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Where Creativity happens!

Monthly Archives: October 2015

Exploring Watercolors

Fall Leaves

If your kids like picking colorful autumn leaves – they should try this project! Ask children to pick various leaves (maple, oak, birch and whatever trees or bushes they can find). The leaves should have different shapes and colors. It is better to pick the leaves the same day or day before the project – otherwise they lose color vibrance and become brown. We used both freshly picked leaves and dried in a book leaves – fresh leaves look and feel better.

This is a project for 6-10 years old.

Materials: paper, oil pastel, soft brushes (like squirrel or soft synthetics), watercolor paints (yellow, red, orange, green, brown, blue, pink)

Project takes about 45 minutes

  • each child chooses 5-7 leaves he/she likes most of all

1

  • start with the biggest leaf. Place it on a paper and trace. Don’t forget to add a stem.
  • repeat it for all other leaves. Leaves can overlap each other. Kids can position the leaves as they wish since our leaves are blown by wind.

  • ask kids to look closely at leaf veins. Point out that some leaves have radial veins and some have “ladder” veins. Draw leaf veins for each leaf. Make only 5-7 veins for each leaf and avoid doing more (making too many veins make it look like a spider web).

  • outline every leaf and its veins with oil pastel. Kids can use different colors for outline and veins of the very same leaf.

  • draw wind with white oil pastel (waves and spirals)

  • start painting with watercolors. Begin with the brightest color (yellow). Paint a part of the leaf. While the paint is wet quickly add second color (orange, green or red) to the closest areas. Watch the magic of second paint flowing into the area of the first paint.

  • students can add third color if they want. Repeat the process for all leaves.

  • paint the sky with shades of blue and purple. Paint over the wind but not the leaves. The leaves should be painted around.

  • place the artwork carefully on a horizontal surface and let it completely dry (otherwise the watercolors can leak)

 

 

Halloween Cat on a Pumpkin

Black cat painting

Cat’s are usually hard to draw for young kids, but this project makes it easy! This tutorial shows how to make a sly cat who arched his back while standing on Jack-o-lantern step-by step.

This is a project for 6-8 years old but can be done by 5 year old kids as well.

Materials: paper, black oil pastel or black permanent marker, oil pastel, thick and thin brushes, acrylic paints (black,white and pinkish shade of purple), watercolor paints (yellow, orange, purple)

Project takes about 60 minutes (I recommend 2 sessions 30min each)

  • place the paper horizontally
  • start drawing outlines:
      • draw a large horizontal oval – that’s a pumpkin
      • to make a cat draw one large arch (I explain it as a “bridge” or a “narrow rainbow” for kids) for a cat’s back on top of the pumpkin
      • add a smaller arch under the large “bridge: to make the outline of a cat’s tummy

  • draw an oval for cat’s head and a question-shaped tail

  • add triangle-shaped ears on top of the head. Draw two lemon-shaped eyes. To make a kind cat draw round-shaped eyes. The eyes should be of the same size and the space between them equals the length of one eye.

 

 

  • now add space between cat’s paws. Draw a long flipped raindrop of the same height as the smaller arch to make a space between back paws. Repeat it for front paws. Round each paw where the cat touches the pumpkin.

  • draw a face on a pumpkin (2 eyes, nose and a mouth) and color it with black oil pastel or permanent marker

  • I always recommend to start painting from the lightest color to keep the colors bright and clean. So begin with yellow. Paint the pumpkin over its face with yellow and orange water colors. Use a wide brush for it. Paint the cat’s eyes with yellow.

 

  • Paint the night sky with 3 parts. Start from the top: make a wide stripe of dark-purple color. After that add a middle stripe of pinkish purple. Then move down and paint a light purple part.

  • Paint the cat with black carefully. Paint the ground with black (my students voted for green)))

  • Add stars by making small white dots with a thin brush. At the end kids can add whatever they like: scary trees on sides, bats, moon. They can add whiskers and a nose if they like with oil crayons.

Here is how my 5-8 year olds did it: