A Monoprint and an extra project!

Hello everyone!

Today we have 2 projects to explore, one that can be used over and over again and one that is unique and one of a kind.

Finger painting is a great activity for kids of all ages and adults too. It provides a wonderful sensory experience and promotes fine motor skills while providing a relaxing, creative activity. It’s not as popular as other art projects unfortunately because it is most definitely super messy. But what if I told you, you could finger paint without turning your hands (and maybe your furniture) into a paint palette? ?

Well you can, with some simple supplies!

No Mess Finger Painting

Supplies –

Plastic baggie (preferably Ziploc although you can tape the top of the baggie to prevent any paint squeezing out).
Paint – acrylic, tempera, washable paint is best. If you have no paint, you can mix up some instant pudding or use one of the recipes listed in the links below to make your own “paint”.
Your hands!
Optional – Q-Tips, end of paintbrush handle or pencil

Steps –

Pour paint into the plastic baggie. If the paint is too thick, mix it with a splash of water before you pour it into the baggie. Paint should not be too thin.
Carefully squeeze out all excess air before sealing bag. Add tape to the top to prevent any leaking.
Once your baggie is ready, you can use your fingers, Q -Tips, or the rounded end of the paintbrush handle or pencil eraser end to create designs.

clean fingerpainting baggie — This activity is great for learning about color mixing.

It’s fun to “paint” by removing, or “erasing” pigment instead of adding pigment, by moving the paint around and creating designs. This activity is also a wonderful way to explore elements of art such as color (primary and secondary colors) and negative space (the space around and between the subject of an image).

It’s super relaxing and fun to watch the colors mix and spread. Plus you can “erase” designs by gently rubbing and moving the paint around. You get a new canvas to create!

Our second project today is a MONOPRINT, a form of printmaking where the design or drawing can only be made once.

Supplies –

Cookie sheet or aluminum tray. I used a pizza tray today in my video, but I usually use disposable aluminum trays in my workshops. As long as your paint is non-toxic and water soluble you can always clean the tray after using.
Paint or a homemade substitute (see link below)
Mark making materials like Q-Tips, combs, fingers, plastic utensils etc.
Paint spreader – you can use a brush, stiff cardboard, paint roller or a brayer (if you have one!)
Paper

Steps –

Spread paint evenly onto the tray with your paint spreader. The paint should be opaque and smooth, a nice thin layer is best.
Use your mark making tools to create a design. Try to work quickly since the paint may begin to dry and that would prevent getting a good print.
Your design will be reversed, so remember that if you are using words.
Once your design is ready, place the paper on top and gently burnish (rub) the surface of the paper to transfer the design from the tray to the paper.
Pull the print – as you’ve seen in our previous videos, gently lift off the paper, starting at the top from the tray.

finished monoprint — Our finished Monoprint. The image will be reversed, so be mindful if you are using words.

As you can see above, some of my paint had started to dry so I ended up with a slightly uneven print. Sort of looks like a woodcut! This can also be called a reverse print because the design is made by the lines where there is no paint.

Here are some links to learn more about the elements of art and ways to make your own paint.

Favorite Homemade Paint Recipes

Elements of Art for grades 6-12

Free printable Elements of Art book for grades PK – 5

Be sure to visit, like and follow us on FB and Instagram for weekly project videos and read aloud story time for all ages. Contact Patty at eljaiekart@gmail.com to learn more about our professional development workshops, now available via Zoom and/or Google Hangouts.

Thanks for visiting and keep creating!

Patty

Art is Messy – action painting with yarn

I used acrylic paint, yarn, thread, water and clothespins.

Monoprint of a section of unfinished action painting.

Completed action painting laying flat to dry.

The left over parts of an art activity can be interesting too!

Happy Earth Day!

Today’s art project video can be viewed at Art Out of Anything on FB and @artoutofanything on Instagram.

With this project we continue to offer art activities that you can do at home or in the classroom with much of what you already have on hand so you can work with what you have!

Action painting is exactly what it sounds like, painting with movement.

Jackson Pollock was a painter know for his action paintings. You can see him painting and hear him talking about his artistic process in this video – SFMOMA – Paintings have a life of their own.

You can also visit his house on the east end of Long Island in NY or virtually at Pollock-Krasner House. His wife, Lee Krasner was also an amazing artist.

Pollock’s paintings are not only colorful and lively, they also contain fractals, which is another example of how math can be found everywhere in art.

Today we will make our own action painting using yarn and paint.

Project Steps – the steps for this project work best being viewed but I will give you the abridged version here.

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 –

Discover Magazine

A Scholarly Blog

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

Collagraphy and The Scientific Method

Hey all!

Today we are using the scientific method to determine which style of collagraph works best for printing.

A collagraph (sometimes spelled collograph) is a method of printmaking that involves adhering materials to a board or sturdy surface to build up a printing surface.

I decided to use the scientific method to explore different materials and printing pigments.

Observation – I have observed, by doing, that you can make prints (copies) of designs by using many different materials.
Questions – Can I make prints from cardboard, hot glue and foam sheets? Which pigment will make the best print; an ink pad, acrylic paint or lipstick?
Hypothesis – which combination of these materials will give me the most successful print?
Prediction – I think the hot glue will give me the cleanest print while the foam sheet will give me the best print all around. I think the cardboard will not give me a clear print. I also think the lipstick will give me the best color of all.
Test the prediction – I chose collagraphy as the printing technique to test my predication because I can use materials I have on hand.

TEST – you can watch the entire video of the process at https://www.facebook.com/artoutofanything/

Here’s a sneak peek of the process –

I used hot glue to create designs on a piece of cardboard. This does take a little practice as you have to make sure your design is raised and not flat. I also cut up a piece of adhesive backed foam sheet into an abstract design and adhered it to another piece of cardboard and then used cut up cardboard as another design. These will be my 3 printing plates.

Next, I experimented with 3 different pigments in the form of paint, lipstick and an ink pad. The amount of pigment placed on the printing plates is very important; too much and you get a gloppy, messy print, too little and you don’t get a clear print.

Here are the results. Which one do you think made the best print? Which print is clear, complete and clean? Was my hypothesis correct?

I used the ink pad on the cardboard plate

On the left plate I used lipstick. On the right plate I used acrylic paint

In my video, you can see some other techniques I tried while testing out my hypothesis!

You can also find some easy printmaking techniques in keeping with our motto “work with what you have”, at Tinkerlab.

Be sure to visit and follow me @artoutofanything on Instagram and FB.

Here’s the link again for the full length video – Collagraphs and The Scientific Method

Let’s see what other collagraphs you can come up with!

See you on Thursday and keep creating!

Thanks for visiting,

Patty

Found Object Printing

The best thing about inheriting someone’s classroom is what they leave behind in the closet. I have had these cut pieces of thin rubber strings sitting, waiting for some inspiration. We started creating a “printing block” using longish strands of yarn but the printing plate needed something extra. A little masking tape, paint and voila, a new use for those rubber “spaghetti” strips!

We used the same technique of painting the printing block, burnishing and lifting the print from the plate. The result can be hit or miss but after all, exploring and understanding what doesn’t work is an important part of the process as well.