Not long ago, I visited The Cloisters in New York City. By definition, a cloister is an open hallway that surrounds a protected garden. It is a natural walkway where monks and nuns might retreat into nature and still have a degree of protection from the elements, like wind, rain, snow, sun–and other people, too….
Month: March 2020
Learning to Paint and to Write by Intuition
When I am painting and when I am writing, I consider it a great day when something within myself takes over and essentially completes my project for me. This gentle urging is intuition. It is the spark that helped Michelangelo release his sculptures from a piece of rock, and it is my writer’s voice and…
Learn to See with Your Spirit and Not Merely with Your Eyes
I often write about the importance of an artist’s or a writer’s or a thinker’s truly “seeing,” as opposed to merely looking.’ Even flies can look. Looking is nothing more than image recognition Seeing is a deeper thing. It has to do with perceiving and with the imagination and with empathy and feeling. Seeing things as they truly…
How to Make A Picture in Photoshop with the Custom Tools – Kids Do Photoshop Lesson 2
Before I show you how to create a new picture with photoshop, I’d like to tell you something about myself .My name is Jacki Kellum, and I write and illustrate picture books. I am excited that one of my picture books will be published soon. Before now, I have used watercolor paint to create my…
How to Draw the Bowtie Boy from Africa – The Bowties Live Around the World
After today, I’ll only be able to share one How to Draw the Bowties adventure each week. I need to get back to writing and illustrating picture books, but I am not abandoning the Bowtie Bunch. Rather, I’m about to travel around the world and visit the Bowties in many different parts of the world….
Kids Do Photoshop – Lesson 1 – How to Open Photoshop & Draw Shapes
I have great news for the kids of the world. Adobe makes the computer program Photoshop, and for folks who like to play computer games, Photoshop is a fantastic alternativeto just playing around on the computer. Instead of chasing dragons, kids can really use their brains, and they can draw dragons of their own–or they…
How to Draw A Spring Scene with a Kite and Clouds – Jacki Kellum FREE Drawing Class – Make A Spring Greeting Card
How to Draw A Spring Scene with A Kite and Clouds in the Air Oh, Boy! Today, we are going to celebrate spring by drawing a spring scene. March is a windy month, and for that reason, it is a good time for flying kites–even if we are flying them in our art. After we…
How to Draw Bowtie Cat – Jacki Kellum Free Drawing Class 2 – Draw the Bowties
Today, The Bowtie Bunch will draw Bowtie Cat. But before we begin, remember that our drawings will never be perfect. We are simply practicing and doing the best that we can. The more we draw, the more nearly perfect at art that we’ll become. Also remember that to participate all you need is a piece…
How to Draw Bowtie Man – Jacki Kellum Free Drawing Class 1 – Draw the Bowties
Several people are offering free classes as a service during the coronavirus pandemic. Although I am writing and illustrating picture books full time now, I taught art to children for many, many years. In fact, while I was teaching art, Target Stores of America named me the National Teacher of the Year. Because many children…
Celebrate Spring with Lois Ehlert’s Book Planting A Rainbow
Although I am living, writing, and painting in the Ozark Mountains now, I was a Children’s Librarian in New Jersey for years before now, and especially during the spring, I miss my work as a Children’s Librarian. New Jersey is certainly colder than the Ozark Mountains, and the snow and black ice and N’oreasters wreak…