Painting with Jesse Week 5 – Getting the right Shade

Hey Everyone,

Welcome to this week’s blog of Painting with Jesse. For this week I decided to paint two separate paintings. They are both less detailed than last week’s painting however, they both involve using different techniques. I know I said last week I was going to try and not do landscape paintings this week, but it is what I enjoy most, and these are quite different than my last landscape painting. This week, I think I was able to paint my best paintings yet and possibly my favorite.

This Week

Okay, so this week I decided to paint two separate paintings. I figures while I had everything out, I might well paint two. And I was kind of in the painting mood. This week I once again followed a painting tutorial on YouTube. Both tutorials were from the channel AhmadArt. It is a smaller channel, but I really like his paintings and how easy they are to follow. The two paintings I painted are similar in that they both have shaded skies using reds, whites, purples, yellows, and oranges. They are less detailed paintings than last week’s, but the backgrounds were something new to me. For the mountain painting, I tried to shade in a background that was blue on the top and orange on the bottom. I found shading from orange to white to blue to be kind of difficult. I found I could not really get the right shades. Going lighter and lighter and then to white. It for so only turned out as one or two shades of each color. However, it turned out alright on my first try. Next came shading in the mountains. Each mountain was a different shade of blue, so it was interesting trying to mix different colors to get those different blues. This part went quite well, and the mountains turned out pretty well except for the darkest one. For some reason, the paint of this color would not completely cover the orange underneath and you can still see some of the streaks. No matter how much paint I put on you could still see the orange. And I even waited for it to dry and tried again. I guess I did not wait long enough. The trees at the bottom were last and I think turned out well. I think they kind of bring the whole painting together.

 

The second painting I did was by far my favorite I have done so far. The background is like the first painting I did except I used a paint dot method to begin. As you can see in the picture the paint dot method involves first putting dots of paint approximately where you want that shade of color and then scraping it across the canvas with a paint scraper tool, allowing it to blend slightly with the other colors. Once most of the canvas is has to paint on it you grab the brush and spread it all in nicely. I loved how my background turned out using this method, you can see it in the picture. I will definitely be using this method in the future. After that, I just simply added the terrain at the bottom using dark colors and a couple cactuses. The stars were added by flicking light paint at the canvas. I love how this painting turned out and I love how the background turned out. It is the best part of the painting.

Using WeVideo

This week I also made a short video using WeVideo. A couple of classmates suggested using WeVideo after I asked about the best video-makers to use. I plan to try a few over the next few weeks. I put together a short video using WeVideo which just kind of takes you through I short picture timeline of the process this week. I found WeVideo very easy to use. Adding my photos and spacing out the time was very easy. It was also easy to publish and embed or share on any platform. The only bad thing was that I could not add any text as you needed to be a paying member to really add anything extra to your video so that makes it kind of boring. Next week I plan on using Animoto as I am not a Mac user.

As always please feel free to leave me a comment about anything and follow me on Twitter. We will see you next week.

Painting with Jesse Week 4: Using Acnhor to make a Podcast

 

Hey Everyone

Make an account with Anchor

Welcome to another Painting with Jesse Blog, thanks for checking in. So, this week’s blog will be a bit different than previous weeks. My blog post and learning project post will be combined into one blog post. This week in my EDTC 300 class we were asked to document our progress this week using a tool or resource we have never used before. I weighed several options including several video making sites. I was looking into shortcut and the Windows video making tool. I have used other video making tools in the past however, and these tools did not seem all that different. So, I started looking at other types of tools I could use, and I came across Anchor. Anchor is a podcasting tool by Spotify which helps you make and distribute your podcasts easily. I decided to give it a try and quickly decided this would be the tool I would use the tool. I figured I could make videos any other week and I have made some before so I would try to make what would probably be my only podcast this semester. I know podcasting and painting do not work great together but I made sure I shared some pictures with you below so you can see what I have been working on. I love listening to all kinds of podcasts, so this project was interesting and fun for me.

Experience with Anchor

Record Your Podcast

At first, I was kind of intimidated to use a podcasting making tool as I assumed it could be difficult however, I could not have been more wrong. Anchor was so easy and fun to use. It required absolutely NO downloading and was completely free. To start using Anchor that is all you had to do was make an account and because Anchor is a product of Spotify you can use you Spotify account and it is a trustworthy product. You only need to give your email and password, so it is super simple. Once it you are on the site they lay out all the steps for you.

1. Create a Podcast Episode
2. Set up a Show.
3. Get your Show Published on Spotify

Add music, transitions and organize them all together

The first thing I did was record my first episode of Painting with Jesse. You simply hit record and it does the rest. You don’t need any special microphone as I just used the one in my computer and it sounded alright. However, it says if your recording is over 30 minutes you need to use third party software however my first episode was about 22 minutes so that was not problem. After this, you can add in music and transitions. Music comes free if you have a Spotify account as I did so I got to add in some music at the beginning and end of my podcast. Transitions are kind of short songs or sounds that add character and act as transitions for your podcast and there are many free ones for you to use and check out. You can add all of this to your podcast and than easily organize it in their easy-to-use organizer. Once you are done and save your episode you can either add it to an existing show or make a new show. Because it was my firs time, I made a new show called painting with Jesse and added a nice cover photo they provided. You can then publish your show. It may take a few minutes as they have to check everything out but very quickly you become a published podcaster and are discoverable on Spotify. How Cool is That. My experience using Anchor was easy and fun, and I would recommend that everyone give it a try.

Finish Up

Anchor in the Classroom.

I think Anchor would be an awesome tool to use in the classroom. It would be easy for students to set up and use. I could see it begin used in almost any subject or topic. And it could probably be used for both middle years and high school for sure. It would likely be a completely new way for students to deliver their work and I could see that be very engaging for a lot of students. It could bring some students out of their comfort zone while giving more extrovert students a new, fun way to express their work. I think it could work well for research or simulation assignments as well as instructional assignments. I would love to try this in a classroom one day soon.

And You are Published and Discoverable on Spotify

Painting with Jesse

This week, I of course used Anchor to document my learning project. So, please take a listen to that below to hear how the week went. Please also take a look at the pictures of my painting to view while you listen to the podcast. This week I think I tried to take a big leap forward. I went right into landscape painting. I followed a tutorial video on YouTube which is also below. I was eager for a challenge this week, so I choose a what I believe is a harder tutorial. As you will hear in my Podcast I was definitely challenged in some spots and proud of how I did in others. There were many mistakes and learning curves this week, but I am very proud of how the painting turned out. So please have a listen to the podcast and leave a comment below.

 

 

Finished Product

Little bit messy when I paint

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_hMr3joBns&t=734s

https://open.spotify.com/show/0LogBarNGGY7MzR5mxQmBf?si=Qmh0eLyyQy2ugugUkdHAfQ

https://open.spotify.com/show/0LogBarNGGY7MzR5mxQmBf

Painting with Jesse Week 3: Still Figuring it Out

Hey Everyone,

This Week

I decided to take one last week to practice some new skills before I do some tutorial painting. So, this week I decided to paint a couple different flags. Something simple but still allows me to practice some of the tips I have picked up over the last couple weeks. I decided to paint both the Saskatchewan flag and the Canada Flag. Both were done completely free hand. I was not following anyone but rather using some of the knowledge I have garnered over the last couple weeks. Painting the Canada flag was straight forward. However, the maple leaf was kind of difficult to get each side the same size so if you look at it it is a little off center. The Saskatchewan flag was a little more difficult with the more detailed tiger lily and shield. However, I got the chance to practice with the smaller paint brushes. I also got the chance to practice mixing some paints and using water to spread the paints. Overall, I thought they turned out alright with the Saskatchewan flag looking good. I think some of my previous paintings were better, but I think I am still improving on some techniques.

Resources used.

This week I watched a couple more videos on blending, spreading and other tips for painting with acrylics. One video I watched was from MazArtStudio on YouTube. The video is mainly about blending showing me how to and how not to blend. Always blend the paints before you paint any subjects (objects) on the canvas. Blending should be done before anything because it is very difficult to blend around a fixed line and make it look nice because of the restricted space you are working in. A second video I watched was from Clive5Art and his 5 tips before you start painting. I found his tips to be very helpful regarding prepping the canvas and pallet for painting. Clive’s video showed me how to wet my canvas and begin by shedding in my background. I tried this wi

th both of my paintings this week and it seemed to let the paint spread easier so I will be using that in the future. He also mentioned to organize your color accruing to tone. Like keeping your warmer colors together and cooler colors together because those are the colors you will be blending.

Next Week

Overall, this week went pretty well. Next week I am looking to step it up a bit and follow along a much more detailed painting tutorial. I am looking forward to putting to use the many tips and techniques I have learned over the last couple weeks and am excited to see how it turns out. I have not chosen what I am going to paint yet, but I have a few ideas in my head so please stay tuned and check back next week.

Please feel free to comment below and follow me on Twitter.

See You Next Week!

Weekly Blog Post #3: Making Twitter Useful

I have personally been on Twitter for several years now. However, I have only used it as a source for news of all kinds and not much else. I rarely posted anything except for the odd retweet, so I was just an observer on Twitter rather than a participant. One of the reasons I rarely participated in discussion on Twitter was because people seem to be quite negative and always bickering with each other. I think Twitter can be place where people are tempted to trash talk other people because they are hiding behind their screen or a fake account, but this can really occur on any social media platform. I think Twitter can really be what you want it to be. If you want to bicker with people, then you can find those pages but if you want to use it as a tool for yourself than you can do that as well. And that is what has really happened to my Twitter account through this class. Before I started changing my Twitter account to more of a professional development tool, I really saw it as useless.

Photo by Jay kunwar on Pexels.com

I have started to turn it into more of tool for my education and career than simply following multiple different topics. I am trying to kind of cleanse my account from some of the useless stuff and instead follow people and pages who will add to my own professional development and other things that interest me. I have been trying to make my Twitter more of a professional development tool since my internship but have been struggling on where to start. This class has made that much easier. Now I have found dozens of more young teachers and pages to follow which all add to my education network. Using Twitter has a professional development tool, I now have a place where I connect with fellow educators bother near and far. Teachers can share ideas, resources, and insights with their fellow educators on all kinds of topics or issues.

I do believe that Twitter can be a tool used in the classroom. I see how teachers, classrooms, administrators, schools, and school boards mainly use their pages as a communication tool for parents and students. I think it is up to the teacher or professional on whether they want to share their Twitter page with students and other members of the school community, but I have seen it done well. I had a coop during my printers who used Twitter as a tool to communicate with students and parents and it worked amazing. Class activities, information and special events were all widely shared on Twitter through the class page. In this case he had a separate twitter account for his class which still allowed him to share information with his class while keeping his personal twitter account private. This is how I plan to use Twitter in my own classroom, mainly as a communication tool. Knowing some of the negativity and fake news that can be found on Twitter I do not know if I would trust my students to use it any other way.

“Twitter” by chriscorneschi is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

The #Saskedchat last week was something awesome to be apart of. We were trending number four in Canada. I have never taken part in anything like that before on Twitter, so it was very cool and helped me practice my hashtag abilities. It was so cool to read everyone’s post and gain new people and pages to follow. #Saskedchat is the exact type of resource I am hoping to find on Twitter. Somewhere where I can find people going through the same thing I am and are willing to share ideas, insights, and resources. I look forward to being taken part in future #Saskedchats.

Please feel free to check out my revamped Twitter page for daily postings.

“Twitter Bird” by Fanie! is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Painting with Jesse Week 2: Get Ready to Paint

Hello Everyone!

This week I am continuing with my experience in painting. I am still working with acrylic paints and will be for the next few weeks until I hopefully change over to oil paints. Last week if you look at my first learning project blog, I was just trying to practice a bit with the paints. Using a couple sites, I painted a couple sports team logos and I kind of did some of the same stuff this week.

What I did this week.

I have not yet been painting anything by following someone’s example online. I have just been using some techniques I have been reading about. I am trying to get a feeling for the brushes. I have a couple different kinds of brushes from large paint brushes to

the smallest of brushes. So, I am trying to use a range of different sizes and trying to learn how to clean them and know which ones to use in certain situations. Since last week I have also been experimenting with mixing paints. I am finding that many of the colors I need or prefer to need to be mixed and it can be difficult to get the right shade in the right amount. It has really kind of been a trial-and-error type of deal. This week I tried my hand at another sports logo and for the first time tried my hand at a bit of a scenic picture. It is a picture of an old grain elevator with the fields and hills in the distance. I though it went alright. It is very basic, and rally only uses straight lines except for a few exceptions so it really has no texture. However, it was interesting to practice with some of the brushes and mix a few colors.

Resources I used

This week I visited a website called Step by Step Painting with Tracie Kiernan. She had some great insights for beginners like me. She really seemed to understand what it is like being a beginner painter. She speaks to how you do not need the best paint or materials to start out in painting. See if you like it first and then make the bigger investment if it becomes a full-blown hobby. I also learned more about how to use water with the brushes, how to store the brushes and how to choose the right size brush. All kind of basic but important information.

Another resource I found to be helpful was a YouTube video on how to mix acrylic paints on the canvas for beginners. As I mentioned before how most of the colors, I use must be mixed in order to get the desired shade. Her YouTube channel is called Syndia Art and she has some other great videos as well for beginner painters that I plan on using in the future.

https://stepbysteppainting.net/

Plan for next week.

For this net week I plan on finally following a how to paint video. Nothing too difficult for this first time but I am excited to give it a try. I have been searching for some good follow along painting videos on YouTube and am trying to pick through I few. I think I am ready to put some of the information I have learned over these past couple weeks to good use and I am excited to share the experience with all of you.

Please remember to follow me on Twitter.

See you all next week.

Weekly Blog Post #2: Show me the Information

Hello Everyone!

This past week in our Educational Technology class we discussed how we can use multiple sites to find information, news, feed’s, and resources based on your own interests and needs. We were introduced to a few different sites where this can be done. My professor introduced us to a site called Feedly. She took us through kind of a short tutorial of the site and after a few minutes of playing with the site and its feature it is interesting and extremely easy to use. What Feedly does is it basically acts as a hub for all kinds of news and information you wish to stay up to date on. Once you quickly make a free account you can begin searching for any topic that interest you. Once you find sites that interest you, you can subscribe to them and get all your subscriptions in a combined feed. I found this concept to be remarkably interesting because you can simply go there to get the latest information or posts from your favorite sites.

One of my feeds on Feedly

To find what you are looking for you just must search key words and Feedly will help you find what you are looking for. Something I did to kind of practice using Feedly was set up a feed folder containing different news sites. I really like to stay up to date on current events from all international, national, and local news services especially currently. So, what I did was simply search “news’ and it took me to some of the more popular news sites like CTV, CBC, and the New York Times. To find more local sited I had to be more specific, so I typed it sites like the Leader Post and connected with them. There are really so many choices to choose from. You can even get more specific with your news and follow things like political, Canadian, or business news. All things that I am interested in, so I was happy to find some to follow.

The Feedly Search Tool

Because this is a class about technology in the classroom I though I would simply search “education technology” to see if I could find any sites to add to my education feed and certainly found quite a bit. There are some great education technology sites that I added to my feed. One of my favorites that I came across was a YouTube site called “Teachers Tech”. This is a YouTube site created by an actual teacher named Jamie Keet. What Jamie does is make tutorial videos for teachers to follow when they want to learn tricks, tips and how to use the latest tech gadgets in the classroom. I would imagine that during the pandemic his channel has helped a lot of teachers. He has tutorial videos to get you going on some of the more popular tools like Microsoft Teams, Google Meets and PowerPoint but also on things like video editing on several sites and newer gadgets like Microsoft Sway and Whiteboard. As someone who always finds himself watching tutorial videos when figuring out how to use the latest gadgets, I am exciting to begin watching some of his videos to pick up a few new gadgets and tricks.

TeachersTech Youtube Channel

Another site that I found through Feedly was emergingedtech.com. I found many article on this site discuss how we can better reach students through online learning. Something that of course has become especially important during these strange times. Many of the articles speak to different ways in which educators can reach and engage with students who are studying online which has become extremely important. I know that for the last week of my internship while students were online that was the big question many teachers had. How to I engage with my students while they are learning at home? Many teachers struggled with this because they did not just want to leave assignments up for students to perform but rather engage with them and have them engage the materials. And you can use their category page to pick from dozens of categories to narrow down your search for information.

Emerging Education Technology

I would definitely recommend Feedly to anyone looking to narrow down all their interest in one site. I have only been on it for a few days and I am finding it to be very interesting and has really become my go to place for news of all kinds.

Thank you for reading my blog. I am trying to improve them each week so please keep following and remember to follow me on Twitter for regular updates.

See You Next Week!

 

 

 

 

Painting with Jesse Week 1: Here we Go! My Jounery with Paint

Why Painting?

For my Education Technology class, we have been asked to spend the next couple months trying to improve on a skill or a hobby using technology. We can really pick anything, and you do not necessarily have to show vast improvement but rather show how we can use websites, videos, apps, experts, etc. to learn and improve on our chosen activity. One I heard that we would be doing this many ideas were running through my head. I always wanted to and have started learning how to play chess and I do want to become a better cook or baker. However, I ultimately decided that I would try to grow my skills as a painter. There were a couple reasons why I choose painting. First, when the Pandemic began back in mid-March, I found myself with a lot of time at home. It was then when I initially thought it would be a good idea to start painting with the hope of spending time away from technology. However, I did not get to far. Other then buying much of the material needed which is the second reason I choose painting I never really started and instead focused on other things. So, I am excited to begin this journey in painting.

One of my first paintings from the spring

Goals

I would consider myself a beginner to painting with little experience. I could honestly say that I probably have not painted since my grade 9 Art class. My goal would probably be to be able to paint beautiful landscapes worthy of hanging in the house. Many people are familiar with the “How to” painting videos from Bob Ross and I would eventually like to be able to follow him in videos and paint something half as good as his. However, I am still a way off from that. I have found that there are two different types of paint, acrylic and oil. I already have tons of acrylic paint, so I have decided to star there and hopefully work up to oil paintings soon.

Materials

I have found that most of the painting material I require are available at the Dollar Store. The quality seems to be alright. Although I had to get my oil paints from Amazon. I should be ready to go material wise except for needing I few more canvases as I go.

Resources

I have used a blog from Skill Share to get me started with acrylic paints. It basically had a step-by-step guide on how to use acrylic paints and the materials I will need. I found it unbelievably valuable and will likely refer to it as I go. I also watched an acrylic painting technique video on YouTube. It more so discussed the different things you can do with acrylic paints to add texture and creativity to you paints so I found that to be unbelievably valuable.

Next Week

For the first week I just though I would try and paint a logo or two of some sports teams. I basically just looked at a picture and tried to paint it to get the feel of painting with acrylics. Next week, I hope to start using some of the techniques from the video and begin getting more creative with my designs.

One of my first paintings

Overall, I am excited to start painting and see what I can do. Please check out my Twitter as I will be posting updates of my paintings. I would also love to other people working on the same assignment.

See You Next Week!!

Introductory Blog Post

HELLO EVERYONE

Welcome to the beginning of my journey through #EDTC300. My name is Jesse Braden, and I am currently enrolled in the Faculty of Educations Secondary Program at the University of Regina. I began at the University of Regina in the Faculty of Business Administration, but after a few semesters I knew that Education was my true calling. I realized that teaching could be a possibility for me while I was in High School. I attended Thom Collegiate in Regina, Saskatchewan and had great teachers there that inspired me to become a teacher. I have enjoyed my time in the Faculty of Education and am looking forward to beginning my career as I finish my degree this Spring.

A little bit about myself. I was born and raised here in Regina, Saskatchewan and attended Ruth Pawson Elementary School and Thom Colligate High School. I played football and basketball all through my time in high school and look forward to coaching the sports at school when I become a teacher. I enjoy spending time on my family’s farm near I tuna, Saskatchewan and escaping the city. I have an older sister and a twin brother that also attends the University of Regina. For the last several winters I have been coaching a grade nine boys basketball team for the Regina Community Basketball Association, although that is cancelled this year due to Covid. I really enjoy coaching and watching the team grow throughout the season and I look forward to coaching for years to come. I enjoy spending time with family and friends and good old road trips exploring western Canada. I am excited for my future as a teacher and beginning by career as a professional teacher. I also look forward to using this E-Portfolio to express my experiences.

I just finished my 16 week internship in the Fall of 2020 over at Miller High School in Regina. It was such a wonderful eye opening expericne. I had a wonderful co-op who taught me more then I could have imagined along with several other teachers and staff memebers who were so inviting and always willing to welcome me into their classroom.

I look forward to expanding my knowledge of how we as teachers can incorporate technology in the classroom as a valuable resource. That is why I took this course. I have done some blogging in previous classrooms and I always appreciate reading and learning from other classmates’ blogs. I would say that I have a basic understanding of blogging and how to communicate with other bloggers, so I am really looking forward to learning about and incorporating some of the more advanced aspects of blogging into my blogs in order to make them more appealing and interesting. Please feel free to follow me over on my twitter as I am trying to gain more eudcation resources on it.