Above Image: Winter Solstice Spirit Animals of the North Winds is a painting by Ellen Levinson.

Spirit Animals

Spirit Animals are...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgF_tvHGhWA

Sheila's words...

Dreams, visons, Sheila's "helpers" ...wolf, bear, eagle, thunderbird, saube, giants,

Georgia's spirit animal journey. She's 12 yrs old now.

Dinosaur clan

Whale clan from the ocean

Cat clan panther, tiger, leopard, lion

Bear Clan

Spirit Cards: Are essentially designed to help you get in touch with your own inner knowing—and, some believe, the divine energy that informs that inner knowing. “The more tools we have to receive intuitive information, the more assistance, signs, and messages we can pick up on,”

The idea is that your intuition (slash the universe) guides you to pull the card with information that will help lead you toward a certain path to follow or energy you need to cultivate within yourself. “Our intuition interprets the messages and images we receive from the cards, determining which parts are relevant to us, whether the messages are metaphorical or literal, and what area of life they are referring to.

“When we pull from more than one deck, we can receive additional messages that complement an answer we may have already gotten from other cards,” she explains. “Or we may pull a very similar message that provides strong confirmation.”

I like to use mine in the morning—I look to them for insight into what aspect of my personality I may need to bring forth for that day. For instance, if I pull the deer card, I’ll keep it by my computer as a reminder to be gentle and gracious no matter what my inbox throws at me. (And if I pull the lion, I might take that as a sign that I shouldn’t be afraid to speak up for myself, if necessary.)

“Spirit Animal cards communicate attributes that animal archetypes embody, such as courage, adaptability, or loyalty,” says Lanz. “These aspects are helpful for us to integrate into our experience in order to conquer an obstacle or facilitate a manifestation.”

When you pull a card, interpret the cards with your intuition first—looking at the pictures and words on the card, noticing what associations your mind automatically makes, and thinking about how they might apply to your situation. PRACTICE BEING AWARE OF YOUR THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS. TAKE NOTICE of what comes to mind. THINK ABOUT YOUR THINKING.

Desiree Lanz, a Los Angeles-based intuitive reader, channeler, and medium,

Spirit Animal Cards

1. Christie Martin's Spirit Animal Awareness Oracle Cards

-includes the shadow (-) too

2. The Animal Spirit deck by Kim Krans

-little writing on front

3. Elfin Ally Oracle deck https://www.etsy.com/listing/689087799/elfin-ally-oracle-deck-72-cards-boxed

-with human face

4. The Spirit Animal Oracle: A 68-Card Deck and Guidebook by Colette Baron Reid Cards

Grade 9 Assignment:

DETAILED ANIMAL Value Drawing

Topics Studied:

Elements and Principles of Design

• value, line, shape, form, texture, space

• contrast, rhythm, unity

• Drawing techniques

• Looking and Seeing like and Artist

• Communication (presentation/ reflection)

Resources: Books and the internet

Media: Graphite Pencil

Support: 5 x 7 piece of paper

Objective: Draw 1 realistic animal portrait (head/shoulders)

You must...

1. FILL THE PAGE

2. Draw accurate textures, details, and proportions

3. Illustrate an excellent range of values (lights and darks)

4. Leave no evidence of outlines (no 'colouring book' outlines)

5. Demonstrate strong command of the pencils and all other tools used (smooth blending, sharp edges, various drawing techniques)

6. Provide evidence of your Creative Design Process

a) creative and critical thinking (brainstorming/planning)

b) hands-on practice; studies; trial and error; experimentation; skill development

c) application of knowledge/understanding of techniques and theories

d) critical analysis and edits/revisions

e) presentation (framed carefully and beautifully); labeled well

f) reflection (write a short note about your drawing and the process of creating it)

Process:

Step 1 – Acknowledge your Spirit Animal or choose one of your favourite animals.

Step 2 -Find a minimum of 3 Visual Resources (showing proportions, details... fur/skin/feathers... eyes, ears etc.)

Step 3 – Create a WORD DOCUMENT of visual references of your chosen animal.

Choose images that have interesting, clear features (lashes, highlights, shapes...)

Copy images that can be blown up without losing quality.

-EXAMPLE of Visual Reference Sheet

Step 4 – Get it APPROVED by Ms. Porter.

Step 5 –Print it

Step 6 –Practice specific parts of your animal that are challenging (ex. fur, pupils, lashes)

TIPS:

a) Start light and stay light until you get it right as you outline the animal

b) Block in the basic shapes and darks (shadows) and lights (highlights)

c) Use your eraser to lighten all your sketch lines until you can barely see them.

REMEMBER in the end there should be no evidence of these sketch lines or other contour

outlines!

Sketching accurate proportions is the foundation of realistic drawing. If the proportions are off, then no amount of beautiful shading or fancy pencil marks can save a drawing.

d) Bring the animal to life ----start filling it in with shading and other drawing techniques

Closely examine the different values. The shading used to draw a realistic animal needs to illustrate the 3D forms of the nose, mouth, ears, and the iris, eyeball, eyelids, and bone structures around the eye.

e) Be patient and work hard right to the end (i.e. don't give up and/or become careless)

f) Add final details (lashes, extra highlights, dark wrinkles, fluffy feathers…)

Utilize the different mark making techniques you learned to illustrate the variety of textures and fine features of the animal (ex. smooth shading, hatching, crosshatching, stippling, scumbling, and contour lines…)

g) Critique it yourself. Get your peers to do it as well. SERIOUSLY. Then ask your teacher to critique it too.

Assessing and critiquing your artwork is a CRITICAL step in the creative design process of making quality art. Take it seriously, look closely and carefully at your work through the eyes of an artist, AND make the appropriate edits and changes, no matter how annoyed or tired you are or how difficult or time consuming they may seem.

h) Make the edits, revisions, changes…

i) Get the final ok from your teacher that you are finished!

j) Prepare it for presentation by framing it:

Cut a 5 x 7 rectangle out of a 6 x 8 piece of black bristle board

k) Sign the back of it.

l) Complete the FINAL EVALUATION

m) Write a REFLECTION (on the back of the Final Evaluation Sheet.

Click here for FINAL EVALUATION SHEET and REFLECTION or see below

NAME____________________________

FINAL Evaluation: My Art ABCs - Teacher Self Peer__

A: Artistic (skills and creativity) 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1

1. N0 outlines! J 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1

2. SMOOTH, solid shading (not liney) 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1

3. Value/Contrast (no large areas of flat shades) 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1

4. Form (3D effect) 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1

5. Texture 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1

6. Rhythm 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1

7. Unity 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1

8. Graded tones from dark to light or light to dark 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1

9. Accurate proportions and shapes (avoid symbols) 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1

10. Variety of mark making techniques 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1

B: Beautiful and/or Bold (to look at and/or think about)

1. Sharp clean edges 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1

2. Dark darks, light lights are visible from a distance 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1

3. Unique, interesting, realistic, beautiful, scary… effect 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1

4. Space filled appropriately 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1

5. Presentation (Framed: neat, not bent/rolled) 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1

C: Complete/Communicate/Complexity/Creative Design

1. Reasonable complexity (details and design) 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1

2. Evaluation Art ABCs sheet handed in________ ___YES NO

3. Final Artwork Reflection 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1

4. Evidence of Creative Design Process _______ __ _ 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1

REFLECTION: Animal Eye Value Drawing NAME__________________

1. What do you like/dislike about your artwork?

2. What challenges did you face when you were creating it?

3. How did you solve problems/fix things?

4. What would you do differently next time?

5. What did you learn about…

6. Drawing

7. The creative design process

8. Yourself?