I have been inspired lately by the amazing works of Georgia O’Keefe. What a master she was! I found a great book at the library to show to my kids, Through Georgia’s Eyes.
I can’t wait to go through it together and roll up our sleeves and try a few projects.
My one absolute rule when doing any art project with children is that I must try the project myself first. I like to it out because it is just darn fun and to see if it works and what I might need to change or tweak to get it to work really well.
The first project I found was on the amazing art teacher’s blog, Brightest Crayon in the Blog. She has so many creative ideas posted and I fell in love with her take on a Georgia O’Keefe painting project. She didn’t provide any instructions other than using black glue at the end so I knew (to keep my sanity) I would have to try it first.
I didn’t take any pictures of the process, sorry! It really is an easy project.
I used:
- watercolor paper
- liquid watercolor paint (pink, purple, blue, green)
- acrylic paint (purple, black)
- white craft glue
First, I used painters tape to tape my watercolor paper to the table. I then sketched a loose flower with pencil. Pink and purple watercolors were used to fill the flowers with a wet-on-wet technique. After the flower had dried I used blue/green to paint the background. I then used a fairly wet acylic paint to add some texture and depth to the flower. I used a hair dryer to speed up the drying process.
I mixed a small quantity of white craft glue with black paint and added a touch of water (to make it easier to squeeze out). I outlined the flower and made a few swirly additions. I had a blast and I liked the end result.
My next project came from another great blog, Artopotomaus. Please check it out by clicking on the name. Here is what I made:
For supplies gather:
- watercolor paper
- assorted colors of tissue paper
- black sharpie
- white glue (watered down)
I sketched out another loose flower with a pencil and then went over my lines with a black sharpie. Next I used tissue paper to ‘paint’ the flower with color. I just ripped and applied with watered down white glue. After everything was dry I filled in any white gaps with oil pastels, and voila, another great project!
I am just itching to try these out with my kids and see what they create. I will post a few pictures of their ‘take’ on the project. Happy creating everyone…
