Learn about Norwegian Birds

Participants will be asked to select a picture of a small Norwegian bird. They will then be asked to draw the bird, and then to make a sculpture of it.

Time and place: May 2014 at The Norwegian Seamen’s Church, 317 East 52nd street, NY
Instructor: Helga D Storbekken
Children: Ages 8 -14
Price:
Session time: 1 day, 2 ½ hours 

Drawing Blind: Two warm-up exercises –Drawing is seeing
We begin with a fun exercise and get to know each other.
Follow Helga’s (course instructor) finger without looking at the paper!
Watch as she draws her own face in the air. Suddenly there it is an amusing portrait of Helga, the instructor.

Drawing Blind Portraits of each other
We will make living lines with a pencil.
Sit in pairs opposite each other.
These two exercises are good for visualizing what we want to draw.
What do the eyes, hair, nose, mouth and throat look like?
The pencil in the hand moves in step with what the eyes see, without looking at the paper or your hands.
As you draw each other, watch and see how the drawings come to life. We don’t take ourselves so seriously
Blind drawing requires concentration and at the same time it is lots of fun!

Drawing with Pencil and pastels
Participants will be asked to select a picture of a small Norwegian bird. They will then be asked to draw the bird, and to pay close attention to the bird’s shape size and color, in preparation for making a sculpture.

Making the sculpture of the bird
Participants will use clay, polystyrene, plaster of Paris and steel wire to make their sculptures. Each will be provided with a polystyrene “body” of a bird. Layers of air-dried clay will then be added, followed by a final layer of plaster of Paris. When the clay and plaster of Paris are completely dry, the bird is ready to be painted. The finished sculpture can then be set aside on a shelf to dry.