Afternoons are for art
Lemm explained that she enjoys teaching kids because they live in the moment, and they’re sponges; they soak up and retain all sorts of information.
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Eight pairs of eyes watched and eight pairs of ears listened to Edna Lemm as she explained the watercolor landscape the 9-to-14-year-old students would be painting on Oct. 14.
Lemm, a local artist who teaches art classes for the after-school crowd, equipped each student with watercolor paper taped to a board, a drawing pencil, a big eraser, watercolors, a paintbrush and a large container of water.
First the students lightly sketched in some mountains. Kids asked, “How does this look?” and “Is this too dark?”
After all the mountains were drawn to the young artists’ satisfaction, Lemm explained how to mix water and watercolor paint to make a “pool” in one section of the palette. The pool was blue to paint the sky above the mountains.
Lemm demonstrated on her paper. “See how I leave some areas white,” Lemm said. “Why would I leave them white?”
“Because the white places are clouds,” Alex Salois said.
The lesson continued, and Lemm inserted art terms such as foreground, middle ground and background as well as practical tips such as to clean a paintbrush between colors.
A paintbrush plopped directly into the yellow paint after painting the ground brown will turn the yellow muddy, Lemm advised her students. Then the next time yellow is needed, it will not really be yellow.
Students drew an island close to the mountains, protruding into the water. The foreground was a stretch of sandy beach, and the young artists learned to take a tiny bit of sponge and dapple the sand.
The water, the mountains, the island and the sand all required pools of paint mixed with water in the palette. Some kids did not mix enough paint and/or water.
“Your person would not even get wet in that pool,” Lemm explained.
Then Lemm held up her painting and asked, “Why is the sailboat so small?”
The students tossed around answers until Lemm told them it was perspective. They groaned, and said they knew that answer. They continued painting. Lemm kept the class moving quickly as she does with all her classes.
Lemm teaches art at Valley View School and the Mission Valley Christian Academy as well as after-school and summer classes.
Lemm explained that she enjoys teaching kids because they live in the moment, and they’re sponges; they soak up and retain all sorts of information. Plus most students love art and painting so they are always glad to see her.
Since all her classes are full, Lemm has a waiting list for her classes for preschoolers, kindergartners and elementary children up to age 14. Lemm even offers a class for moms. Call her at 883-2990 for more information.
