Art Projects

I'm working on art projects for Ellie and Luke.  I agreed to teach them art, mainly Ellie, since she began "FIRST GRADE" yesterday.  At Home.  I'll be teaching Luke and Andrew also.  The Barber children come in threes these days.  Abigail is still attached to Ann and is only interested in being fed/rocked/ and held - and if she falls asleep, well, that's a great thing.  Andrew doesn't like being left out of anything - nothing - he is on board for whatever Ellie and Luke are doing.  He repeats everything they say and do.  He's their echo - but he also has his own things to say and talk about.  He talks constantly.

So - I've been researching art projects for children.  I already had two books which are all about children and art and doing art with them.  I don't want to teach them crafts - but - I want them to enjoy expressing themselves creatively.

So I found a recipe for Pudding paint.  It can't be eaten - but it does involve flour/water/salt/sugar - to be cooked together like pudding and then it cools and tempera paint is added to create these different colors of paint.  The brush is a craft stick.  I'll probably use wide and thin for different lines and marks.

It's to be applied to any stiff board, like card board, mat board, something stiff.  I recently ordered gesso and will probably gesso some cardboard to create a painting surface for them. (I'm assuming the pudding paint eventually dries like regular paint - otherwise why create a wet painting that we can't keep - I hope it dries!)  (I'll give the recipe below if anyone is interested)

ANOTHER PAINTING PROJECT I FOUND involves making my own watercolors.  Homemade watercolors!

Here is THE LINK TO GO TO  but there are so many on the internet for making these paints.  Just google Homemade Water Colors and all kinds of places have it.  Suggested containers for the paints are empty ice cube trays - small, saved containers - I used tiny muffin tins.  I never use mine because I am beyond the stage where I'm interested in making tiny bitesize things.  Too tedious - so I gave my tins up for the water colors - besides - they'll eventually be empty again)

Another project I'm looking forward to - Making a Book out of a Paper Bag!!  And then creating the book.  HERE'S THE LINK which tells how to make the book.  So simple.  I've done it using small brown lunch bags which is a more manageable size - also - I just don't have any large grocery bags - paper ones.  I plan to start requesting them.

I have no pictures today.  This post is begging for pictures - but I have no time for that right now.  I don't even have time to be posting this.

It's just something to move past my last post.  I hate for the same one to just keep staying up there.

Here are the instructions for the pudding painting taken directly from my book.

PUDDING PAINT.

Mix 5 cups water, 2 cups white flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and 3 tablespoons salt.  Pour into a saucepan and cook over medium heat until thick and bubbling (about 7 minutes).  Cool well.  This can be stored in the refrigerator in covered containers for several weeks.  (right now mine is cooling in a pyrex bowl and I put saran wrap directly over the surface, as in touching the pudding, so a film wouldn't form as it does in edible pudding)

TO MAKE THE DIFFERENT COLORS:
1.  Spoon cooled "pudding" into 5 containers and mix with 1/8 to 1/4 cup powdered or liquid tempera paint to make 5 main colors. (I ordered my tempera paint from DICK BLICK ART SUPPLIES ONLINE  I ordered the already mixed kind.)
2.  Place spoonfuls of the main colors on one paper plate; use another plate to mix colors.  Use craft sticks to paint on cardboard. (I want a white surface so I plan to gesso cardboard.  I also ordered my gesso from Dick Blick.  It's expensive so I had to order a small container.  My daughter Sarah instructs me on gesso.  I haven't used it much but I do like it a lot.  It just prepares a surface for paint.  She mixes 2/3 water with 1/3 gesso.  She has to apply several layers.  It dries pretty fast or you can use a hair dryer, I suppose.  Since the cardboard will absord the water I might use a thicker application - less water)
3. Pull up to get pointy peaks, or scrape a design into the paint.  Make an abstract design, or paint a realistic picture.

WOW!  Wish I still had access to all that scrap matboard and scrap foam core board from when I worked at the frame shop.
Those would be great for this.

I think that's all.  I need to get off the computer.