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.