Andy Warhol Paintings

Andy Warhol Paintings were a fun idea that came from (1) me having leftover canvases (these from Oriental Trading) after my Tape Resist Paintings back in April, and (2) seeing that Andy Warhol's birthday was August 6th and wanting to do a program to (at least kind of) commemorate it.

I went for a classic Andy Warhol style painting with the school-age crowd. See my sample above.

But, before the kids got started on the craft, I showed them a few of Andy Warhol's famous pieces so they could be at least somewhat familiar with his art-style, since it was the inspiration for what they'd be making that day. I showed them: 100 Cans (Just a selection of these. Let's be reasonable.), Marylin Diptych, Ten Foot Flowers series, S&H Green Stamps, Banana, and Eight Elvises. You can download a PDF of my print out of those pieces here!

Then we got started on the craft! I had pre-selected 10 picture options that I thought the kids would maybe want to trace, and measured them out so that 4 would fit on a canvas. Additionally, I put out blank squares that were also the correct size so that, if they wanted, the kids could draw their own picture instead.

Based on my experience with using the cat for my sample, I advised the kids to stick to some of the simpler pictures so things wouldn't get too yucky when we moved on to the paint. Perhaps the snake? Pretzel? Flower? Realistically, the hot commodities of the hour were the snake, dog, sun, and pineapple. And nobody chose to draw their own picture!

I told them to first divide their canvas into 4 sections (by tracing the side of the pre-cut squares). Then they had to hold their canvases up to the light with their pictures underneath, and trace the square once in each section of the canvas--a not-so-easy task, it turned out!

Once they finished tracing, it was time to paint! I had them go over their outlines in black paint first:

Then add color...

Everyone got pretty creative and each painting truly looked unique!

The one thing I wish I could have changed was the fact that there wasn't a lot of paint drying time. It's a lot easier to color in a black-painted line, when the black paint isn't still wet and yucky. But we only had an hour, so what can you do?

Here are two of the finished products:

Pretty good despite a few black smudges, huh?

What worked least: The tracing was hard and, unfortunately, the kids didn't have the same kind of patience that I (an adult) had. So it was frustrating for them. But I think it helped that I reassured them that the drawing was the worst part and, in the end, I think the finished products were totally worth it.

Also the black paint thing.

What worked best: I feel like this craft really let the kids be creative while not being a total free-for-all. They got to pick pictures, pick colors, and use several different types of art supplies. Plus real canvases! And even though my group was a little on the small side, I definitely had a handful of kiddos who really got something out of this program.

Gravity Painting

Inspired by this way nicer version of gravity painting (care of Let The Wild Rumpus Start: Adventures of a Children's Librarian) that I saw on Storytime Underground's Facebook, I expanded the idea and did my own kind of Jackson Pollock-y art with the kids last week. This was for those entering grades K-2.

I had two different kinds of "gravity painting" for the kids to try. I'd planned on first telling them all about Jackson Pollock, even brought in books to show them them pictures of his work, but I wound up diving right in and skipping the lecture part all together. It just didn't feel right. Anyway, here are the crafts:

Gravity Painting #1

For Gravity Painting #1, I used liquid watercolor, these plastic paint pipettes from S&S, and watercolor paper taped (with painters tape) to the bottom of tables. When the kids came in the room, I asked them to each sit/kneel/stand on the floor (which was covered with butcher paper in preparation for massive drips) in front of a sheet of watercolor paper. I showed them how to use the pipettes--a not-too-difficult-task that they got the hang of immediately--then they started to drip paint down their sheets of paper, letting it make crazy lines and then pool into the paper on the floor. It was easy, but cool! The kids were way more free and uninhibited with this than I was when I made my sample. They totally just kinda felt it! Here are some action shots:

Cool, right? I only wish I didn't run out of watercolor so quickly. I failed to account for the fact that a lot of it would wind up spilled over on the table because, well, these are kids we're talking about. Also, it was messy. I'm not a total dummy, but I hadn't expected this craft to get as messy as it did. I'm talking paint on the walls, paint on the floors, paint on faces, and paint in hair. PAINT EVERYWHERE. It was a lot of paint. And a lot of spills. 

But I guess that means they had a good time? Here are some awesome finished products:

 

Gravity Painting #2

For Gravity Painting #2, we used pieces of twisted paper cord from Paper Mart, dipped into paint (washable tempra), and dragged/splattered across black construction paper with no rhyme or reason. Some kids got really into it. Most kids wound up just straight up using their hands, like creative little messy geniuses. It's amazing how free and artistic kids can get. Why can't I just be a kid? No inhibitions. Look at them go:

What worked least: The mess--so much mess. I actually felt a lot of guilt sending the kids home looking how they did, all covered in paint. I assured the parents that everything was washable and all of them seemed understanding, but still, those kids came in the room clean and left dirty, and I felt bad. And that's not to mention the straight up destruction of the room. Some of the wall paint can be seen in the photo above. Look around head-height on both the left and the right of the artist. My coworkers totally loved this, especially the Maintenance Department.

What worked best: I think I gave the kids a place where they could freely make abstract art without rules or restrictions. And I think for many of the kids, it really filled something in them that may not have otherwise gotten filled. Also these paintings are COOL. I even like my own, lame, adult ones!

Yay, gravity!

Tape Resist Paintings

Back in October, I did a program called Watercolor Workshop for ages 3-5, where we explored a few different techniques for making watercolor painting a little more interesting. The overall favorite technique (and also the one with the coolest finished product) was the masking tape resist. When I was setting up for the masking tape resist--pulling a bunch of rolls of masking tape out of a bin--I accidentally pulled out one roll of painters tape instead. Well surprise, surprise, this worked a lot better! In the past, tape resist paintings had always been more of a challenge than they should have been because ripping masking tape off was just plain annoying (and usually tore even high quality paper). BUT thanks to my happy accident, tape resist projects got a whole lot easier!

Fast forward six months... yesterday I did Tape Resist Paintings with tempera paint, painters tape, and actual canvases (these from Oriental Trading, which were actual decent quality!) for kids in grades K-3. It was great!

First, I had the kids cover their canvases in painters tape. A lot (if not, all) of them needed help with ripping it off the roll, which I hadn't considered at all! Luckily my group was on the small side (plus I had two moms sit in), so I was able to bounce around and help everyone with all of their necessary tape ripping. And it was even kind of funny when, after I ripped the tape, the kids then had to pull it off my fingers. We got a little giggle out of it.

As the kids finished their taping, I had them each move on to paint. I tried to encourage them to be as creative as possible: to mix colors, make patterns, etc. Some kids finished quickly; others were so excited by the prospect of color-mixing that they got distracted and it took them longer. One girl made the most beautiful colors (coral, ocean blue, army green, etc.) and one girl added a few drops of muddy water to each of her paints and got a cool, swirly look over everything. One girl made polka dots and one boy did splatter paint (although possibly by accident). I was really impressed by everyone's creativity! 

A good amount of the paintings were too wet to take home right away so I set up a little drying corner on the floor.

I told most of the kids to peel the tape off after the paint dried so the lines would be a little straighter. Unfortunately, because some of the paintings were so wet, this meant peeling the tape off at home--which meant that I didn't get to actually see a lot of the finished projects!

BUT! I did get to see a few and they came out awesome! Here are two of them (and their two silly-faced, goofball creators):

What worked least: I haven't quite figured out how to make the tape lines really perfect. I advised the kids to (a) press the tape down firmly and (b) paint away from the tape instead of into the tape, but even still, a lot of the edges still got smeary. Even my sample had slightly smeared edges. Most of the kids didn't care (and probably didn't even notice), but one girl was a little upset that the lines looked messy and I don't know how I could have even changed that!

What worked best: I think this craft, done on canvas, was the absolutely perfect mix of process and product. The kids got to be really messy and creative, but still walked out with something cool. An older sibling even suggested I do this craft with tweens and I think I may just take her up on that in the fall!

Watercolor Workshop

This morning I had Watercolor Workshop for ages 3-5. It was easy to do and both the kids and the parents loved it!

This program was inspired 100% by this post on CraftWhack. I saw it on Pinterest a few months ago and the next day Watercolor Workshop was on the calendar for October!

First, I started with a short storytime. I read Dog's Colorful Day by Emma Dodd (accompanied by our golden retriever puppet and my homemade sticky spots, which sadly, are losing their sticky) and Perfect Square by Michael Hall. The kids liked them both, although I think the started to get a little squirmy toward the end of Perfect Square. No problem though! It was time to move on to the painting!

I had five tables set up, each with the supplies for a different watercolor technique to try. I handed each child a watercolor palette and told them to carry it around with them from table to table. Since the kids were with their parents, I let them move around freely between the tables so they could try all the different things. This definitely worked and I think treating each table as a "station" made this all extra exciting for the kids. At each station I had: my sample (see below), a sign explaining what technique to do and how to do it, and all the necessary supplies. A PDF of the 5 signs can be downloaded here! These signs really, really helped because the parents were able to show their kids what to do without having to wait for me to come to them. Again, a PDF of the 5 signs can be downloaded here. I would highly recommend using them or making your own if you do a program like this!

Here are the five watercolor techniques:

Wax Crayon Resist

This is probably the most popular and most "classic" watercolor technique. It's easy to do and especially cool because the crayon drawing is invisible until you paint over it (unless you use a crayon color other than white). It's like a little magic trick, the way the watercolors resist the wax to reveal the drawing. Some kids totally loved revealing their hidden art; some were frustrated by not being able to see what they were drawing. But I think most of the kids didn't feel strongly one way or the other, barely noticing the wax resist at all and just enjoyed painting and mixing colors on the paper. That's cool too!

Draw Over with Pencil

When I made my sample above, more of the watercolor dried than I wanted. I guess I just waited a few minutes too long to start doodling, but actually it was still fun to draw on the colorful canvas I'd painted myself. I told the kids to try drawing on some parts when it was kind of wet and some parts when it was dry so they could see how the two differed, but actually many of them drew on it first and then painted over it. Not exactly what I'd envisioned, but again, it doesn't really matter. The kids had fun being creative with different art mediums so it's all fine by me. This also wound up being the station that the slower working kids skipped, so only a handful of the group even went to this table at all.

Blot with Paper Towel

This requires very wet paint. All you do is wad up a ball of paper towel and blot at the wet paint to make a white, textured shape appear. Some of mine look like sideways hearts! For whatever reason, maybe just that it was a little less cool than the others, I don't know if this station was much of a hit. It wound up being the table where the kids just painted pretty pictures. Eh, again, doesn't matter since everyone had fun.

Masking Tape Resist

This one is always more of a challenge than it should be because ripping masking tape off of watercolor paper is just plain hard. It's definitely an adult job and not for pre-school hands (not even necessarily for all adult hands). BUT today, I figured out a secret accidentally! When I grabbed what I thought was three rolls of masking tape from the draw, it turns out I'd accidentally grabbed a roll of painters tape instead. It wound up being wayyyy easier to pull off! So that's the secret to this! Painters tape! This table was possibly the kids' favorite of all of them. They had a good time painting and mushing around the colors and then were appropriately impressed by their finished products when they saw the perfect, straight, white lines that were revealed upon taking off the tape. Super fun!

Salt on Very Wet Paint

I think this one was one of the parents favorites and one of mine too, although I feel like it was kind of lost of the kids. The effect of the salt doesn't "develop" immediately upon sprinkling; it takes a few minutes and then, as the water colors start to dry around the salt, you really see the coolness of it. Then when the paint is dry, you wipe the all the salt away. For some reason, this sort of reminds me of those Smithsonian crystal growing kits we played with as kids, except in paint form. You can see the results best in the blue part of my sample. Again, maybe this one was just more impressive for the adults than the kids, but they had fun painting anyway and making sure their paint was extra wet for the salt.

Overall, what a great time! The kids all got really creative this morning!

What worked least: What what worked least is actually that this program worked so well, that I should have made it longer! It was scheduled for 45-minutes but some of the more meticulous kids didn't get to try everything. With a little more time, maybe they could have. But I'd say that's a pretty good problem to have though, right?

What worked best: This program was a total success! It was my first time doing it and I wasn't sure what to expect but it was really, really fun (again, thank you x 1000 to this post on CraftWhack). But probably because it surprised me and helped me for the future, but I'd say the best thing about this morning was my accidental painters tape discovery. I can't believe how much easier painters tape is to rip off than masking tape. I mean, it makes sense, as this is painters tape's only job, but man! Of course!

What other art programs can I do? This was awesome!