Equine Art from the Geisel Files! Dr. Seuss's Horse Museum by Andrew Joyner

A horse is a horse, of course, of course.

This is what ART is about.... ART is when an artist looks at something... like a HORSE for instance.

At an art museum we can see how some artists see horses--as outlines, as shapes, as solid forms, as lines, with color and motion and sometimes just as squiggles of dripping paint. Some see them and show them as strong and powerful, or as lithe and flowing and speedy, or slow and sturdy. For some classical artists hired by royalty, a horse was alternative to a throne, making a king look more commanding, a prince more gallant. Later artists showed horses as their impression of the idea of the horse or the emotions they expressed. Some, like Picasso, painted the horse as a surreal, frightening creature, or as the simple planes of its body as cubist art.

What would a cave artist see in a horse?

It's a mystery!

(Maybe... it was ... dinner?)

Looking at all the ways artists see things is what is fun about art museums.

But there are lots of ways to see how artists see things. All around us we see images and designs and art... even in the library. Especially at the library, where each illustrator sees the story in different sorts of pictures.

Dr. Seuss's Horse Museum (Classic Seuss) (Random House, 2019) is the result of Mrs. Ted Geisel's tidying up of her late husband's studio.  She found pages of pencil sketches and text that hadn't been put into rhymes, and Dr. Seuss's publisher, Random House, with the help of author and artist Andrew Joyner, put them together in this new classic book. There are plenty of recognizable Seussian characters, the little blond kid in the striped shirt, the fish in the teapot on a boy's head, the baby in his onesy, and the shaggy little dog who follows the kids, moving through the museum and marveling at the different images of the horse.

Says Booklist's starred review, "Excellent for a first visit to an art museum and as jumping-off point for young artists seeking creative style."

Both Ends Now! When Pencil Met Eraser by Karen Kilpatrick and Luis Ramos, Jr.

PENCIL LIKES TO WORK ALONE.

But Eraser won't be left behind. He butts in and erases the top of the skyscrapers in Pencil's elaborate cityscape.

"NOW YOU CAN SEE THE SKY!"

Hmmmph. Pencil mutters something about art being the business of artists and draws a field of grass and flowers to prove it. Eraser hops into action and erases a path to use to walk through the meadow.

Pencil sketches a sailboat and a sea to sail upon. Eraser scrubs out the waves.

"LOOK NOW! SMOOTH SAILING!!!"

With a sharp look, Pencil scratches out a deep forest of dark, shaggy evergreens. Eraser rubs out the treetops to make room for a sky full of stars!

All this dueling is wearying--PERIOD. Pencil is looking dull and Eraser seems a bit frayed, too. Maybe it's time for a compromise before they are both worn down to nibs and nubs, in Karen Kilpatrick's and Luis Ramos, Jr.'s When Pencil Met Eraser (Imprint, 2019). It all ends amiably, as they agree they are born to be together, in a two-for-one duo, with Pencil creating a jigsaw puzzle, and Eraser strategically removing some lines to turn it into a maze! At last the two co-creators agree that they work better together! Illustrator German Blanco makes good use of pencil line drawings in mostly black and white to personalize his two warring characters. Says School Library Journal, “Readers young and old alike will love this imagining of the dynamic duo that is Pencil and Eraser.”

Secret Seven: Making Amazing Art by Sandi Henry

Hot summer days are a great time for art projects, whether they are done in organized arts and crafts sessions or around the kitchen table on a steamy afternoon.

Sandi Henry's Making Amazing Art: 40 Activities Using the 7 Elements of Art Design (Williamson Kids Can! Series) starts with the seven elements of art design as used and taught by professional artists--line, shape, texture, color, value, form, and space.

Within a chapter devoted to each element, Henry provides an explanation of the term and its use in art, technical explanations (such as the definitions of tint and shades of color which are involved in value), examples of student art as well as examples of the use of the element by famous artists throughout history in sections titled Meet the Masters, and detailed descriptions of many do-able projects, (with materials and tips) which utilize the featured element.

For example, the chapter on shape first offers the technical definition (an area enclosed by a continuous line), and then shows simple and combined geometric shapes (square, circle, triangle, etc., and diamond, parallelogram, trapezoid, and so forth), as contrasted by free-form shapes made with irregular lines. Author Henry offers her own geometric repeat pattern quilt, a free-form work by a seven-year-old artist, and examples of the use of positive and negative shapes in foreground and background. Amidst examples and detailed instructions for creating collages, cutout shapes, stenciled shapes, and letter and number shape pieces, Henry also places an eye-catching shape collage by Henri Matisse. Likewise, the chapter on texture uses Albrecht Durer's The Young Hare to demonstrate and inspire pet portraits using techniques to create the texture of the animal's fur.

Making Amazing Art: 40 Activities Using the 7 Elements of Art Design (Williamson Kids Can! Series) features projects suitable for a wide range of skill and abilities, making this book a great source for school-aged children for fun solo projects or for adding design elements to school reports or scrapbooking. The index features entries by level of challenge as well as by type of art, and backmatter also includes museum web sites for viewing famous works of art and a list of art material suppliers. There are a lot of possibilities packed into this inviting and inexpensive little book.