Using square acrylic paper, each child had the opportunity to immortalize their pet in paint. Each child was given primary colors along with white and black and did all their color mixing themselves.
They created their sketches on copy paper so they had the ability to finesse their drawings prior to transferring them onto the acrylic paper. To save time, we used carbon paper to make the transfer easier.
With summer camps, I have a variety of age groups and skill levels in the studio and so I varied the challenge based on each individual child.
In the morning camp, I had three young children. I introduced Impressionism and showed them a few paintings and asked for their thoughts.
I suggested they might use "one finger" to create their paintings in an Impressionistic style.
4.5 year old. Pet Beta
Both of the little girls were very excited to use one finger to create their works of art.
5 year old. "Colby"
Are these not the cutest paintings? The child's cat likes to lay on her sisters' bed and when her mother saw the work, she immediately knew where Colby was laying. This was such great validation for the artist and she just beamed at her moms' excitement.
The other young child had no interest in using his finger and so began creating his dog with a paintbrush. While I was washing the paint off one of the young artist hand, I noticed he was on the verge of frustrated tears and so went over to see what was happening.
He LOVED mixing colors and on several of the previous projects and excitedly called me over with each new color he discovered while mixing. Unfortunately this time, his exuberance had completely obliterated his pet and he was now quite disappointed. I told him not to worry and quickly took a damp paper towel and wiped away all the excess paint.
There was a lot of paint. A rainbow of colors piled on top of each other that left their stain on the paper. I told him not to worry, to paint over and it would be OK. After just a few minutes, he declared he was done and I looked over and saw this!
5 year old. "Aussie"
Five years old! I could not believe my eyes. Isn't it something? We had talked about paying attention to the way Aussie's fur went different directions and he obviously took it to heart. The shading on the dog is due to the wiping away of paint. Truly incredible piece.
Several of the morning campers are with me during the school year and so I upped the anti for them with this project and asked them to consider first doing an underpainting in the complimentary colors of their final color choices. I love the depth this creates in the artwork and the kids really love figuring out the puzzle of colors while painting.
10 year old. "Violet"
9 year old. "Sandy"
7 year old. "Aussie"
This young boy fought a hard battle with his work of art. There were several times during the process where he was wanting to chuck it across the room, especially when creating the floor. First he tried to recreate the tile floor in his home. Then a wood floor. I finally told him to just pick a direction for the floor and really pay attention to the direction of his brushstrokes. He was using the Impressionist as inspiration for his work and if I am truthful, was wishing he hadn't about three quarters of the way through the project.
By the time he was finished, he was really just done and due to "the fight" was not at all smitten with his finished work. I can't say I blamed him and complimented him on his perseverance, positive and no quit attitude, qualities I know will serve him well throughout life.
9 year old. "Kali"
By the next morning, after time away from the work and some fresh eyes, I'm happy to say he felt differently about his piece. I think it turned out beautiful in the end and am quite proud of the efforts he put into this art.
The afternoon camp also created acrylic paintings.
7 year old. "Krystal at Sunset"
The above work is quite poignant as her family dog is a senior and the mother mentioned she thought the rainbow bridge was coming soon. I do not think the little girl was thinking of this, just a pretty sunset background, but I know the mom was touched with the deeper meaning when she saw it.
7 year old. "Tiggs"
For those children who did not have a family pet, they either drew their dream pets or brought in a beloved stuffed animal pet. This little girl brought her favorite stuffed tiger every day to camp and I love this precious painting she created of him.
Another child in the afternoon camp is quite obsessed with Q-Bert. To be truthful, before this past week I had no idea who Q-Bert even was but I do now! I loved that his parents completely embraced his enthusiasm for this character and supported his decision to create all his artwork focused on Q-Bert instead of their family dog. I love the narrative of his artwork in this painting too.
7 year old. "Q-Bert visits Manhattan"
His family pet was still immortalized in paint thanks to his older brother, who created lots of lovely works of their dog from puppy to adulthood.
9 year old. "Fiddy"
I had two sibling groups in the afternoon camp and the family cat of this brother and sister is well loved by both of them. There is lots of new artwork of Pushka for the family to enjoy.
7 year old. "Pushka"
5 year old. "Pushka"
When these were done, I really was wishing for a do-over with my now grown children. What I wouldn't give to have artwork created by them of the dogs from their childhood. What an amazing way to always remember these important family members that will always be an important part of their childhood memories.
I have a feeling as the years pass these will take on significant meaning to them way beyond just the fun day they had creating them at summer art camp.
No comments:
Post a Comment