The illustrator Carson Ellis is running art classes for adults and kids with her Quarantine Art Club on Instagram.

Every day she will have a different drawing assignment prompt to get your creative juices flowing, so after watching a couple of videos video clips, you can try it for yourself.

Here is the first assignment: Draw a self-portrait.

 

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Hello! I’ll be posting art assignments here every weekday morning when I can. They’ll be designed for kids and grownups alike. If you want to share them, you can use the hashtag #quarantineartclub. I’ll also provide individual hashtags for each exercise so we can see each other’s work. Here is your first assignment: DRAW A SELF-PORTRAIT Draw a picture of yourself from the shoulders up. Then draw a fancy frame around the portrait and write your name at the bottom in nice letters. Swipe to see a useful template. It will help you figure out how to draw a human face – how much space there is between all of its parts and what goes where. Some of the best portraits in the world do not follow these rules and you don’t always have to either. But for this assignment you do. We’re going to do it right. Swipe to see a video tutorial that will help this template make sense. (The green lines are just guides – you should draw them in pencil and erase them afterwards.) Draw on paper and – for everything but the pencil guide lines – use any art materials you want: pens, markers, paint, pencils. You can work in color or in black and white – it’s up to you. While you draw, look in the mirror and ask yourself these questions: What color are my eyes? What shape are they? Are my eyelashes light or dark? Long or short? What color and shape are my eyebrows? Are they thick or thin? Straight or arched? Is my nose skinny? Wide? Crooked? Does is turn up or down? What color is my skin? Do I have freckles? Moles? Scars? Birthmarks? Wrinkles? What color is my hair? Is it long, short, curly, straight? Is my mouth wide? Is it small? Are my lips full or thin? Can I see my ears? Or are they hidden? Sometimes it’s easiest to answer these questions by looking at other people and comparing your features to theirs. That can help you figure out what makes your face uniquely yours. Do this, but don’t make any judgements about how you look. Be like a scientist and study your face as objectively as you can. Okay, have fun! If you want to share or see other people’s self-portraits, use these hashtags: #quaratineartclub
#QACselfportrait

A post shared by Carson (@carsonellis) on Mar 16, 2020 at 6:02am PDT

The recorder is a woodwind musical instrument that was popular as early as the 14th century. It produces a soft, flute-like sound. Compared to other instruments, the recorder is relatively easy to play, making it a great first instrument for kids or novice musicians. They come in many different colors and sizes to fit you. Recorders are a good stepping stone to harder blowing instruments that are held vertically, such as oboe or clarinet.

WikiHow has a very simple guide to get you started How to play the recorder

Earthquakes are happening all the time, all around the world.

To find out where the latest ones have taken place, go to EMSC-CSM and choose the region (map) and the timeframe.

Below is a screenshot of a recent view of the worldwide map showing the number and position of earthquakes in the previous 24 hours.

You an also subscribe to the RSS feed for constant updates, or download the app.