Get Animated at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh

If to animate is to give life, then no place is more lively than the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh's TEEN department. At last week's art club, we cut, pasted, drew, and took picture after picture to create a stop-motion animation, entitled "Hi."



Are you interested in trying your hand at animation? Check out Ron Miller's Digital Art: Painting with Pixels, your guide to getting started with digital art, from 3-D modeling to animation and special effects. You also might want to check out Maureen Furniss's The Animation Bible: A Practical Guide to the Art of Animating, from Flipbooks to Flash. This is an amazing book that takes you through ever aspect of the process, including digital and hand-drawn works.

If you're wondering how you might be able to get started on your own, there is also some really powerful (and FREE!) software available to assist you. Check out Pencil, a free animation/drawing program, and Blender, a free, powerful 3-D animation studio.

If you have any animations to share, please link us. Everybody can use a little life during these cold, snowy times.

~Joseph
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh - Main

Volunteer Services

By: Ashley


Hi, I’m Ashley and I had to complete 20 hours of community service at the Main Carnegie Library in the Teen section.
My experience volunteering was a lot more exciting than I thought the staff had me do some hard tasks but there were also many fun tasks that made it a lot easier to work there and complete my hours. Also working here made me realize how fun and cool libraries can really be, I was never really someone to sit down and read a book, but here at the Carnegie Library there are thousands of Teen novels, comics and magazines. I realized reading could be really fun and exciting when you’re at the right place. The Carnegie Library has a fun and inviting environment for kids of all ages. The library has 11 computers, several beanbags, a wide variety of board, and card games which are also educational.
Many kids and Teens come in and out of the Carnegie Library each day and they all seem to be satisfied with the libraries books, computers, and fun creative activities. For instance, every Wednesday the Carnegie Library holds an art club, where kids and teens come to enjoy arts and crafts and hanging out with friends. My experience here was really inspiring and I enjoyed completing my community service at the Carnegie Library. Not convinced a library can be fun? Maybe you should check it out for yourself.

Who's feelin' CRAFTY?

What a great summer this has been for creativity. Every Wednesday has been a blast with TEEN ART CLUB. I am so glad that so many artistic people have come and spent time with us. And for all those "unartistic" folks who come, I hope you have changed your minds about what you can do.


So, I was thinking that it might be time to sum up what we've accomplished, and start to plan for the next couple of months. So here is what we've done:
1. Buttons (ever popular and exciting)
2. Kites (and some of them even took flight before crashing!)
3. Paper Crafts (origami has made a comeback)
4. Duct Tape Stuff (who doesn't like duct tape?)
5. Ojos de Dios (such a simple thing to make that is so pretty)
6. T-Shirt Redesigns (I <3 cheap, chic fashion)

Here is what is coming up:
1. TODAY 7/30/2008 Simple Screen Printing (a little messy, a lot awesome)
2. Wednesday 8/6/2008 More Buttons (1st Wednesday of EVERY MONTH)
3. Wednesday 8/13/2008 Beading (a classic craft activity)
4. Wednesday 8/20/2008 Digital Comics (something a little more high tech)

Now here is the part where I want to know what we can do this fall. Here are some of my ideas:
1. Duct Tape (clearly, this is necessary)
2. Yarn Monsters and Goth Sock Puppets (awesome Halloween fun)
3. Animation (moving art!)
4. Decoupage Letter Boxes (fancy collages with a useful result)
5. Marble Magnets (I can't wait to try these out!)
6. Punk Rock Scrapbooking (scrapbooking with an edge)

Any thoughts? Ideas? Stuff you like? Hate? Suggestions?

I LOVE SUGGESTIONS!

Remember our Teen Art Club motto: "Make Cool Stuff"

-Connie

Suggest a Book for the August Book Discussion

What would you like to read? Leave your recommendations in a comment today! I'd like to get the book chosen earlier this time, so that I can get copies, and then hold them for you at the Teen desk. The August Book Discussion will be on Sunday, August 17th, from 3:00-4:00 PM.

PS - This picture doesn't have much to do with reading books, other than it's what happens when you are at the library (which is filled with 3 million books and other materials) and go to Art Club.

Holly

What will you wear to Prom? How about Duct Tape?

"Prom pair use duct tape for higher education"


This article in the Post Gazette is about 2 local teens who duct-taped together masterpieces for prom in hopes of winning the "Stuck at Prom" competition.

Please go to www.stuckatprom.com if you'd like to vote for these top 10 finalists!

Stop by Art Club at CLP Main in Oakland next Wednesday, June 25th, at 2 pm to craft your own duck-tape creations on a smaller scale: wallets and whatnot.

Create @ Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, Main-Teen

Katie reduced her fines by creating these wonderful drawings. Ask us how you can reduce your fines at a rate of $5.00 per hour by reading, writing, or drawing. You may end up on the blog!

You should also know: you don't have to have fines to be creative in the library. Art Club meets once a week to paint, draw, make buttons, make duct tape masterpieces, and other create other fun crafts. We'll see you there on every Wednesday at 3 PM.

Holly

Special Art Club Meeting: Ohanami!

Whoa, everyone watch out! April is on its way and it's not kidding around.

April in Pittsburgh can be a bit of an indecisive flirt. Just when you think it's going to stay warm and sunny, it flip flops back to the cold and the gray. Boo. Well, April in mainland Japan is quite different. It is the time for new beginnings: new school year, new friendships, and definitely blooming cherry blossoms (sakura). During this time, people hang around under trees, stuffing themselves with food and drink, being merry with friends and family.

So to celebrate this fabulous time of year, we are doing a special Art Club meeting that is going to be, to quote one special patron, made of awesome.

We are going to

• draw Japanese flowery landscapes
• make origami
• drink delicious green tea in adorable little Japanese cups

Ohanami is going on at Teen on Wednesday, April 16, at 3pm. Pick up a loud pink bookmark when you drop by to remind you!

And just because I'm a sucker for pictures, here's one of me (Violeta) in front of sakura in Japan.

Comics Come to Life @ Art Club

Last Wednesday in Art Club we made our own COMICS. Be sure to check out Art Club, every Wednesday at 3:00pm to see what creative projects we're cooking up next.