Make-it Mondays : Buttermilk Chalk drawings

Good Morning friends! Today we are making paintings with Buttermilk and Chalk!

So gather these materials:

Chalk

Buttermilk

Paper

Simply dip the chalk into the buttermilk and draw!

The buttermilk makes the dust from the chalk go away.

It creates a smooth rich line.

Keep dipping between lines

Draw anything you can think of.

The more colors you use the more vibrant your drawing will be.

Let the drawing dry and then hang it up to admire it!

Make-it Mondays! Kids Potato Prints

 So easy and safe with the use of plastic cutlery and some pre-halved potatoes! It's a great feeling to let the kids carve them on their own and take pride in their own work.  SO - Let's make some art!

A finished print on construction paper with brown ink

Slice a potato in half either length-wise or width-wise for the child

Let the child use a plasatic knife or fork and scrape and dig the potato to make marks on the flesh side.

Place potatoes flesh side down on paper towels to absorb moisture. Press potato into an ink pad and press firmly!

Put four - six newspaper sections under the sheet of paper you will print on. Press inked potato onto paper firmly.

Lift the potato up and re-ink to continue printing! Make a pattern with different colors and carved potatoes!

Make-It Monday : Salt Painting

It's Tuesday but we are going to begin it with our Make-It Monday! Today we are doing a resist and salt painting activity which is great for all ages. First gather thee simple materials:

• Cover stock
• Oil pastels or crayons
• Salt
• Watercolor set with soft brush
• Soft sponge
• Water

Now follow me through these easy steps! 

First draw on the paper with crayon or oil pastel.Leave some areas blank.

Add water to the paper with the sponge to make it damp.

Choose a color and paint over the damp areas with the brush. The color will spread on the damp paper!

Keep adding colors and spreading them across the paper. Add more water if necessary.

When you are finished with the watercolor take a pinch or two of the salt and sprinkle over the whole painting or just in a few spots. Let dry completely and rub off the salt! Post photos of your work here or at our Facebook page.

Make it Mondays! String Painting

Good Morning friends and happy June! It's Make it Monday and today we are making String Prints! This is a fun way to paint/print for most every age child and of course brave adults...

All you need is cotton string and a small container of tempera or acrylic paint and paper to print on!

 

Dip the string in the paint and drop it on the paper - hold onto one end! Drag it around the paper or drop it  over and over again to make marks.

 

You can also try dropping it on the paper, hold the end and fold the paper over the string and pull the string out for a different look! Use one or more colors - the choice is yours! Post a photo in our Facebook page of your results if you would like to share. More fun art lessons are available in my books and in my classes and camps in New Hampshire - and now online! 

Snowstorms and other distractions

Well Juno hit and left a lot of fluff in the wake. I love and hate snow all at the same time. Giddy to have everything fresh and white mired by displacement of routine and disappointment of makeup classes all wrapped into one. And the cold cold of the cold.

But it's only weather and so obviously what can one do?

READING is a good option - which brings me to Heather Ross's book that I just finished. Loved it to pieces. What courage and sheer will to survive. Forget WILD. well no - that goes too far because I loved that book too and well it was a magnificent telling of a tough tale and loads of courage there too. Loved it. Excellent non-fiction writing which is my favorite.

But Heather's book hits a nerve with me as I lived in those parts growing up. Her hardships were immense for a child. A small child - which I guess really made it tough to read and imagine her getting out alive and able to do all that she has done..  I didn't live the way as she did in Northern Vermont -  but I knew those who did and remember it well - from the edges.

I loved the essay fashion of her writing and the way she illustrated her book. It's heart breaking and triumphant all at the same time. I highly recommend it to anyone who is feeling sorry for themselves.

The icing on the cake with this book is that it is also very beautiful. I have always admired her work and her delicate drawings - I always felt they had to come from an intimate relationship with nature. Now I know her story and know it's true.

So the snow day was not bad at all. I am still torn on the idea of actually naming winter storms. Seems a little strange. I hope it doesn't replace phrases like "The storm of '78" and other significant years! Maybe it's just that I am so bad with names?

Final thoughts for today: You can now register for my NEW online mixed media class! My class at artstream has been producing some beautiful works (see above by Celeste) - that I will be sharing the processes and methods via videos in my new online class (Starts March 2!!) Sign up here (and get all the juicydetails) for the earlybird pricing!! 

Wintery Trees

from Art for All Seasons "winter" chapter

It's a frigid 7F outside which makes it the perfect weather for a little indoor fun! Today we are going to make Wintery Trees which is a lesson from my new book Art for All Seasons. It's one of the 40 art projects that are inspired by the four seasons and contemporary artists.

The lesson is inspired by my friend and artist extraordinaire - Lisa Congdon's Folk Forest and the weather outside as seen above! So grab these materials and let's get started!

Wintery Trees Materials List

• scissors
• glue stick
• dark colored construction paper or recycled dark paper
• white copy paper
• recycled old book pages or photocopies
• recycled CD
• pencil 

Let's begin!

First rip some long strips of white paper for your snowy ground

Trace around the CD onto the old book page. We used old sheet music.  Cut out the circle and cut the circle in half.

Place the paper in front of you with the curved side down like a boat. Fold the top right edge down like a cone shape.

Flip over the paper and fold the rounded edge in to meet the first fold. You are making the tree boughs!

Flip the paper back and fold again. Continue to the tippy top and glue down the folds!

Make a whole forest of trees and arrange them on your snowy ground. Glue them down when you are sure where they should go. Add trunks and a moon or stars or clouds or owls or whatever you want to live in your forest.

There are so many different ways to change this collage project up! You can add watercolor to the trees to add more color. Glitter could be involved here. Adding recycled cotton from vitamin bottles for wispy clouds or drawing in tiny forest animals ...  There is no end to what could be done with this project.  How about making a card for someone special? If you and/or your kids make one of these collages I would love you to share it at our Facebook page! Have fun!