For Whom the Carlsbad Art Farm Bell Tolls

We have just completed Session Two at Carlsbad Art Farm. Pictured here are campers and staff under the school bell (originally from my husband's family farm in Michigan). Click on image to enlarge.

It was a great week! Students kept busy making and filling nature journals, making animal soap, learning acyclic, charcoal, and pen-and-ink watercolor techniques.

They observed nature and animals, which they used to create art. Some guest models this week included "Lizzy" an extra jumbo-sized San Diego Alligator lizard and Molasses, a species of endangered dessert tortoise.

Picasso, our miniature mule, posed handsomely. Kandinsky, our $20 rescue goat, was, as usual, a delightful goofball (she ate my demonstration drawing, much to the amusement of my students). Our alpacas, Harry Potter and Mr. Weasely, allowed their fuzzy necks to be hugged as they were led about on leashes. Hilda, the camp dog, kept kids entertained as she continues to dig her ever-growing tunnel beneath a fallen tree stump. We're not sure where she's going.

Then there are the free-range chickens that wander through camp looking for bugs and worms. Students enjoy finding their eggs. Big favorites are Maude, Feathers, Patriot, and Egg Nog.

Our weekly Friday All Camp BBQ in the woods, to which we invite family, siblings and friends, was a big success. We cooked 65 giant hotdogs, 18 veggie burgers, and 80 ears of corn. Campers helped with the setting of tables. Parents had a chance to hangout at the campsite where they could admire their children's art and simply enjoy the beautiful setting.

Camps continue all summer into mid-August. All information is available online at our website under the "Camp" tab. Scroll to the bottom to find enrollment and other required forms. The enrollment form includes session dates. For mid-season session availability, email the director Perrin Weston (that would be me) at director@carlsbadartfarm.com.

Do They Spit?

This is the number one question we get asked about our alpacas at Art Farm. Alpacas and their distant and much larger cousins, Llamas, seem to have a reputation for spitting.

The answer is yes they do on occasion spit, but not usually at humans. Spitting is an alpaca's only natural defense (believe it or not), so generally they only spit if they feel threatened.

One of the alpacas did once spit at our goat, Kandinsky, but the goat was asking for it. She kept getting in the face of Harry Potter, the light colored little fella to the right, so Harry let Kandinsky have it in the face with a great huge wad of green, digested orchard hay. Kandy looked enormously surprised and humiliated and backed off immediately.

Mostly, alpacas are sweet and somewhat shy creatures that are easily halter trained. Their fur is as soft as it looks. They have huge eyes and very long lashes. They do not have hooves. Their feet are much like a dog's, with pads on the bottom and large toenails. They are camelids. Their natural habitat is in the Andes.

These two, Harry Potter (so named because he has a tuft of fur on his forehead that resembles a lightening bolt), and Mr. Weasely, the brown one, are about 80 to 100 pounds beneath all the fuzz.

Chickens For Art's Sake

The American Educator William Lyon Phelps, who served as a professor of English at Yale University from 1901 to 1933, once said: "If I didn't start painting, I would have raised chickens."

Well, we're here to tell you that raising chickens and making art are not mutually exclusive undertakings.


Carlsbad Art Farm currently has 13 free-range chickens that wander through our outdoor studios, foraging for yummy bugs and worms, while students strive to capture their images in paint and charcoal. This group of students - entering second or third grade this coming fall - are showing off portraits of several varieties of chicken which they painted in instructor Kris Finch's class. During breaks, they have fun discovering where the various hens are laying their many-colored eggs.

There are, of course, many other critters at Art Farm for students to observe and render. So far this week, our campers have enjoyed making nature journals, drawing and painting Harry and Mr. Weasley, the alpacas, Picasso the mini-mule, a very large San Diego Alligator Lizard named Lizzy, and our lovely rescue goat, Kandinsky. They have also made "Monster Soap" and "Animal Soap" to give as surprise gifts to their dads on Father's Day (so, shhhh . . .! don't tell). Students have also helped with the feeding of animals.

Carlsbad Art Farm Summer Camp will continue enrolling students as space allows in our weekly camp sessions through mid-August. All enrollment forms and information are available on the website under the "Camp" tab.

Getting Ready for Campers at Carlsbad Art Farm

With summer sessions starting next week, we are in full preparation mode here at Carlsbad Art Farm. That means getting our animal models ready for their close-ups, mowing many acres of weeds, setting up our outdoor studios, trimming some huge palm trees, and going over our art supplies order.

Enrollment for Art Farm continues throughout the summer. For session dates and enrollment forms, visit CarlsbadArtFarm.com and click the "Camp" tab.

Pictured here are some campers from last summer learning how artists go about drawing an animal - from initial sketch to finished drawing. We start by teaching basic animal structure. Once they understand that most mammals have the same basic bone structure with variations, it's a small step to being able to draw most any animal.

We use a lot of charcoal for drawing. It's smudgyness gets children away from a fear of getting a line wrong. Sometimes we get children who are absolutely wedded to their erasers. They will draw a line, fret that its not perfect, erase it, try again, fret, erase it, try again, fret . . . you get the idea. One way we deal with this is by taking away the erasers until the drawing is nearly finished. Charcoal is an imprecise medium. Lines can be sharp or blurred, light or very dark. Using charcoal, children begin to appreciate that making a likeness of an animal -- or any other object -- is not about technical perfection but about capturing it's essence. Charcoal drawings have a sense of movement, a quality that is ideal for drawing animals, trees with fluttering leaves, passing clouds, etc.

The class pictured here shows children working on "art horses". These are benches with a vertical board at the end on which they can lean their drawing boards (sort of like an easel you can sit on). This allows them to observe the model while drawing with correct form.

The sheep makes a good live model because it is busy grazing and tends not to move much. Drawing live animals requires close observation because the animal will move so you must hold a memory of a pose. Repeated attempts to draw the live animal enforce this memory.

A good place to practice drawing exotic animals is the zoo or wild animal park. Next time you take your child artist to the zoo, bring along a good-quality sketch pad and some soft lead art pencils (3B or 4B). Show your child that you are not fearful of making mistakes (even if you are!) by bringing along a pad and pencils for yourself. Know ahead of time which animals you want to draw to avoid the, "What do you want to draw?" "I don't know," merry-go-round. The idea is to go with a sense of purpose and to hit the ground running.

The petting zoo is a good place to draw because the animals are close up. Your child's attempts at drawing will be positively reinforced by other zoo guests who are charmed by the sight of a child drawing with a parent (and by other children who are slightly jealous that they didn't bring drawing supplies).