Painting like Jackson Pollock: A Boy let loose

Kids Get Arty is a link-up that is happening over at Red Ted Art. I just LOVE this idea! Basically it is a link up of posts with the purpose to teach children about the great masters of art in an experiential way. I chose to participate because I really want my son to be exposed to the arts as much as possible. I grew up outside of New York city so I was lucky in that way — traveling into the city for a visit to the art museums was not uncommon. My son and I, now, however reside in a relatively small town in Oregon, without the same level of opportunities. So, I feel responsible, in part, to educate him when I can on such matters.

This Jackson Pollock original is entitled "Number 8"

I chose the artist Jackson Pollock for this activity. Jackson Pollock was a controversial painter, who pioneered the "abstract expressionist" movement with his free flowing "drip" paintings, that were to him about expression of feeling. Words I would attribute to his paintings are: raw, spontaneous, expressive, emotional, fervent, messy yet unified. He moved quickly while painting, hence the term "action" painting being attributed to his style. He integrated objects from his environment to use as a means of applying paint, so not only did he use a brush he might also use a stick, syringe, nail or whatever struck him as needed in the moment. Instead of using a easel, he set cloth down on the ground and painted it from above.

This kind of painting naturally lends itself to an open-ended, fun, even wild activity to do with a child. Kids are so used to others trying to put limitations on their creative expression. How refreshing it would feel to my son to be told that it is OK to make a mess, to go wild with paint, and to use whatever he might have on hand that would be useful to aid his expression! This choice seemed perfect to me!

Before diving in, we looked at examples of Jackson Pollock paintings, like "Number 8" above. We also viewed this short video clip on You Tube where Pollock himself is talking about his process of painting. View it here.

 After my introduction of Pollock to my son, we were ready to get down and messy! I laid a big sheet of paper on the grass (with masonite as a backboard), filled some containers & squirt bottles with (watered-down) tempera paint.

I set out some paintbrushes. We also gathered sticks, string, stones, and nails just in case we felt inspired! And then both of us — mom and son team — had at it!

Pouring, splattering, dripping, squirting, scraping, dragging the stick, and whatever the moment dictated to us.










Not only was a good time had by both of us — the result was pleasing as well. It took A LOT of paint for this project! It also took a long time to dry, and when it did, I was slightly bummed out that the colors dulled significantly. I think next time we will have to upgrade our materials to real fabric, and housepaint! I want the quality to last, as I can see hanging a piece like this is one of our main rooms!

Thanks for coming by and checking this out. Please be sure to hop over to Red Ted Art for Kids Get Arty to get more ideas! Also remember to "like" me on my Facebook Page if you want to stay informed of more kid activity ideas I post or find around the blogosphere! Have a wonderful day.

Tee shirt craft using freezer paper; Weekly Kids Co-op

I have had this MASSIVE role of freezer paper on the shelf of my art studio for probably more than a year...untouched, and waiting, waiting, waiting to be used. (Note: you can find freezer paper in big supermarkets alongside the wax paper, parchment paper, etc. - this is what it looks like in case you don't know and are curious).

I have wanted to explore freezer paper stenciling on a tee shirt ever since reading about it in Deb Soule's book, The Creative Family. The Creative Family is by far one of my favorite family activity books, and I highly recommend it to anybody who loves to craft with their children. Also be sure to check out Deb's inspirational blog, Soule Mama, which is full of beautiful photography as well as project ideas. 

Anyway, being that it was the 4th of July yesterday, and my son didn't have any festive tees to wear representing the day, I decided it was the perfect time to bust out the freezer paper and give this craft a whirl.

Using photoshop, I created the above star design for the shirt.

I then printed it out and laid the sheet over a piece of freezer paper cut to the same size. I placed these both on a cutting mat board and started cutting through both layers with my X-acto knife. *Note: the waxy side is the side that will eventually be ironed down onto the tee shirt. You want this to be facing down when cutting the design out, in general. Obviously for my star template it didn't matter which side was up or down.

After the stars are all cut out, I ironed down the paper (wax side down) onto a tee shirt. I made sure that the paper was completely adhered to the fabric before moving on to the next step.

Using a stencil brush, my son tapped (or "stippled") blue and red acrylic paint onto the cut-out shapes.

He worked meticulously on filling each star.

When all the stars were covered thoroughly with paint, we peeled the paper off. It was quite easy! I was sooo impressed with how easy this paper was to use, AND I ended up loving the result!

We were careful to not fold the shirt and lay it flat until the paint was dry.

How do you like it? My son was proud that he had a hand in its creation, and I think he looked perfect for the part of a 4th of July Festival goer!

Thanks for coming by and checking this out. Remember to "like" me on my Facebook Page if you want to stay informed of more kid craft ideas I post or find around the blogosphere! Have a wonderful day.

And now for our weekly linky party! I am linking up this freezer paper post, and my fireworks painting post. Enjoy!

Make a 4th of July Fireworks Painting - using a Fly swatter!

The other day my son and I made a trip to the Dollar Store. Being that the 4th of July was right around the corner, I was keeping my eyes open for craft materials for a fireworks painting. I am happy to say that I hit the jackpot!

Materials used for fireworks painting

I found these unusual fly swatters with flowers affixed to one side of them, a "can strainer", and also inexpensive black poster board, and voila! An idea was born for the Fireworks painting.


Full list of materials we used: 

• Black Poster Board (to represent the sky) (50 cents - Dollar Store)
• 2 Fly swatters with ornamental plastic flowers on them ($1 each- Dollar Store)
• Can Strainer ($1 Dollar Store)
• Tempera Paint (Colorations, from Discount School Supply)
• Bronze "Activity" Paint (Colorations, from Discount School Supply)
• Meat packing trays to hold paint
• stencil brush
• glitter
• sequins stars

I spread blue and red paint onto trays. My son pressed the fly swatter (flower-side down) into the paint and proceeded to swat away onto the black paper. WOW! I was impressed with how the splattered paint looked a lot like fireworks!

Soon he mastered double-fisted swat action! He was having fun!

Originally, I had just planned on him using 2 colors, but he insisted on me adding more (which, I must admit, made for a much more exciting picture in the end)! He then added green fireworks...

 
...and yellow fireworks to the painting. It all came together looking like the an explosion of color against a night sky.

After he was done using the fly swatters, I had him use the can strainer as a stencil to paint a different looking firework to the mix. With a stencil brush, he "stippled", or tapped bronze paint through the holes and onto the paper.

This was the result.

He placed the new fireworks all over the page where he saw fit. 

And then — to add even more pizazz — he sprinkled on glitter...

...and metallic stars to make it glow. 

I love how the painting looks abstract...

...but yet still looks like the beautiful lit-up sky of a 4th of July night.



Thanks for coming by and checking this out. Remember to "like" me on my Facebook Page if you want to stay informed of more kid craft ideas I post or find around the blogosphere! Have a fun holiday! Stay safe!

Patriotic Ice Cube Painting and Kids Co-op Linky Party

Yesterday my son and I made a trip to the Dollar Store and found star shaped ice cube trays for, of course, only A BUCK! What a score!

When we came home, I filled each star with red, white, or blue tempera paint, and stuck a dibble stick in each. Then I placed the tray carefully in the freezer.

Today we pulled the iced paint cubes out of the freezer, and took them out of the tray.

We (both!) had fun playing around with them , moving them around on a piece of paper and watching the marks that they left as they warmed up. Of course as time passed the iced paint melted more readily and more distinct marks were made.

Because I didn't dilute the paint with water (which I usually do when I freeze paint) I found the texture was creamy and moved smoothly on the paper.

This is a fun activity that I think children of all ages would enjoy!

Happy 4th of July everybody!

Thanks for coming by and checking this out. Remember to "like" me on my Facebook Page if you want to stay informed of more kid craft ideas I post or find around the blogosphere! Have a wonderful day! 

Now for our weekly link-up! This week Mama's Little Muse is linking up our Glittery Fireworks Craft post, our Seahorse post, as well as our Patriotic Ice Cube Painting Post.

Sea Horse Craft

This week is Eric Carle's birthday, the beloved author and illustrator of many modern classics, including, "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?", "The Very Hungry Caterpillar", and "Papa, Please get the Moon for me".

We love his books in our household. In celebration of Mr. Carle turning 83, I decided to read his book "Mister Seahorse" and do a colorful textured craft with my son reminiscent of the paintings in his book. "Mister Seahorse" is about a male seahorse who is going to have babies! Mrs. Seahorse deposited the eggs in his pouch and he goes about meeting other male sea animals who also care for their unborns in unusual ways. As he meets each creature, many are hidden at first, and it was fun to have my son try to spot them. When the pages were turned, the creatures became unobscured. This provided a good opportunity to discuss the word "camouflage" with him. This was a sweet book, and my son enjoyed it thoroughly.

Now onward to our craft!

First we gathered up the materials:

• 3 colors of tempera paint (I had my son choose his favorites, yellow, orange, blue)
• 3 textured materials to apply the paint: a sponge, bubble wrap, and an egg carton. 
• 3 containers/surfaces to hold paint that will accommodate size of textured materials (for sponge I used a simple little bowl, for bubble wrap I used a meat tray, and for egg carton I used a cafeteria food tray. 
• Paper cut out in shape of a sea horse (I used this image as a guide to hand-draw the outline)
• A googly eye

 

First my son used a sponge and stamped yellow paint over the entire surface of seahorse shape.

Then my son pressed the bubble wrap onto 2nd paint color (spread out on meat tray) and then stamped it on paper.

Then he pressed the egg carton into the 3rd color of paint and stamped it down onto the paper, covering the entire surface. 

As the last step he glued on the eye.

Voila! How do you like it?

Thanks for coming by and checking this out. Remember to "like" me on my Facebook Page if you want to stay informed of more kid craft ideas I post or find around the blogosphere! Have a wonderful day!