Monthly Archives: November 2010

Cabbage Flowers, Revisited

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Materials: Watercolor paper, oil pastels (Crayola‘s are easy to hold and inexpensive, too), liquid watercolors (we used Blick)

We looked at our cabbage flowers and together, we chose three of the liquid watercolors: violet, magenta, and green. I set out the pastels and the paint, and for this, we used dry watercolor paper.

The oil pastels, of course, resist the watercolor. It’s fun to experiment with these together to see what happens. The effect of liquid watercolor on dry paper is far, far different from the Stockmar colors on wet paper, so much so that I took photos of the two versions together. (I think my Stockmar colors might have been a little too diluted; either that, or they’re just getting too old. I’m almost out anyway!)

Here are my toddler’s paintings, side by side.

She understood what we were doing with the pastels, and she colored with them first, then asked for paint. (She has a strong preference for the pink-purple color family!)

Here are my nine-year-old’s paintings.

I think he liked the ability to be more detailed.

And below, my six-year-old’s paintings.

These are both his second paintings of each session. On the top, he focused on just the stem of the flower, and then played with the pastels and the paints together to add background. He really enjoyed that part.

Approaching the same subject with similar yet different media really shows how much the choice of material affects the final work. I admit, I thought the liquid watercolors were garish; I liked the purple we mixed ourselves much better. It was calmer, to me, and more resonant, whereas the premixed purple just seemed so showy.

This is not to say that I don’t like the liquid watercolors–I’ve seen some really wonderful projects created with them. But the mood is entirely different, isn’t it? And yet, when I really look at the cabbage flowers, they are kind of showy, with their magenta veins running through deep green leaves. Perhaps the pastels and liquid watercolors were a better choice to catch their particular essence. As my kids and I experiment with different media, we can discover all the choices that go into a final work. What sort of mood are we aiming for? How do we want our artwork to feel, or to make other people feel? What colors do we need? (Do we need color at all?) So that when they have an idea in their head, they also have the first-hand knowledge of the best way to try and bring that idea to life.

Wet-on-Wet Watercolor Painting

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This morning at the farmers’ market I bought cabbage flowers.

I decided to use them as inspiration for some wet-on-wet watercolor painting.

Materials: Watercolor paper, Stockmar watercolors, glass jars, soft paintbrushes, painting boards, sponges.

Although I’m using a technique common in Waldorf education (and one I learned while homeschooling using Enki curriculum), what I’m demonstrating here is the nuts and bolts of set-up, not the particular method of introducing the colors, paints, and technique used in either philosophy. There’s quite a bit of setup before getting the kids in the studio.

First, mix the paint. I eyeball it, squeezing some paint into the glass jars (I’m almost out, so this got tough!), adding some water, and then shaking it up. Because my paints are getting old, I stirred some, too, using the end of a paintbrush.

This is what each child’s place at the art table looks like:

A painting board, sponge, paintbrush, jars of color, jar of clean water for rinsing, and some paper towel to dry the brush on (a cloth towel works well for this, too). You can buy very nice painting boards that will last and last, but I went to Home Depot and had them cut a piece of board for me. (I can’t remember the name of it, but it’s the same brown board that clip boards are made out of. Anyone know what that’s called?) This will warp over time, but it cost maybe $5 for three of them 2 1/2 years ago, and they’re still working just fine.

Back to procedure: You need to soak your paper.

Before I had a utility sink, I used a plastic storage bin with water in it. Just make sure the bin is larger than the paper you intend to use. You can soak more than one piece at a time, but put them in one by one, gently submerging them. Ignore them while you finish setting up. A few minutes is good. When you’re ready, take one out, let some water run off, then place it on a board. Show your child how to use the sponge to wipe the paper, top to bottom, to wick up the excess water–but make sure he’s not overzealous, or the paper will be too dry. Just a gentle wipe is enough.

Then paint.

I suggested the boys use the flowers as inspiration, pointing out that they wouldn’t be able to match the colors exactly. We talked about how we could create the colors of the flower (mostly green and purple) using the colors we had (red, blue, yellow), but I pointed out that we wouldn’t be able to create a painting that looked exactly like what we saw. Wet watercolors going onto wet paper makes a beautiful, hazy effect, but it’s not going to be detailed. “Try to paint the idea of the flower, not necessarily the flower itself.”

(“I don’t understand you,” said my literal, logical nine-year-old. We got there.)

Those paintings in the photo on the left are drying on top of my washing machine. Use the space you have, I say. I soaked enough paper for two paintings each, and we only have three boards, so I had to get creative. On the far left is my toddler’s experimentation. She tried each color, and then she was ready to move on. (She’d already painted at the easel, and then she went on to draw with crayons.) On the right is one of my nine-year-old’s paintings, and the photo on the far right shows his second painting, still in progress, where he’s working on the idea of the veins of the petals.

My six-year-old, I think, focused on the colors he saw.

You can see the effect of the watercolors. It really is beautiful. There are some nice explanations on how to use this technique with the Waldorf method, and this is something I plan to do with my daughter as she gets a little older. (I particularly like this one, which I recently found.) Meanwhile, I don’t think we’re quite done with these cabbage flowers in the studio just yet.

Black and White (II)

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A busy weekend combined with some necessary sewing made it hard to get into the studio last weekend. (The art table is also my cutting and sewing table.) But my boys have five (five! yay!) days off in a row, so we ought to be able to make up for it. We spent a little time there today.

Materials: Black charcoal paper, white charcoal pencils, white conte crayons, various items to look at while drawing (including that beautiful delicata squash, which will be part of tomorrow’s dinner)

Both boys chose to start with the pencils, and then they moved on to the crayons.

The goal here is not a perfect sketch–it’s experimenting with a new medium as well as learning to really see what you’re aiming to draw. At one point I heard my six-year-old say, “I noticed at the end it was a little larger.”

My  nine-year-old drew the ball of string and then asked, “Are there scissors? I want to draw a piece of string.”

My two-year-old asked for some tape. I thought she wanted me to tape her paper down, but she had other ideas.

This weekend, in between sewing four troll hats for the first grade play, I hope to get us back into the studio for more experiments with color and pattern.

Have a peaceful Thanksgiving!

Experiments in Toddler Painting

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Materials: Black paper, tempera paints, toddler :)

Some Artagain paper arrived today, and I couldn’t wait to try it out. So when my two-year-old asked to paint, I asked if she’d like to paint on black paper instead of white today. Did she ever. My first thought was to give her just black and white paint…

…and doesn’t black paint look interesting on black paper? But the primaries were still out from our texture paintings the other day, and she asked for them.

I really like the finished painting.

And I told her so! But I also pointed out where the colors mixed, and the different directions of the brushstrokes. That sweeping horizontal one about a third of the way down on the left was, I think, her last brushstroke. She seems to be very clear about when she’s done.

After she finished at the easel, she asked to paint at the table. I decided to provide white and black paper side by side, along with white and black paint, and see what happened.

What happened is that she basically ignored the white paper. At one point I asked her what white paint might look like on white paper, and she dabbed at it before going back to the black paper.  And after a bit she asked for some blue and yellow.

The black background, I think, was so exciting! I’m looking forward to using this paper with pastels, too.

Basics: Supplies: Paper

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Just about any book on making art with children (or adults!) is going to include a supply list, and there are posts about this throughout the web as well (such as here and here). It really boils down to personal choice and what projects you might want to do, but I thought I’d list some basic supplies. Then when I thought about it a little more, I thought I’d better break the categories down. Eventually you’ll be able to find all the supplies posts in the “Basics” category on the sidebar. And I really am trying to be very basic here and explain as much as possible, because it can all be overwhelming if you don’t know where to start.

I love art supplies. I maybe go overboard a little. I remember how I used to walk into art supply stores and feel like an impostor, like I didn’t belong at all, mostly because everything seemed so confusing. I lived in a city with three or four art supply stores at the time and no shortage of art students, and I’d walk in and be too intimidated to even ask a question. Then I began taking art classes, and I walked in with my class supply list and I still felt confused and intimidated. But eventually I turned into somebody who knows her way around an art supply store, whether in person or online. All this to say, I probably have more art supplies than anyone really needs, so I’ll try to list what I think is good to have, plus, where applicable, some favorite extra items. (Also, keep in mind that when I began making art with my kids, I didn’t have lots of stuff. You don’t need lots of supplies; you’ll work up to it based on interest and desire.)

So, paper. At minimum, buy copy paper by the ream. I’ve given my kids reams of copy paper for Christmas, and they’ve been happy about it. It’s great for drawing with pencil and crayon. (I often give my two-year-old the backs of printed-on sheets, too.) Some heavier drawing paper is useful for using with charcoal, marker, and pastels, and some can handle watercolors. And watercolor paper is good for heavier painting, and you’ll need it if you want to try wet-on-wet painting. Finally, a large (18×24) pad of newsprint is super useful. It can go underneath your painting to protect the table a bit, you can sandwich your charcoal drawings in between pages to catch the dust, you can set paintings out to dry on it, you can use it for quick and multiple sketches, and you can tape it up on the wall for when your toddler really needs to color vertically. And that’s just the uses I can think of in two minutes!

Paper is categorized by weight in pounds, with the heavier paper being thicker. But it also has different surfaces. If you browse paper, you’ll see it’s broken down by what medium you want to use (with some overlap), and then there’s a variety within each category. For instance, the Strathmore 300 Series is less expensive than the 500, but the quality is still going to be good.

For drawing paper, I think the basic 9×12 is a good size, but for watercolor, I like to buy the 18×24 sheets and cut them in half (for the wet-on-wet paintings) or leave them as is for larger paintings. You can also buy paper by the sheet, but I’ve found it’s more economical to buy a pad of watercolor paper rather than purchase individual pieces.

Paper also, obviously, comes in different colors. A fun extra would be black paper to use with white pastels, or colored paper as a background instead of white.

I also have a roll of paper that fits into our easel. I use this for my toddler’s painting, but not all the time, since it’s not heavy and it crinkles up once it has paint on it. A roll of paper is also a good choice if you’re planning on mural work.

Collage is a whole ‘nother ball of, well, paper. Save interesting bits of paper, wrapping, tissue paper, and the like. Tissue paper in sheets for painting (a la Eric Carle) is another fun extra. I have a weakness for decorative papers, too.

Where to buy? If you don’t live near an art supply store (or, if like me, your closest one charges super high prices), you can order online or try one of the chain arts & crafts stores. Our nearest AC Moore has a few aisles of “fine art” supplies, including drawing and painting papers, and you can use those 40% off coupons. An office supply store is the best bet for copy paper, and ours has a “classroom supply” aisle that includes some basic art supplies.

In other words, you don’t need to walk into the art supply store feeling all intimidated. But if you happen to have an art supply store nearby, hopefully this helps you walk in with confidence!

Color and Texture

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(Inspired by That Artist Woman and the vibrant paintings in the Great Hall at the Eric Carle Museum.)

We set out to make our own decorative paper, using only primary colors and textures. We’ll use these papers (we ended up with about 15 sheets) in a future collage activity.

Materials: Paper (I used drawing paper; it curled a bit while drying, but since this will be cut and glued, I think it’s okay, and plus, it’s what I had on hand); tempera paint in red, blue, and yellow; paintbrushes (one for each color); small container for the paint; various items to create texture

I gathered both large and small bubble wrap (the small is the inside of that mailing envelope), some plastic rings from six-packs of soda, a small comb, and small cardboard tubes. Be creative!

First, cover the paper with paint. We’re using one color per paper, no mixing. We want our primaries to stay primaries! Be generous with the paint, and not too slow. There needs to be enough paint so that you can make an impression in it, and it can’t dry before you get to that step. But be careful not to overload the paper with paint–this will depend on how heavy your paper is.

The toddler in the corner has a couple of colors of paint and a sheet of paper, so she could join in the painting.

Once the paint is on, have some fun making texture.

Here, N is using a comb. Below is the effect I created by stamping into the paint with the end of the cardboard tube.

Below, the boys are using bubble wrap. It works a little better if you allow the bubble wrap to stay on the paper until the paper is just about dry.

See that mailing envelope up above? Below is the effect V created with it.

V also used the six-pack rings to create texture. He lined three of them one below the other and then we placed another piece of paper over the rings so we could press down on them without getting fingerprints all over the paper. (Helpful! If you don’t like your effect the first time, just smooth on more paint and try again! Which is what we did with the six-pack rings.) When we peeled off the top paper and removed the rings, this is what we saw.

N left one of his with the brushstrokes as the texture, and we learned that it’s hard to see the texture in the yellow. But all in all we have a good supply of papers in primary colors for a future project.

Field Trip: Eric Carle Museum

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We took advantage of a day off from school this week and headed to the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, Massachusetts.

It’s far enough away (about 125 miles) that it’s a treat to visit, as well as an entire daylong venture. First, we visited their art studio. The current project is making instruments from a variety of found objects.

I think found objects have the potential for becoming quickly overwhelming. It works here because they set out a limited supply of each type of object and because the goal was specific: make an instrument. My six-year-old seemingly effortlessly came up with something that made noise in multiple ways. He taped two metal jar lids together with beads on the inside. On top he taped a small metal canister with ridged sides, which make noise when he rubs a coffee stirrer against them. Also, you can press down on the ridged metal piece to make a pop! noise with the metal jar lid.

Even my two-year-old could participate, though. I’d begun fiddling around with the materials, placing some beads in a plastic bottle cap and taping another cap on top. She had me untape them, she added some beads, and then she tested the sound. She had me untape so she could add beads several times, until she achieved whatever result she was aiming for, and then she happily shook her instrument all over the place.

We also visited the exhibits, of course, although this got challenging, as my daughter was in a squirmy mood. We especially liked the Monsters and Miracles exhibit, and I particularly like when a preliminary drawing is exhibited along with the finished illustration. I pointed this out to my six-year-old. “See how he made a sketch first, to think out his ideas? He probably made lots of them. And when he had it the way he wanted it, then he did a finished one with color.”

“Like we did with the sunflowers,” he said. Just like with writing, unless we make sure to point it out, children don’t know that the finished artwork isn’t the artist’s first attempt.

The museum also has a great library, full of picture books, and an equally great bookstore. We always pick out a book or two that we discovered in the galleries. This visit our gallery-inspired books were Kibbitzers and Fools: Tales My Zayda Told Me by Simms Taback and Rotten Island by William Steig. We read Jonah and the Two Great Fish by Mordicai Gerstein while in the Monsters and Miracles gallery, but I couldn’t find it in the bookstore. It may end up in a Christmas book order, though, because we all really enjoyed it.

While at the Eric Carle Museum, we are led to books through the illustrations, and viewing the exhibits reminds me to pay even more attention to the illustrations in our favorite books, both in how they were created and in how they make the book a whole.

Inspirations from our visit are percolating, and will find their way into future projects, no doubt.

Sunflower Study

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(Inspired by the chapter “Representational Drawing and Painting” in Ann Pelo’s The Language of Art: Inquiry-Based Studio Practices in Early Childhood Settings.)

Yesterday morning, at the farmers’ market, I couldn’t resist the sunflowers, so I brought some home with me.

This morning, they served as the focus of our studio time.

Materials: Extra-fine permanent markers; drawing paper; magnifying loupes; a choice of color media (we used colored pencils, chalk pastels, and oil pastels).

Before drawing, take some time to really look at the sunflowers. I placed individual flowers in jars in front of each child, so they had their own flower to study. The loupes are optional, but help you to really see the details. The seeds in the center spiral down until the brown seeds form a black middle. “It looks like a honeycomb!” my older son exclaimed. We looked at the shape of the petals and the leaves. When the boys felt ready, we drew.

The permanent marker can be both freeing and a little scary. If you make a mistake, there’s no going back. But if you make a mistake–it’s not a mistake! There’s no going back. So you may as well just get going. I also let the boys know that they could make as many drawings as they wanted. We’re not going for perfection here. We’re approaching the sunflower from as many angles as we want.

Above, the series of drawings done by V, age (almost) 9.

Above, the series done by N, age 6.

Below, my three drawings.

When we felt ready, we picked some of our drawings and added color. Were the petals really just yellow? How could we show the different colors in the flower? We spent a contented bit of time coloring. I couldn’t resist pinning them all onto our orange studio wall when we were done.

We haven’t seen the sun in a couple of days, but our studio is bright and cheery.

Black and White (I)

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Materials: Drawing paper; various drawing materials, all black (eg: charcoal sticks, vine charcoal, charcoal pencils, black conte crayons, graphite); some round things

I limited this to black and white to provide focus. Color is wonderful, but it can be hard to focus on line, or shape, or anything else, really, when color comes into play. Mostly I wanted the kids to explore the different materials, and the round things were there to provide something to look at, a starting-off point. They could easily be square, or triangular, or tall and straight. Just as long as there’s not too many of whatever it is.

The boys chose some charcoal to start with and set to. My older son decided to draw what he saw.

My younger son complained a few times that he thought we’d be doing a project (by which I think he meant, where is the thing I’m going to make? What am I supposed to do here?). Both boys pressed the charcoal quite hard, and I suggested they see what the material could do—Look, I said, as I drew on my paper, it can be dark, or light. You can shade with it. When it gets all over your fingers, you can create a filled-in spot with just the dust on your finger.

My older son began with a methodical experimentation of the various materials, discovering how charcoal was different from conte crayon was different from graphite. An artist doesn’t know the best tool for the job until he’s gotten a chance to experiment. As the boys worked, I drew, too, circles of different sizes, very loose, just playing with the black and grey, the positive and negative space.

My older son noticed, and his own drawings got looser as he went on. “I’m sort of copying you,” he said. “There isn’t any copying in art,” I told him. “We just inspire each other, that’s all.” My younger son got interested in how the charcoal smudged, and all the dust it created.

I’d set up black paint at the easel for my two-year-old, but once she was done she wanted to draw like her brothers, and then the boys wanted to paint. I think the attentions get split a little that way, and you might want to leave that out. A toddler is not too young to explore a charcoal pencil.

(She found a piece of sponge on the table and decided to see what would happen if she rubbed it on her drawing.)

Charcoal can get messy, but it’s nothing soap and water can’t handle. Our art table surface is melamine, which wipes up incredibly easily. If you’re concerned about your work surface, cover the table—even large sheets of newsprint taped to cover the area will work.

In the series of drawings each boy did, it’s easy to track their experimentation and their increasing comfort level with the materials.