Happy Earth Day!
Today’s art project video can be viewed at Art Out of Anything on FB and @artoutofanything on Instagram.
- gather your materials – I used acrylic paint, pieces of yarn and embroidery thread, clothespins, cups, paper and paint.
- cover you work space with an old sheet or tablecloth or even a garbage bag.
- pour paint into cups, add a splash of water if paint is too thick
- clothespins are used to pick up yarn pieces and dip them into the paint cups. Make sure to coat the yarn as much as possible with the paint.
- once your yarn is ready, lift it out of the cup with the clothespin and drop it onto the paper that is your canvas. You can also drag the yarn on the paper or shake it so it create splatters.
- I would suggest leaving the yarn on the paper until you have completed your piece so that the paint has time to soak into the paper. This also creates a more cohesive finished piece.
- once you feel your piece is done, remove the yarn using the clothespins or your fingers. You can even use chopsticks or tweezers!
You can lay your finished masterpiece flat to dry or hang it. If you have runny paint on your piece, your painting will change as the paint drips while it is hanging. Just be sure to place some newspaper or another garbage bag under the hanging painting to catch the drips.
I mentioned the word fractals earlier. A fractal is a never ending pattern. They can be found in math equations and in the world all around us from tree branches to snowflakes. Scientists who have analyzed Pollock’s seemingly random placement of paint, have discovered these never ending patterns in his work. Can you think of how that would happen when he was dripping and dropping paint and lots of other objects into his paintings without any obvious intentional placement? I have my own theory but you have to watch the project video for that!
Here are some links to really interesting articles about their theories and what they found –
Here are some interactive sites where you can see how fractals work and create your own –
Experimenting with Fractals, Math Fairy, Kids , Interactive Fractal Machine
Here are some links to online drawing tools to create your own, not so messy action painting –
Scratch MIT , Nick jr. Drawing
I hope you enjoy getting messy and exploring the wonderful world of fractals and art.
Follow us on FB and Instagram @artoutofanything for weekly videos and activities. You can also contact us at eljaiekart@gmail.com or direct message us at FB and Instagram if you are interested in remote professional development workshops or homeschooling workshops.
Thanks for visiting and keep creating!
Patty
artoutofanything.com 