” A line is a dot that went for a walk.” Paul Klee
I love to doodle! Doodling is probably the easiest form of meditation there is and anyone can do it and enjoy it. I firmly believe it also builds muscle memory so that your drawing can become more fluid.
In today’s video, we took a line for a walk and learned about color theory. This activity is really simple, fun and you can even make a game out of it. I created an Upside Down Color by Number game, where the colors for each object in the picture are left up to the roll of the dice! This might be harder than you think if you have a hard time coloring grass orange or the sky green, but it will definitely help to open your imagination and introduce you to a new way of seeing the world around you.
Artists like Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gaugin were part of les Fauves (wild beasts), an art movement of the early 20th century. Their canvases, although representational (real things/people) were more concerned with strong, complimentary coloes and painterly qualities like thick paint strokes.
Today’s Story Time read aloud was “The Rainbow Goblins” by Ul de Rico. This is a stunningly illustrated book that tells the story of the Valley of the Rainbows and the greedy goblins who want to steal all the beautiful colors.
Rainbows are magical and even the scientific explanation for their origin is the stuff of wonder. Light streaming through water molecules at just the right angle to bend light? Amazing. White light that actually carries the spectrum of colors? Incredible. Nature and science really are magic and so is art.
You can watch the read aloud video and see how I created the mini rainbows above at Sea of Visibility on FB.
Rothko was an abstract artist who expressed emotions with color. he also tried to make viewers feel certain emotions only using color.
When I was playing with lipstick, eye shadow and nail polish to blend and combine colors, I was reminded of Mark Rothko’s abstract color paintings. Just trying out different color combinations and blending the different pigments together made me happy. I thought I knew what result I would get but was pleasantly surprised every time.
Here are two great sites to visit to learn more about the artist Mark Rothko and to make your own rainbow experiments.
Handmade paper using tissue paper scraps and Mod Podge.
Hello everyone, it’s a stormy day here in NY and perfect for making some home made paper.
There are a few different ways to make your own paper using recycled materials, most of them involve making paper pulp and lengthy drying times. Although this version is not as versatile as conventional paper making techniques, it is a lot quicker and can be done with a few simple ingredients.
Our new paper will also help us to explore the properties of transparency (see-through), translucency (partially see-through) and opaqueness (not at all see-through).
Supplies – plastic baggie ( I prefer the gallon size), white glue or decoupage glue (like Mod Podge), brushes, water, container, paper scraps. Paper scraps can include tissue paper, newspaper, magazines, paper towels, parchment paper (used for baking), gift wrap paper, tracing paper. Any paper that is on the thin side will work. Copy paper, construction paper and the like will probably not give you the same results, although I always encourage experimentation with materials! Knowing what doesn’t work is just as important as knowing what does.
STEPS –
cut the plastic baggie so you have 2 flat pieces of plastic. You will use one piece for now.
tear paper into strips and/or smaller pieces.
Glue method –
add some water to white glue in a container. The mix should look like thin pancake mix. If it’s too thick, it will take too long to dry.
Use the brush to “paint” glue mixture onto the plastic baggie. I do this in sections instead of covering the whole piece. This way the glue doesn’t dry out quickly.
lay down a layer of paper scraps on top of glue and “paint” another coat of glue on top of the first layer of paper. Place paper scraps on top of each other in different directions to make them bond to each other better. Think of a fabric weave, how the crossing threads bind the fabric together.
continue layering paper and coating with glue in between until you have at least 3 layers of paper and glue.
give the entire surface one last coat of glue mixture and set aside to dry.
Once dry, peel new paper off plastic baggie carefully. The glue method took a few hours to dry and produced a matte (not shiny), textured surface of new paper.
Opaque and translucent new paper using newspaper, tissue paper and white glue.
Decoupage Glue Method –
follow the same steps as above, but do not dilute the decoupage glue.
this method dries much quicker (30-45 minutes) and produces a glossy (shiny), smooth surface.
Translucent paper using tissue paper scraps and decoupage glue.
What can I do with my new paper?
Your new paper can be used to draw on, as collage materials for another project, as a window decoration even as wrapping paper!
Be sure to visit Art Out of Anything on FB for today’s complete video with step by step demos and more ideas to extend this project.
Here are some links to explore–
Free Stained Glass Patterns– print out these templates and trace onto the plastic sheets with a permanent marker to make a design with your paper scraps. Once dry, you can trace over the design with the marker again to make a stained glass window effect.
Making Paper at Home – here’s a more traditional paper making technique you can try at home.
Don’t forget to check out Art Out of Anything on FB for the complete video of this project and follow us on Instagram @artoutofanything for more activities and resources!
We have been so busy, it’s been a while since our last post. I would like to showcase some of the amazing work the students have created at a few different venues with traditional and non-traditional materials. We have everything from giant food to insects.
Bacon and Eggs
Cupcake
Exploring line and textures with PK and K. Printing, color, sand, glitter, paint and more.
Cardboard, paint and wire create our own version of Calder’s mobiles.
Paper bag hand sculptures capture the student’s personalities using symbols and color.
Hand soft sculpture
Handmade paper using tissue paper scraps
Handmade paper using tissue paper scraps and Mod Podge.
You CAN make art out of literally anything! Painting on aluminum foil creates texture and a visually stimulating palette. Just remember to add a little dish washing liquid to your tempera paint to help it stick to the shiny surface.
This week my little ones used Puncinello aka Honeycomb ribbon, to begin creating texture for their “bricks”.
This is what happens when you stumble into the huge roles of metallic ribbon on the floor of your classroom closet! My PreK classes have begun their Building unit, so what to do in art class? Make bricks of course.
Here they are using Bingo markers to create a textured pattern on poster board, using the holes in the ribbon. The challenge was not to bang the markers (usually their favorite part) but instead to apply the color as evenly as possible and combine colors without ending up with a shade of PreK Rainbow mud. If you are an early childhood teacher, you are familiar with this color 🙂
Once dry, I will remove the taped on ribbon and cut the decorated poster board into brick shapes which they can then use to create their 2D houses. I love the melange of colors they were able to put together. Thirty-six 4 year olds did a great job, can’t wait to see what kinds of houses they come up with.
Musical accompaniment – Parachute Express playlist on Spotify. Ended class with a singalong to “When I Build My House”.
artoutofanything.com 