Category: Music

Nutcracker Art Lesson

12/16/2017

Happy Holidays! We hope your holiday season is off to a great start. One of our favorite tools to use for holiday inspired art lessons are colorfully illustrated children's books. There are so many fantastic picture books for children that celebrate various holiday celebrations. We love books that have a new twist on traditional stories. Such as the book, The Nutcracker in Harlem by T.E. McMorrow and illustrated by James Ransome. Beautifully illustrated, this book tells the nutcracker story from an African-American perspective with a jazz connection. We created a simple Nutcracker drawing tutorial inspired by the book. With a few art tools, you can create this drawing using simple lines and shapes. Feel free to pause the video as much as you need to and make changes to the drawing using different details/tools.

Send us your Harlem inspired Nutcracker drawings and we will display them on our website. Have a blessed holiday season!

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The Art of Music Month

6/26/2017

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We love the month of June for so many reasons. One of them is that June is the month in which African-American contributions to music are highlighted. As we celebrate these amazing contributions, our latest Picture Book Story Time features the children's book, One Love. This colorful book is based on the popular song by renowned musician, Bob Marley and was adapted into a children's book by his daughter, Cedella Marley. The lovely illustrations were created by one of our favorite illustrators, Vanessa Brantley-Newton. We also created a colorful tamborine inspired art lesson related to the story. Check out the steps below to see how we made it.

Materials

1. 2 Paper Plates
2. Small Bells
3. Chenille Stems
4. Craft Paint
5. Paint Brush
6. Markers
7. Colorful Wasabi Tape
8. Colorful Ribbon
9. Glue Stick
10. Scissors
11. Circle Template

I used the paint to paint the perimeter or each paper plate.

I traced the circle template on a neutral colored sheet of scrapbook paper two times and cut them out. I decorated both circles with markers.

After I glued one circle in the middle of each plate, I punched seven holes around the perimeter of one plate. Then I lined the plates up together, to mark the holes onto the second plate, I then punched holes into the second plate.

I used the colorful tape to tape both plates together. I finished the plate by stringing bells onto chenille stems and placing them through the holes. I twisted the chenille stems together so that they hold the bells on the plate. Colorful ribbon was strung through the bottom hole and used to add more color to the plate.

Make sure to explore our website and check out some of our other art resources that are related to music.

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Nutcracker Art Lesson

The Art of Music Month

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