Easter Celebration

Easter is the celebration of the resurrection of Christ, described in the New Testament as having occurred on the third day of his burial following his crucifixion by the Romans at Calvary c. 30 AD. It is the culmination of the Passion of Jesus Christ, preceded by Lent (or Great Lent), a 40-day period of fasting, prayer, and penance. Easter-observing Christians commonly refer to the week before Easter as Holy Week, which in Western Christianity begins on Palm Sunday (marking the entrance of Jesus in Jerusalem), includes Spy Wednesday (on which the betrayal of Jesus is mourned), and contains the days of the Easter Triduum including Maundy Thursday, commemorating the Maundy and Last Supper, as well as Good Friday, commemorating the crucifixion and death of Jesus. In Eastern Christianity, the same days and events are commemorated with the names of days all starting with “Holy” or “Holy and Great”; and Easter itself might be called “Great and Holy Pascha”, “Easter Sunday”, “Pascha” or “Sunday of Pascha”. In Western Christianity, Eastertide, or the Easter Season, begins on Easter Sunday and lasts seven weeks, ending with the coming of the 50th day, Pentecost Sunday. In Eastern Christianity, the Paschal season ends with Pentecost as well, but the leave-taking of the Great Feast of Pascha is on the 39th day, the day before the Feast of the Ascension.

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Nadia Russ, Jesus, Neopoprealism, Mixed media/canvas on cardboard, 2023.

Easter traditions vary across the Christian world, and include sunrise services or late-night vigils, exclamations and exchanges of Paschal greetings, flowering the cross, the wearing of Easter bonnets by women, clipping the church, and the decoration and the communal breaking of Easter eggs tomb. The Easter lily, a symbol of the resurrection in Western Christianity, traditionally decorates the chancel area of churches on this day and for the rest of Eastertide.

This is the time to congratulate your family members and friends with this wonderful celebration. One of the ways to do it is giving the Easter greeting cards, which you can do at home. Below is the sample of how to draw the Neopoprealist Easter egg. All you need is a piece of a thick paper (read our previous greeting cards instractions) and the black (or multicolor) ink pen or thin markers.

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Step-by-step Easter Egg Neopoprealist drawing

You can learn in details how to draw the Neopoprealist Easter Egg in the following website. You also can use this instraction to teach your children how to do it. If you are an Art educator, use it to teach your students!: http://inkpenpattern.blogspot.com/2012/09/art-lesson-plan-6-neopoprealism.html?m=1

Visit also the Neopoprealism Press website for various instractional books. You may want to get one to deep deeper into this unique art style!: http://www.neopoprealism.org/.

Happy Easter!

Thanksgiving Is Almost Here! Get Ready

The Thanksgiving holiday is almost here! It is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. It started as a day of thanksgiving  and harvest festival, with the theme of the holiday revolving around giving thanks. The center of Thanksgiving celebrations is a Thanksgiving dinner, which traditionally consists of turkey, potatoes – mashed or sweet, squash, cranberries, and pumpkin pie. Thanksgiving is regarded as the beginning of the Christmas and holiday season.

The Thanksgiving greeting cards can be purchased in various stores, but you can make them by yourself! Then it woul be more meaningful, more valuable and more memorable! We will show below how to create your own Thanksgiving humorous greeting card “Never Give Up!” You do not have to be super talented in arts, give it a try! Your friends and family will appreciate it more.

So, let’s get ready to draw your Thanksgiving greeting card! Get a sheet of white or any color thick paper size 8.5″x11″. Fold it on the middle, do not cut it. Turn it horizontal – the folding line must be on the top. Get the thin black ink pen and draw on the middle a contour of turkey. Then draw the turkey’s tail and the wings, it will create the sections. Then, fill these sections with different repetitive patterns. Some sections should be left blank. Use imagination and create the new patterns instead of copying the offered ones. That’s all! Card is ready. This art style – NeoPopRealism – was created by artist Nadia Russ in 1989 (http://www.nadiaruss.com):

If you are an art educator, you can teach your students of all ages using this art lesson plan: https://neowhimsies.blogspot.com/2012/10/humorous-greeting-card-never-give-up.html/. There are many how-to books on how to draw NeoPopRealism. Check them out: http://www.neopoprealism.org/.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!