

Drawing

This session starts with the lesson - "Learning to Draw = Learning to See" - which teaches students the difference between symbols for objects (heart, cloud, house, star, flower), and realistic representations of objects. We challenge students to draw several objects from observation including their hands, toys, figurines, and various still life objects. Students learn about the still life in art and learn how to draw multiple objects by constantly comparing them. They will explore light & shadow, practice making objects appear 3-D, create comics & illustrations, and draw from their imaginations. Materials used include: pencils and erasers, markers, colored pencils, charcoal, pastel, crayons, chalk, oil pastels, and brush & ink.

Pen & Ink

Students learn how to draw with Pen & ink using real professional quality artist quill pens. They will learn how the pens work, practice inserting the pen tips and filling them with ink using an eye dropper, learn the proper way to hold the pen, and experiment with techniques including making thick and thin lines by varying the amount of pressure applied.

Pen & ink is a challenging drawing method and is usually taught to students at the high school level. In Doodlebugz, even the youngest students will have the opportunity to try pen & ink - we've learned from experience that by teaching more advanced and complex techniques, young students are challenged and become more focused and immersed in their work.

Art & Science

Explore the similarities between Science and Art: experiment, discover, play, learn and imagine. Students will investigate bugs and insects and look at real specimens using magnifying lenses and professional mircoscopes, then use this as inspiration to create their own unique creepy crawlers! Many lessons will be held outdoors if possible - students will learn all about local plants and draw them in their Nature Journal, make leaf and bark rubbings, and draw landscapes by observation. For the Micro Art lesson, students will examine tiny things and create tiny art. Explore color science and lightwaves to learn more about why we see colors... even create your own optical illusion art! Let your curiosity guide you to discovery.