By Madison Butkus
Hometown Weekly Reporter
Tweens and teens gathered at the Sherborn Library for a Pop-Up Art School (PUAS) art class. Lisa Walker, co-creator of the PUAS, walked children step-by-step through a very adorable painting of a Boston Terrier dog in a winter setting.
Tables were set up around the Community Room of the library and at each seat there was a canvas, a paper plate with white and blue paint, two paint brushes, a cup of water, and some paper towels. On every canvas, Lisa had traced out the image of the Boston Terrier so those in attendance only had to fill in and paint around the dog.
Before diving into their creations, Lisa made sure all participants took off their jackets and rolled up their sleeves so as to not get the acrylic paint on their clothes. Everyone started out by tracing the outline of the dog in blue paint using their smaller paint brush. Once this had been completed, it was time to fill in the rest of the background using the bigger paintbrush provided. When doing this, Lisa explained to the students to not use too much paint as they were going to put on two coats and it would be easier to dry with less paint on it.
When both coats of paint were applied and slightly dried, it was time to work on the snowflakes. Walker passed around a cardboard cut out of the dog that participants would use to cover the outline on their canvas. Then, using a round sponge brush, students would dab around their canvas using the white paint. By doing this, the snowflakes would look like they were overlapping and give the illusion of them being behind the dog as well.
After the snowflakes were created, the kids were able to paint their dogs however they liked. Lisa suggested adding funny hats or using an array of colors, but everyone had free range to create the dog of their choosing. One little boy was extremely excited to paint his dog like his favorite superhero, while others were excited to create a colorful looking scarf.
Each of the paintings turned out incredible and were unique to each kiddo. This event was surely a great way to keep the kids’ creative energy flowing right before the start of school again!
Best friends and business partners Janell Scannell and Lisa Walker created the PUAS over nine years ago and run an array of different programs including those at libraries, schools, and even online. For more information on the PUAS and any upcoming events happening, please visit their website at www.popupartschool.com.
