School Holiday Project 11 - Creative Birds

Today's blog is a wonderful developmental exercise where the kids can learn a number of things. We trace, paint, and paste, among others. There is also the opportunity to teach them about how different effects are achieved by swapping brushes. Don't expect them to get it right the first time around, but allow them to play and enjoy themselves.

It was a warm sunny day with only a slight breeze blowing. As a result I decided to take the kids outside where we would do the project in the shade of the trees. It is good for both them and myself to get out of the house and into the fresh air. It did mean that I had to stack everything we would need on a tray.

As the table surface did not lend itself to creating art, each child (and myself) received a big tray to work on.

We started by tracing the outline of our hands on the paper. Close the bottom of the drawing with a semi-circle.

The were very upset with my choice of paints, especially the little girl who immediately noticed that I did not bring pink or purple. I told them we would mix the colors ourselves and they were transfixed. Yet another lesson worked into the project that will serve them well in years to come. I started by squirting red acrylic paint into three wells of the palette.

I added a small amount of blue to the one that I wanted to change to purple.

I added white to the purple and the pink wells.

After mixing the colors I had made pink as well as purple, whilst still keeping the red as is for painting. They were super impressed and insisted on mixing the colors themselves.

We now used a couple of bigger Filbert brushes to paint the hand prints in the color(s) of our own choice.

We then used medium round brushes to paint in the legs and feet.

I then showed them how to paint the leaves of trees with the Filbert brushes. Dab the tip of the brush in the paint. Dab the excess paint off in the palette. Touch the paper with the almost dry tip of the brush to create the impression of clumps of leaves in a tree.

I then showed them that you could also use a fan brush to create leaves on a tree. The procedure is the same as for the Filbert brush. Guide against excess paint and simply touch and lift.

We used the medium sized round brushes to paint tree trunks and branches in. In a real painting I would prefer a rigger/liner, but they need to be much older before I allow them to use those special brushes of mine.

The kids had moderate success with this. but struggled to move past what they were being taught in preschool, which is not to leave open spaces when painting. They also wanted to explore the effects that could be achieved by using the brushes in other ways than how I showed them. Good! The final results may not be great as a result of the experimentation, but the lessons learned are priceless!

I then showed them that I could achieve thick reed-like grasses with the Filbert brush turned sideways.

Or we could make long waving grasses by flicking the Fan brush upwards in quick movements.

They wanted to include pink clouds and all sorts of trees and things. I let them play around a bit so they could personalize their pictures.

It was time to add the feathers to the bird. I lavishly applied some wood glue to the palm and four fingers, leaving only the thumb unaffected.

We had picked op these guinea-fowl feathers the previous day where an animal had killed and eaten the bird. These were now stuck down to form the feathers of the bird.

I applied some craft glue to the top of the thumb.

This is where the eye of the bird went.

We had two mighty proud artists at the end of the exercise.

The only thing left to do was to paint in the beak.

For more crafty ideas and great products, visit APrettyTalent.com.
Remember to keep nurturing your TALENT for making PRETTY things.
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