Press Works printer Todd Smith attended the 36th Annual Very Special Arts Festival on Friday to run a monotype workshop. "The Very Special Arts Festival is an annual admission-free event celebrating the artistic achievements of students with disabilities and their mainstream peers." In other words, amazingly creative students from all over Los Angeles schools. The festival took place at the Music Center Plaza between the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and the Mark Taper Forum. http://www.musiccenter.org/education/Students-at-the-Center/Very-Special-Arts-Festival/
There were a number of other Music Center teaching artists running art workshops as well as visual arts displays and a main stage for students to perform everything from rap to opera. The buses roll in at about 9am. The students disembark and the organized chaos ensues with drumming circles, dancing workshops, center stage performances, face painting, and numerous visual arts workshops. The festival continues til about 1pm when everyone boards the buses for their return home. Music Center staff and security manage the entire day from the unloading to the venues to the loading and send off with remarkable organizational skills. Thank you to all the volunteers who came down to help out. There is no way Todd could have managed this workshop on his own.
The basic process is coloring on a sanded acrylic glass sheet with watercolor markers then transferring the color image onto damp watercolor paper using a brayer. Photographs of animals, flowers, and landscapes are taped to the back of the acrylic glass for people to "copy." The finished print often comes out looking a little different depending on each person's style and individual interpretation. Some students chose to forgo the image and created an original image for printing.
There were a number of other Music Center teaching artists running art workshops as well as visual arts displays and a main stage for students to perform everything from rap to opera. The buses roll in at about 9am. The students disembark and the organized chaos ensues with drumming circles, dancing workshops, center stage performances, face painting, and numerous visual arts workshops. The festival continues til about 1pm when everyone boards the buses for their return home. Music Center staff and security manage the entire day from the unloading to the venues to the loading and send off with remarkable organizational skills. Thank you to all the volunteers who came down to help out. There is no way Todd could have managed this workshop on his own.
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| Before the madness. |
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| It didn't take long for students to sit down and get to work. |
The basic process is coloring on a sanded acrylic glass sheet with watercolor markers then transferring the color image onto damp watercolor paper using a brayer. Photographs of animals, flowers, and landscapes are taped to the back of the acrylic glass for people to "copy." The finished print often comes out looking a little different depending on each person's style and individual interpretation. Some students chose to forgo the image and created an original image for printing.
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| Even the teachers get involved. |
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| In the process and finishing up. The jaguar was a favorite. |
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| Todd's deputized print assistants. |
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| This little Picasso decides to create an original print. The brayer, to the student's right is used to add pressure and transfer the ink to the paper. |
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| And here it is. As we say in print parlance "Very cool." |
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| Students were great at interpreting the images in their own style. |
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| The final touch. Signing the print. |
