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Frima bat Avrum, Frima Gorinshtein, Mother of Mrs. Oliker,
was a retired engineer and Grandmother par excellence -
to her own grandchildren and all their friends.

She also was an accomplished artist.
(Click here to enter her Gallery)

In memory of her mother,
Mrs. Oliker has been teaching a weekly drawing class
for small groups of girls.





The Current Advanced Group ---- when started as beginners


the first and the second year of instructions

Note, this is a Stack, we had been adding new work on TOP of the stack.





We draw lighthouses as truncated cones. We make sure they stand tall, with the axis of symmetry always perpendicular to the horison.
The Leaning Tower of Pisa, called "La Torre di Pisa" in Italian, is circular bell tower, 183 feet high. It is constructed of white marble. The tower has eight stories, including the chamber for the bells. It began leaning shortly after construction began in 1173 because the ground beneath the tower was soft.

We draw it as two cylinders, a small one on top of the big one. We can choose to look at it from the ground level, or from the hill at a distance, or from an airplane.


Using acorns for heads
and yarn for scarfs



Avigayil's Animals

Avigayil's Man with a Dog


we learn how to draw the walls of the old city
and the palm trees that grow nearby
and maybe a woman walking by
and pushing a pram with a baby inside
We do not draw the baby inside of the pram
because we draw what we see,
and we do not see the baby inside of the pram...



DRAWING CLASS - Previous Groups of Beginners


Collection of work by students from previous groups of beginners

Drawing is fun.
It also is another communication channel:
when we are able to sketch what we mean,
we make ourselves clearer.

We learn to look and SEE,
And voila! We CAN draw!

Setting Us Straight

by CRB

One day Mrs. Oliker came in and said, "Does anyone know where your eyes are?"

First Sh said, "My eyes are on the top of my head."

Then I said, "My eyes are also on the top of my head."

Then B, S, MM and E all said, "Me, too! Me, too! Me, too!"

Mrs. Oliker said, "Well, if your eyes are on the top of your head then
where does your brain go?"

No one knew what to say. Finally Mrs. Oliker said, "Your eyes are in the
middle of your head and your brain is at the top. That is how I want you
to draw."

The next day in school we had to draw a lot of people. Just when the
teacher told us to draw, E said, "Don't forget to put the eyes on the
middle of the head and not at the top."

We all listened. The next time we drew a person we drew the eyes in
the middle of the head and not at the top.


Looking at our webpage

Upon completion of the Drawing Class
the students who want to continue
are invited to join the Drawing Studio
which offers

  • emphasis on individual development
  • introduction to more complex concepts
  • exploration of a wide variety of topics
  • exposure to great artists



DRAWING STUDIO - Advanced Studies


Note: the new work is appended in the end of the page.



Sunday Studio at work


Two Bikers


A Dance

Impossible 3D Shapes

Venetian Palace

Palazzo in Venezia

    We are learning from the masters:

    • Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez
        (June 6, 1599 - August 6, 1660)
        Spanish
    • Pierre-Auguste Renoir
        (February 25, 1841 - 3 December, 1919)
        French
    • Winslow Homer
        (February 24, 1836 - September 29, 1910)
        American

    How did they do this?

Three Friends

With Pippi Longstocking


Homage to Juan Munoz(Click here to see his Last Conversation Piece sculpture in Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, D.C. )


From Still Life - Pears

To Live Life: Ducks

Eli's Improvisation#1

Eli's Ducks

Pear-shaped Klezmer Musicians

with Pear-shaped Instruments


Back to Architecture Drawing



The Altneuschule (Old-New Synagogue) in Prague
is the world's oldest functioning Synagogue,
built around the year 1270.

Work in Progress

Synagogue in Florence

Firenze, Italia

Drawing Firenze in Netanya

Drawing architecture instills

  • ability to recognize canonic shapes
  • understanding of proportions
  • comprehension of laws of perspective
  • knowledge of styles and terminology of architecture
  • familiarity with famous buildings

3D Illustration:

Return of Mary Poppins

human head is shaped like an egg

and the face is down there, under the hat

sculpting with wire

When Tehila came to Netanya



Italian Violin Players

Stone Mother

The Twins

All in a Day's Work in Netanya

The New School Year Is Here



We Paint Stones



On a ski slope

    Materials:

    • Carton
    • Markers
    • Acorns
    • Glue


Tea Time

in Oil Pastels



About the Method



Our Affiliates in Ramat Shlomo, Jerusalem

This method is not about "artistic self-expression"

Instead, the emphasis is on development of visual perception:
It actually is very technical stuff:

  • these two lines run in parallel
  • this thick and that thin lines are running away from each other
  • the length of this is about twice the length of that
  • human eyes are in the middle of the head.
  • the elbows are at the level of the waistline
  • a fish looks like an ice cream cone with a fish tail

Our goal is to learn and internalize specific techniques and tools
as well as to learn
  • how to concentrate
  • how to choose what to pay attention to
  • how to draw what we see, and not what we think we know
    Learning to draw is as natural as
    • learning an alphabet and
    • utilizing it for reading and writing

    After all, the letters of an alphabet are
    simply abstract images, very much like
    the curves, straight lines, and various shapes
    used for representing the 3D objects of the real world
    on a 2D sheet of paper

    And yet no one expects illiterate people
    to get busy expressing themselves in writing.
    We all agree that learning the alphabet
    is the prerequisite!

    At the same time, it is somehow expected that
    one should be able to express oneself artistically.
    No wonder many kids "drop out"
    once they become critical of themselves
    or in response to criticism of others.

    Our method teaches the alphabet of drawing.

Making a mistake is fine as long as we learn from it:
  • "Oops, I messed up" is out
  • "Oops, I learned" is in

Use of mathematical terms is encouraged:

  • equilateral and isoceles triangles
  • parallel and perpendicular lines
  • circles and ellipses
  • congruent and similar shapes
  • symmetry
  • proportions...
An ability to draw
can be developed in every child (or adult)
when the technical concepts of this method are
  • lucidly formulated,
  • clearly introduced,
  • pleasantly reinforced,
  • humorously repeated, and
  • frequently illustrated in various ways


acknowledgments
Thank you to
TDSA --- for lovingly hosting us
Mrs. May --- for your steadfast support
Mr. V.Drapkin --- for the idea of this web page
Mrs. Levin --- for taking our first pictures and scanning our first drawings
Dr. JSF --- for joining us in Ramat Shlomo, Jerusalem and Sharon, Mass
Miss CRB --- for your Literary Vignette
All the girls --- for your enthusiasm and beautiful effort
Our families and friends --- for your interest and support

Copyright © 2007-2015 LenaMatis All rights reserved.