School Holiday Project 30: Discovering Blackboard Paint

Dala sent me some of their range of blackboard paints, and being very chaffed with the results of my experiments, I could not stop talking about. It was inevitable that my 9 year old niece would overhear me and she promptly arranged a sleepover. As soon as she put her things down, she sidled up to me and with a sly smile demanded to know what we were going to do. I had a hunch that she had her own ideas about how to answer that question and asked for her opinion. Out popped the suggestion, prompt as anything, that we should try out my new paints. Good idea! It is always good to see how a child responds to a new medium and to observe how they approach it. That is why I left the exercise open-ended with only one instruction: Have FUN!

As it gets cold in the studio at night, we had to move everything we needed into the kitchen. The photos have been taken at artificial light with a flash and have highlighted areas appearing over exposed. I apologize in advance. You will need your Dala Blackboard Paints, a set of brushes, water for cleaning the brushes and a surface to work on. I used BIMM board which is white on one side and black on the other.

My niece opted to use the white side and started with a navy frame. I have to mention that I carried on with my another blog and left her up to her own devices. I could see how things that I did influenced her, but I did not give her any verbal instructions, wanting to see what she would do all on her own.

After painting the frame, she noticed how I used an old brush with split bristles to achieve an effect. She immediately sought something similar and started dabbing the board with her brush to get this effect.

She changed colours and carried on with the same technique.

Then she realized that dragging the brush would give her yet another effect. Bright girl!

I had made some dots on my project and this influence once again spread onto hers.

This dabbing and layering technique was her own idea!

It was at this point that she decided to make it her aim to use all of the colours in the range on her project. I also think this is where she lost focus, but I left her to figure it out on her own.

She used the same technique once again, but this time she made zigzag strokes with the bruh.

When she finally sat back she decided for herself that she had overdone it a little. Perhaps. But the lessons learned in the process were invaluable.

It was round about this time that her grandmother decided to join us. When she immediately flipped her own board to the black side, my niece flickered up and decided that she would do the same as soon as her paint was dry. I liked what my mom did and share these steps with you as well.

She started working on a frame for her project. I watched with interest as my mom seldom works geometrically and this excited me.

Finally her frame was done and she waited patiently for it to dry before carrying on.

The moment she moved into her normal style, I could see from her brush strokes that she was more comfortable with what she was doing.

I helped her to mix a lighter shade of green using the Light Blue and the Green.

She then added highlights to her foliage.

Very nice!

Now see how my mom's work influenced my niece. She spent a lot of time developing a frame for her next painting.

Can you spot the influence?

When I mixed the light green, using my finger, as I did not have a palette knife at hand, it inspired my niece to use her own fingers to paint with.

She continued her frame along this inspiration.

By the time the frame was done, it had become very late and it was time to get ready for bed. However, I could not help taking a very important fact away with me. There had not been any verbal instructions, ideas, or guidelines given throughout this project. Yet the visual influences abound. I was acutely reminded of how important it is that we mirror a favourable image to the young ones in our lives, for they will reflect it back to us.

Marietjie Uys (Miekie) is a published author. You can buy the books here:
You can purchase Designs By Miekie 1 here.

Jy kan Kom Ons Teken en Verf Tuinstories hier koop.
Jy kan Kom Ons Kleur Tuinstories In hier koop.
Jy kan Tuinstories hier koop.
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