Drooly Studio: For Gosh Sake, Make Puppets.

Something happens to people when they make puppets. The start to talk in funny voices and accents and things. All this personality comes pouring out.

So I am here to say: Make puppets. Use a sock, or get some elaborate instructions if you are the elaborate type. But it is well worth it.

Lest I fail to offer you any sort of valuable information on HOW to make puppets, here is a list of materials that I recommend. How you put them together is up to you.

1. Fabri-Tak. This is amazing and weird stuff. Not only does it stick together all your puppet parts in a permanent fashion, but as it dries it can be rolled into little goo balls and played with.

2. Socks. Oh, you can sew your puppets if you are the sort to do that. But socks are great and naturally funny for some reason.

3. Googly eyes. This is in fact all you need to make something into a puppet. Googly eyes plus Fabri-Tak plus anything equals a character. Period.

4. Yarn, foamies, extra fabric, wire, pipe cleaners, glitter, beads, whatever. Grass. Cardboard. String. Doesn't matter. This is your big chance to use up random supplies.

That's it. Make puppets. They are this magic personality-releasing device.

Drooly Dog Gallery: Super Modern Battle Scene by Thomas

This painting is from Thomas, who lives in New York. Last time I saw Thomas, well.... I actually never saw Thomas, he was just a baby bump. But now he's out and painting amazing things. Go Thomas!

His mom says, "It is a cat looking with his mouth open at a Star Wars kind of walker. It is firing its guns and it is in a war. It has one huge gun that is firing."

I just love scenes like this because it is like everything is moving. Even the colors. I could definitely see adding sound effects to this painting.

Also, the way this is painted, reminds me of an artist named Willem de Kooning. Have your parents look up de Kooning with you, and see how he painted. He used a lot of shapes and lines to show things that look like they are moving, too. The way you posed the legs also makes it seem to move.

The cat looks like it is pretty upset about the walker. The walker looks very threatening, like it is just going to stomp over everything in its path. It does not look like there is very much you can do to stop it, especially with those big legs stomping along.

Thanks for sending this Thomas! If you have friends in your class who like to make art, have them send something - I have a guess that there are a couple of other creative kids living with you, too!

Everyone else, send art to Drooly Dog, we are talking about art from all over the world and showing kids how powerful their art really is. Send it to bigdog@droolydog.org, with DROOLY DOG in the subject. Include the artist's first name, age, and location. I'm looking forward to getting something from you! (Oh, and join us on Facebook, too!)

Drawing School: How to Draw a Horse

Horses can be confounding to draw. Here are simple tips on how to make your next drawing of a horse really look like a horse and not just an all-purpose four-legged animal.

This is for kids, for grownups, for kids with grownups, grownups with kids... enjoy!

For more drawing lessons, check out the Drooly Dog Drawing School Page! Tons of ideas and more all the time. Next up:

Tail Wag: How to Know that YOU. Are a Drooly Dog.

Drooly Dogs Rock. Rock!! Here's how to know you are one.

Do you know young people who like to make art? Have you made something cool with your favorite young people? Send a picture! You can learn more about how I post work by young artists and write to them about it on this page, or join us on Facebook. Drooly Dogs unite!

Tail Wag: Inspiration from the Drooly Artists.

A little piece of inspiration for you, from some of the artists of Drooly Dog.

Know a young artist? Or a few, or a bunch? Send some of their work over.

Talking to young artists about their work is an important part of the creative process. Artists put their thoughts out into the world, and everyone else gets a chance to see it.

Please forward this post to anyone you know who is a parent, or an art teacher, or knows some cool young people who like to make things.

And remember - this isn't a contest! In fact, often the littlest project made one afternoon after school can turn out to be incredibly interesting. We'll talk about how the artwork compares to different styles, and point to paintings, animations and more that can offer even more inspiration.

Email art to bigdog@droolydog.org, with DROOLY DOG in the subject line!

Opening email is like Christmas when someone sends work!

Drooly Dog is Evolving!

You'll be noticing some New Tricks at Drooly Dog this week. Here's a bit about them:

Introducing the Drooly Dog Drawing School!

Drawing is the basis of all visual arts. It is also an impulse that goes back to the cave folks. Drawing is a great source of joy. So, the Drooly Dog Drawing School is all about getting your pencil moving, and giving you that extra nudge to draw with your favorite young people. There will be free drawing lessons, animations, videos, and the like, along with coloring pages, and downloadable books. Rock!!

Tail Wags

These will be bits of inspiration that I gather in my travels - quotes, wonderful artists and their work, and anything else YOU send that gets people thinking about art and makes the world a little bigger and more creative. (I suspect there will be a lot more video going on... just a hunch.)

Dog Run

These will be projects of any sort, with tips and instructions on how to get started. With a major emphasis on Reusing and Recycling. AND, the Junk Mail Derby, in which I take whatever came in my junk mail on a given day and make something out of it.

And of Course, the Drooly Dog Gallery of Kids' Art! (Check it out on Flickr!)

Send something by your favorite young artist for the Gallery! It is looking terrific. Each posting comes with a note from me to the artist. I often give them more artists and things to look at as well, inspired by what they've made. Send it to bigdogATdroolydog.org today!

Drooly Dog Gallery: Ahmad's Entertaining Drawing

Ahmad is 8, and has sent us another drawing from Johannesburg, South Africa.

He says: "I drew this picture on a time when I was getting VERY VERY BORED!!!!!!!!!!!!! So I drew this to cheer me up."

I told Ahmad, I draw a lot when I get bored, too. Actually, that is sometimes when I get my best ideas because my brain is not all tied up with other things.

I really like the giant flowers on either side of this drawing. Your sister included something similar in her drawing, so now I am wondering if you both live in a place where there are enormous flowers like these!

Also I am curious about what might be contained in that big trailer. Have you decided?

Thank you Ahmad for sending this! It will brighten anyone's day.

Join the Drooly Dog Gallery of Kids' Art! I post their art here and write to them about it. We're having a conversation about art that wraps around the whole world. You can learn more at this page, or join us on Facebook. See you there!

You Don't Have to be Jack Lemmon.....

... to make a huge difference in a young person's life.

Okay it might help, but listen to what Kevin Spacey has to say about the arts, and about how an experienced person said just a few words to him that changed his life.

And, you could argue that Mr. Spacey then went on to change a whole lot of other people's lives through his own acting and advocacy. So there you go.

The Jack Lemmon story is about 4 minutes in. But before you watch, I just want to tell you:

You don't have to be a Jack Lemmon to make this kind of difference. When YOU draw with a young person, spend the time, talk to them about their art, you are playing that role. When I write notes to kids on this site and post their artwork, I am recreating a little bit of that here. That's the point. Art is putting something out into the world, and as grownups we can change a life by seeing it, appreciating it, reacting to it.

Enjoy this video...

DroolyDog.org helps young people and their grownups develop their unique voices through the arts.

Kids' Art - Lovina's Easter Drawing from Sweden

Lovina is 5 and sends this drawing from Sweden.

Lovina this drawing will make people smile and think about Easter for sure. To me, it looks like the little chick is singing a song, because of the way its beak is pointing. It might be singing, "Ooooo, I'm out of the egg, happy Easter!" or something like that. I really like the expression that the chick has.

The egg there looks like it might have another chick inside it, since it does not look like it has been broken yet. Maybe this is a friend or a brother or sister? Have you had a chance to hold a baby chick after it hatches out of the egg? They are little balls of fuzz, just like you show here. Your drawing makes me think that you have seen chicks yourself!

Thank you for sending this Lovina! I hope you will make some more drawings and share them with us.

Everyone else, send kids' art to Drooly Dog! Just first name, age, location, and art - to bigdogATdroolydog.org. Or come see us on Facebook! Work by young artists makes people smile, and the chance to talk about it here lets kids know their creative voices matter. Join us!

Ai Weiwei and the Power of Art

I use the phrase a lot, "Art is Power."

Here is an example of what I mean.

Ai Weiwei is China's most famous contemporary artist, and co-designer of the "bird's nest" coliseum that we all marveled at during the Beijing Olympics.

He was also detained by the Chinese government on April 3 as he attempted to board a plane for Hong Kong.

He has been beaten, he has had his studio demolished. He still does not know by whom.

Here is a hypnotic video about the making of one of Mr. Ai's exhibitions, for the Tate, called "Sunflower Seeds." It's a little long, but worth it. Notice that the process of making the seeds is a part of the art, the way he employs a whole town of people to make them, the way there are so many of them but each is unique.

Take a look at the pages about this exhibition on the Tate's site, especially Mr. Ai's quotes about it found here.

Ai Weiwei gets in a lot of trouble in China for expressing his views, and for his work. As an artist, he expresses ideas that cannot be expressed on such a scale in any other way.

Art is Power. It enables us to speak, and to create ideas, on a level not possible otherwise.

Within each of us is a voice. Whether or not we are a practicing artist, art gives all of us a way to hear that voice more clearly.

Something this powerful, that affects this many people, should be something that all of our young people see, and try, and understand as they grow up.

Pencil in Hand, Really Cool Stuff in Brain

It's always been clear to me that when a kid draws, there's a whole lot of deep stuff going on inside their heads that is fired off by the movement of their hand. You can practically see the brain cells jumping around. It opens up a whole new world, almost like an alternative language.

But now, I have found that it goes even deeper than that, right into our ability to formulate ideas at all. It's fascinating.

Lately I've had reason to get involved in how handwriting affects the ability to think. The wrong grip on the pencil, the wrong muscles, too much reliance on using the eyes to form the letters, and it's like the whole thinking process gets gummed up.

Improve these things, and a torrent of ideas gets unblocked. It's amazing.

This article in the Wall Street Journal entitled, "How Handwriting Trains the Brain," talks about "the hand's unique relationship with the brain when it comes to composing thoughts and ideas." The act of making marks, and writing things that someone else is supposed to read, goes way way down into the roots of our intelligence and ability to think.

So now I have even more reason to jump up and down and say, everybody grab a pencil. That keyboard is convenient, but it's not accomplishing the same things as drawing and writing by hand do. Especially for young people. It's huge.

And when you've drawn something, send it to me for the Drooly Dog Drawing Project (on the Site/on Facebook). I can't wait to see what you come up with! Brain cells fire away!

Draw Faces Your Own Way!

I'm sure you've seen lots of "how to draw" books out there, this is a little different take on drawing that is all about finding your own way to draw things - and letting your own personality come through.....

Which is just what we're doing with Drooly Dog - letting out our Creative Beasts. So join us and send some art! Check us out on Facebook or come learn more about the project by clicking here. Enjoy!

Draw Faces Your Own Way

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School Mural Project: The Next Panel!

We're on the third panel (out of 5) of the mural for the science building at my kids' school.

The first two panels are up, and they look just fantastic. And, they have withstood some serious amounts of rain here in Northern California.

Here you can see where the mural is being installed - there will be 5 panels altogether. Note also the variety of sports equipment that has been launched onto the roof of the science building....

And, here's a little closer view. We've gone from DNA to cell stomata, and cell stomata to oak leaves.

So, continuing our "powers of ten" concept, the next panel goes from oak leaves, on the inner panel, to oak trees, on the outer frame.

Here it is sketched out. The trick is to get the oak trees to "read" like oaks, which have this unique shape - especially since the mural is so bright, almost Matisse-like in character.

And here is the whole panel, sketched out. I used chalk to sketcha nd suggest the colors, and then a big fat Sharpie to put in the lines so it's like a giant coloring book.

Next up, kids with paintbrushes!! Wish our science teacher luck.

Kids' Art - Rina's Night Scene!

This took a lot of patience to draw all of those stars. Each and every one of them has the same number of points, and is colored in. And then, there's the teeny tiny glowing doorway. So it appears that whoever lives in this house, is still awake. I wonder what they are doing?

This reminds me of some houses that I have seen in Iowa and Missouri, that are way out in the middle of these big areas with rolling hills. Even though they are off by themselves, they look like a nice place to visit.

Thanks Rina for sending this!

Great Teachers, AGAIN Again.

Every, every, every time I hear about a great teacher who had an influence on someone, the story turns on one thing: That teacher saw something something unique about the student, and was willing to go out of his or her way to encourage it. (It's really interesting too how many of these stories involve the teacher "breaking the rules" to make something happen for the student, even in a small way.)

Here is yet another example, an article in the New York Times entitled, "What I Learned at School" by Marie Myung-Ok Lee.

There it is again! The author describes how she was different from the other students, and how her teacher made that a good thing. The teacher went outside the bounds of an assignment to encourage a student. Crazy! Crazy stuff!

Gave her permission, and then gave her encouragement.

Here's my version of the permission and encouragement story, called Let Out the Creative Beast. Maybe you had a teacher do this for you.

Let Out the Creative Beast

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Drooly Dog Video! Jump start your drawing.

A quick way to get yourself drawing without sitting there asking that question, "What should I draw?" Enjoy!

And remember, if you or your favorite young artist draw something cool, send it to me at mailATbetsystreeter.com so I can post it here and write a note to you about it as part of the Drooly Dog Drawing Project!

Okay, on with the video:

Kids, Art and the Rise of the Image Culture

Here is an excellent article by Elizabeth Thoman entitled "Rise of the Image Culture," on the Center for Media Literacy's website.

It's one of the most succinct takedowns of consumer culture, as enabled by media and images, that I've read.

The last paragraph of it goes like this:

"Thousands of years ago a philosopher wrote of a cave of illusion in which captive humans were enraptured by a flood of images that appeared before them while they ignored the reality outside the cave. This prophetic metaphor contained its own solutions. Once again we are summoned into the light."

What does this have to do with kids, art, and the Drooly Dog Drawing Project? Lots.

I encourage kids to draw because it gives them ownership of their creative abilities.

It also shows them that they have the power to make images, so that images become more than just something you passively look at. They become something that you generate yourself.

Encouraging kids to draw gives them power. It shows them they can make decisions about images and how they are put together.

So, give a kid some time and space to draw today. Or give them a new sketchbook and a pencil.

And, send me kids' art so I can write to them about it as part of the Drooly Dog Drawing Project. They are not just developing their own creative abilities and being seen and heard as they do this, they are becoming more powerful makers and consumers of images.

Ten Great Uses for a Pencil

An homage to the mighty pencil, instrument of expression, weapon in the fight for creativity and silliness. Drawing is the beginning of freedom. It is a universal language. It is a source of our voice. The pencil is indeed mighty. Respect the pencil.

Ten Great Uses for a Pencil

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Kids' Art - Sean's Human Map

And now, a map of the world in human form by Sean, who just turned 7.

Sean, I can tell a lot about how you see the world by looking at this map! You've got your hometown on there, as well as the hometown of your grandparents, and also a favorite vacation spot - and of course, San Francisco, where they are playing baseball - what else? The Great Plains stretch off to the side, and Africa sits below them. I'm sorry to see that there is a war going on in Afghanistan, I hope someday you can draw this map again and that will not be the case. But that's honesty! And I see that the guy in Texas has a very nice cowboy hat.

Thank You Sean!

And everyone else, send me kids' art for the Drooly Dog Drawing Project! You can attach it to me at mailATbetsystreeter.com, or learn more about the project by clicking here or checking it out on Facebook.

Kids' Art - Nelson's Magnificent Owl.

Nelson is 9, and I'm told he's very taken with owls currently.

Nelson this is a really detailed drawing! You must have spent a whole lot of time working on all of the different kinds of feathers, the different patterns, the claws - you have clearly looked very very closely at owls to be able to draw this much detail. I bet this is a particular species of owl, too.

Also I really like the way you thought about how the owl is sitting on the tree branch, and how the owl is in the foreground, while the branches and parts of the tree are in the background. You have to think about how a branch will continue on the other side of something, when you can't see all of it. That can be tricky, especially since things in real life sometimes don't look the way you would imagine them. It helps just to look around a lot and notice how things go in front of and behind each other.

Thanks for sending this Nelson!