Monthly Archives: January 2012

Marker + Watercolors

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{So sorry posting is spotty lately! I blame January and the fact that I’m recovering from Lyme, which makes me achy and tired. But hopefully things will pick up soon!}

Inspired by the “Lively Lines” activity in Express Yourself: Activities and Adventures in Expressionism by Joyce Raimondo.

Materials: Permanent marker (we used fine tip), watercolor paper, watercolor paints

This was V’s first choice of activities from his book (earlier, N chose drawing with scissors from his own book). The idea is to use the marker to draw a scene, but not just outlines–we were to add different types of lines to show movement and create patterns. My kids only sort of did that, but, as V said, “I had fun.”

V, painting and having fun

He chose to create a beach scene. He did, indeed, add lots of types of lines, but they’re not all visible under the watercolor. This was the first time the boys used pan watercolors, not counting the lower quality type they (sometimes) get to use at school, so there was a learning curve as far as balancing water and pigment, too.

V's finished painting

He got quite detailed with the different beach creatures in the water and on the sand, and he tried to mix some colors, too, to get the shade of water he was after.

N didn’t want to draw a scene at all, and had a bit more trouble keeping his paintbrush at the just-right level of wet versus dry.

N, painting

He used some liquid watercolors too (the magenta). G was only allowed the liquid watercolors, since, at 3, she still has trouble remembering to rinse her paintbrush between colors. I need to remember to get her a starter set of pan watercolors, but I’m not ready to hand over the Reeves or Van Gogh set to her right now!

G's painting

G left many of her marker doodles unpainted, but created a nice mix of colors where she did paint.

I played with this activity too, trying to use some movement lines, too.

Mama's painting

I’ve been photographing, embroidering, and pinning trees lately, and this is just a quick sketch of some birches.

Generally, I wouldn’t introduce a new material at the same time as we’re trying a specific activity–I was thinking we’d use liquid watercolors here and just play and experiment with the pan watercolors before using them for something more directed. It’s hard to get a new material to do what you want, when you’re unfamiliar with it. So we need to just doodle with those watercolors at some point, so the boys can get a better feel for working with them.

Drawing in Snow

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Last year, we got 30 inches of snow in January alone. This year, snow has been sparse at best, so far, and so my kids were delighted with the mere dusting that awaited them on Friday morning. Informed that there wasn’t enough time–or snow–to get the sleds out while we waited for the bus, N emerged from the garage with a kid-sized plastic rake and began doodling on the driveway.

Both boys used the rake to make patterns in the light snow.

They covered the driveway (the portion that had snow, anyway; the rest was a thin glaze of ice–really, it wasn’t much of a snowfall at all). N finished by drawing an elf/troll face in profile, still using the rake.

Knowing it would all melt soon, I snapped some pictures of their temporary experiments in the snow, enjoying the fact that they view just about anything as a canvas.

Matisse-Inspired Collage

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From What's The Big Idea? by Joyce Raimondo

The kids each received a Joyce Raimondo book for Christmas; this activity is from What’s The Big Idea? Activities and Adventures in Abstract Art. The books are suggested for ages 5-12 and are full of techniques to try based on famous artworks. The activities are open-ended, just the sort of thing we like here, and the books are a great addition to our idea shelf.

Materials: Colored paper, glue sticks, scissors

A busy table. My beach scene is in the closest corner.

The book suggested thinking of a place to represent with organic shapes cut from paper. The Matisse shown in the book (which is also on its cover) is Les Codomas, which shows a circus scene. I decided upon the beach. V decided to map out the living room. N didn’t want to think of a place, explaining that he likes to just jump in. (I knew that.) G, being 3, just cut and pasted.

I’m usually pretty open in the studio, but I did insist that the kids not use pencils to draw their shapes first, explaining that we were going to follow the guidelines in the book and “draw” with our scissors. N wasn’t too happy about this, but I held firm. I told him it might feel like a stretch, but stretching was good, and it forces us to figure things out in different ways. He had the option to stop if he wanted, of course, but he kept on. Here’s his finished collage.

N's (age 7)

He was most pleased with the spiral that has different colors peeking through. I agree–pretty cool!

Here’s V’s map of the living room.

V's, age 10

I think he has inherited my love of straight lines! “Organic” is not his natural inclination. (If only his room were as orderly.)

And here is G’s collage.

G's, age 3

While she’s younger than the age range of the book, and can’t be expected to fulfill the guidelines exactly, cutting and pasting is certainly something she can join in on. There are many activities in the Joyce Raimondo books that I can adapt so that all the kids can participate at their own level. That’s something I really appreciate in an art book. I found these while browsing the art section in the kids’ room at one of our local libraries while G was in story time and decided it was worth ordering our own copies.

You can read more on Henri Matisse’s cut-outs here.

Spin Art {A Review, of Sorts}

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The kids received a spin art contraption for Christmas, so over break we played with it. I didn’t realize, when ordering, that it was the Melissa and Doug brand, which has gotten not-so-great reviews over on Amazon. But it was, and while I can see why it’s gotten not-so-great reviews, we played with it quite a bit and had success after all.

One of our favorite parts was watching it spin. The stopped card often looked very different from the card in motion, and really, we were all mesmerized by the way our eyes saw the paint as it spun. From a more experimental standpoint, it interested me that the card reversed with each crank. This set is powered by moving the hand crank–if you pull it toward you, the card spins one way; push it away, and it spins the other. So you’re alternating directions, and I kept trying to figure out if that changed the nature of the design a lot, a little, or not at all.

Some practical points–no matter what I did, I couldn’t get the suction cup to stick to our table surface (which is just melamine, nothing fancy), so I held it down while the kids cranked. The cards that came with the set were too small to fit into the slots without slipping out; things worked better when I cut our own, slightly larger than 4″x4″ on all sides. And the designs came out much better when we squirted the paint on while it was spinning, instead of before.

The very first one we tried is in the top left corner, and that’s the one we squirted the paint onto before spinning. Really, not at all impressive. The thin circles in the one next to it were made by drizzling paint on as it spun. N liked to squirt lots of paint, and he got big cool-looking splotches that took a while to dry.

V started wondering, What would happen if I poured the paint in the opposite direction of the spin? And How about if we draw on the cards before adding paint? So we definitely have some room for experimentation, once we figured out the best way to work with the set-up. I haven’t ruled out a salad spinner for the future, though!

What’s your favorite spin-art method? Do you have any tips to share?

Doodle Rocks

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Materials: Rocks; liquid acrylic craft paint; brushes of various sizes; permanent markers, including metallic

We love to collect rocks. Not too long ago, after seeing beautifully painted rocks at Jen Muna, I decided I wanted to try it myself. And then I figured the kids could give it a try, too. This is an extremely open activity. I spread out the materials (having previously rinsed the rocks and let them dry) and we each took our designs in whatever direction we chose.

That is a busy table! Even dad participated in this activity. I think all of us used a combination of paint and markers, sometimes on the same rock. Here are the results.

G's rocks

Most of G’s are painted, in colors of her choosing, of course. The lighter orange one is permanent marker. On one of these (I’m not sure which) she colored with marker and then painted over it. (Warning: Acrylic paint will not wash out of clothing.)

N's rocks

On some rocks, N used marker and paint together. The bottom ones were drawn on with metallic marker (he decorated both sides of some of his rocks, so some images aren’t shown). The flower in the top middle was created using paint (and a thin script brush) over metallic silver marker, and the ones on either side were drawn after seeing his dad’s rocks, below.

V's rocks

V spent quite a bit of time experimenting with different brush sizes. He also likes to add his initials and his name (blurred out) on most everything!

My husband and I also played with the materials.

Parents' rocks

The top four are mine, and the bottom two (the ones that inspired N) are my husband’s. I experimented with stamping on the rocks (which worked so-so, since the rocks weren’t perfectly flat).

This is a relaxing, open-ended activity that is easily adjusted for all age levels. And if you and your kids are compulsive rock collectors (as we are!) it’s a fun way to turn your finds into creative canvases.

Featured

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Create With Me, Winter 2012

Our family’s trip to the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum (posted here) is included in the Winter 2012 issue of Create With Me, Stampington’s magazine devoted to parent-child artistic collaboration. Amber Demien, the magazine’s editor, interviewed me about our visit, and the write-up and layout are wonderful! It was a lovely surprise to be asked to contribute in this way to the magazine, and my kids think it’s pretty neat, too. I hope it inspires some new visitors to the deCordova, as well–it’s a fantastic place.

Stamp Making for Younger Kids

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In the last post, I showed how my older kids turned a sketch into a rubber stamp. While they were making their stamps, my three-year-old, naturally, wanted to make a stamp, too. Rather than turn a drawing of hers into a stamp myself–which is definitely one option and something we might do in the future–I wanted to find a way for her to be involved in the entire process of making a stamp. This is what we did. Photos are scarce, because I was focusing on making sure my older kids were using the sharp cutting tools safely and properly, but it’s a pretty simple process.

Materials: Craft foam, scissors, wooden block, glue, pencil or other tool to make marks in the foam (optional)

Craft foam isn’t typically on my list of art supplies, but it does come in handy for certain uses, and I still have some sheets knocking about the studio cubbies. G loves to cut with scissors, so I gave her a sheet of craft foam and suggested she cut out some shapes that we could then glue onto the block. The word “shapes” hung her up, as she’s recently been learning about the shapes we call circle, triangle, square, etc. When I realized she was trying to cut out those shapes (a bit hard at her age), I explained she could cut anything she wanted, it just needed to fit on the block at the end. She happily cut the sheet of foam into strips while I worked with her brothers.

At the end of her cutting, we found a piece that fit onto the wooden block and we glued it on, using regular tacky glue. It set pretty quickly.

Then she added some scratchings in, and tried out her stamp.

This was simple, but satisfying. A slightly older child–old enough to cut specific forms with scissors but too young to use the carving tools for rubber stamps–could arrange patterns on the block using more than one piece of foam. Lots of possibilities!

Carving Stamps

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Note: This is suitable for elementary students & older. In the next post I’ll show how I modified things so my three-year-old could make a stamp, too.

Materials: Speedball Speedy Carve block (cut into smaller pieces); set of linoleum cutting tools; paper and pencil; bone folder (optional); x-acto knife (optional); block, cork, or something similar for a handle, and glue (optional)

I began experimenting with stamp carving last year, and, if you haven’t tried it before, I can tell you that it’s easier than you might think to get good results. I have a tutorial here, and that is the process I led my kids through, too. However, I stressed a couple of points:

* Fingers have to stay on the edge of the carving block, not on top of it, while carving, because if the carving tool slips, we don’t want it scooping out any finger bits.

* Always carve away from yourself, directly away, not at an angle. Turn the block as necessary. The tools are designed to be pushed away as they scoop. Plus, it’s safer.

Also, using a scrap of rubber, I showed the boys how to use the tool before handing it over. I found all my supplies at a local chain craft store (near the stamps and scrap-booking section), and both cutting sets were purchased with a 50% off coupon, so it wasn’t too expensive to have one for each child. You can also find stamp carving supplies at a fine arts store.

Okay, let’s begin! First, using a metal straight edge and an x-acto knife, I cut the block into smaller pieces. After each boy chose a size, I traced his block onto a piece of paper several times. The boys then sketched their ideas into these squares, so they knew the size they were working with. Once they had sketches they were pleased with, I had them go over the lines with the pencil so they were darker, and then we burnished the sketch onto the carving block. (Details are in the tutorial.)

Now it’s time to carve!

Below, N works on his stamp, his sketch of the Hero Factory shield. Yes, his fingers are on the block, but at least on the near side of the tool. I did need to remind him more than once not to carve towards his fingers.

Here, V has inked and stamped his carving, so he can see what still needs to be carved away.

N’s finished Hero Factory stamp is at the top of this post, and here is V’s initial with a lightning bolt:

This activity is something that requires supervision and knowledge of your own kids. V, age 10, had no problems using the tools safely and well. N, age 7, needed much closer supervision and some help finishing his stamp. But the immediate thrill of sketching an idea and turning it into a stamp really can’t be beat. I love it every single time, and it’s really fun to share this thrill with my kids.

Note: V decided to leave his block as is. N wanted me to cut around the perimeter of his–which I did with the x-acto knife–and then we glued it to a wooden block to use as a handle. Trimming around the outside edge can eliminate the need to carve away all the excess outside the design, but it doesn’t work for all designs. I use a waterproof glue, because I like to rinse our stamps after we use them.