ink on acetate

The school year classes have now ended as summer draws near.

Here is one of the last projects I did with the elementary class.

Ink on acetate.

Each child found a reference picture of their favorite animal. I briefly explained the Fauvist movement to them and we discussed different moods and personalities that could be created with color. I then asked them to consider creating their animals in "crazy colors" inspired by the Fauvist artist.

Beginning with a permanent marker, each artist created a black line drawing. I told them to think about what a coloring book page looked like and to keep that in mind when drawing.

I then gave each artist a little pot palette of a couple of inks in their choice. What I love about having the kids work on acetate is that nothing absorbs, so they can move the ink around, pull the ink off, and if they really are unhappy, wipe the paper clean and start again. 

Because the ink continues to move around, it creates some really interesting things on the acetate. Each girl got the hang of the project pretty quickly and really enjoyed working on the unusual surface with the inks.

When they were finished, I quickly dried them with a blowdryer and then put a light coat of varnish on top so the ink would not move if they accidentally got wet. I then used a spray glue on the backside of the acetate and adhered them to a piece of Bristol paper.

In hindsight, I could of skipped the varnish and used the spray glue directly on the artwork and then mount it with the backside facing forward. To be truthful, I learned this lesson by accidentally doing just that with the turquoise bunny. I actually liked the final product this way much better, as it is more interesting when you see the layers the artist created from the first layer back- instead of the other way around. Their original black lines showed up much better this way too.

So in the future, I will present the project telling the kids the finished pieces will be in reverse when I mount them.

Sad to say goodbye to all the kids, but I'm guessing with all the summer camps I have booked it won't feel like that long until fall is here and I see them all again.

To see the summer camp schedule, go to KudzuStudio.com. I have a lot of fun projects planned and lots of camp themes to pick from.  

Enjoy the summer! Hope to see your child at camp.