Category Archives: Arts & Crafts

Anything to do with arts and crafts.

Painting Julia Hanna

Posted on September 6, 2021 by Aya Katz

Julia Hanna and I have been friends and on-line colleagues for many years now. She is my co-host on our Friday night livestream. I have been a guest on her channels on YouTube and she has appeared on mine. I … Continue reading →

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The Difference Between Chimpanzee Writing & Scribbling

Posted on September 3, 2021 by Aya Katz

Bow is an enculturated chimpanzee. He is literate. He can read and write. But most of his writing in the past consisted of pointing at letters in order to form words and sentences. Recently, Bow has taken an interest in … Continue reading →

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Stretching Your Dollars with Stretched Canvas

Posted on September 1, 2021 by Aya Katz

This is a chimpanzee’s perspective that I am sharing here. While my daughter is a college graduate and is no longer living at home, Bow, who was cross-fostered with her, is still at home with me. I like to paint, … Continue reading →

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Painting a Quick Portrait of Dr. Ramani

Posted on August 31, 2021 by Aya Katz

Sometimes all we need is a short span of time to create a recognizable portrait of someone we know. We all know how certain people look, even if we have never met them. Dr. Ramani is a well known public … Continue reading →

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How to Paint Fast

Posted on August 13, 2021 by Aya Katz

If you sketch with paint, you never have to erase. Continue reading →

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Can You Paint alla Prima with Acrylics?

Posted on August 10, 2021 by Aya Katz

Alla prima painting refers to painting fast, wet on wet, without waiting for earlier layers to dry before applying an additional coat of paint. Alla prima paintings are usually completed within a single painting session. The impressionists liked the all … Continue reading →

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The Last Thirty Minutes of A Painting

Posted on June 23, 2021 by Aya Katz

How do you know when a painting is done? Earlier this week I wrote about what happens during the first thirty minutes of painting. Now that I have finished the portrait, I want to talk about the final moments of … Continue reading →

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The First 30 Minutes of an Acrylic Painting

Posted on June 21, 2021 by Aya Katz

Sometimes I post a “work in progress” on my Instagram. It may look something like this: As you can clearly see, the painting looks blotchy and uneven. The different shades are not blended together. But this only represents the beginning … Continue reading →

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Painting Autumn Interlude: A Portrait of Two

Posted on December 26, 2020 by Aya Katz

For Christmas this year I painted a portrait of my daughter and her boyfriend. Though the portrait was in color in acrylics, I started with the black lines only. The black line version looks considerably different from the finished painting, … Continue reading →

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How to Teach Art to Students with Poor Hand-Eye Coordination

Posted on December 3, 2020 by Aya Katz

In the United States the public school system is geared to help students of average intelligence, but above average hand eye coordination. In Israel, at the time when I was in kindergarten, the system was geared toward students with above … Continue reading →

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