Painting large is always a very different experience and children love the opportunity to really be able to create a work of art with big, expressive brush strokes.
It also takes my mantra of "draw big" to a whole new level.
The age of the students ranged from 6-9 years old and for most, the canvas was almost as big as they were!
Since the canvas was so large, there was really no reason to do a working sketch. I gave each child a piece of vine charcoal instead so they could lightly sketch straight onto the canvas. I assured them if they drew lightly, they could rub out any marks that made them unhappy and redo them again. I also promised them that when they added paint, the charcoal would disappear and no one would ever see any of the sketch marks.
I let them choose their own subject matter, but all gravitated to an animal. I pulled out the appropriate reference files for them to use to study the details of the animal and off to work they went on the canvas.
When they were happy with their sketch, I discussed how much easier it is to create a nice painting if you start with the background first.
I also discussed how much more interesting their colors would be if they mixed the paint right on the canvas. (they had just the primary colors, black, white and raw umber)
I also showed them how picking the right size paintbrush for the job is important, along with paying attention to the direction they used the brush.
They were all very pleased with their paintings. One artist could hardly wait to get home in order to hang the painting up on her bedroom wall. It's always an extremely rewarding day when I see students leave the classroom so happy with what they created.
I can't wait to run this workshop again.
7 year old
9 year old
6 year old
6 year old
8 year old
8 year old
8 year old
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