Wednesday, September 5, 2012


 

Helpful Hints! Helpful Hints!

Who doesn't love helpful hints?! Here are a few simple ideas to add pizazz to every day art done at home!

Paper!

Most people don't give a lot of thought to paper, but we do! Certain papers are key in creating a successful art project. Here's a quick run down of different papers and how best to use them!


Computer Paper: Perfect for every day sketching and practice drawing. It's inexpensive and plentiful. The only downfall to computer paper? It's too thin to take any sort of wet medium well and doesn't always feel very special (never underestimate the importance"special" paper lends to a project)!


 

Drawing Paper: Usually a little thicker and heavier in weight. Drawing paper can be bought in relatively inexpensive packs at most art supply stores, plus it feels nice to draw on! Drawing paper can handle wet mediums such as watercolor and acrylic fairly well.


 

Bristol Paper: The Rolls Royce of papers! Bristol paper is great! It's smooth, the perfect weight, and supports all wet mediums wonderfully. Bristol is sold in larger size pads (we often conserve by tearing sheets into smaller sizes) at most art supply stores, unfortunately it tends to be a little on the expensive side. Save for special projects!



 

*Scrap Fabric: Do kids love the scrap fabric box?! Yes, it's the best! Whether used to "dress" a painting, added to a mixed media piece, or simply the finishing touch to a line drawing, kids love scrap fabric. You can make your own scrap fabric box out of any empty box and old clothing, blankets, sheets, or old fabric you have hanging around!


 

*Scrap Paper Bin: Scrap paper is fun! It's fun to go through (like a treasure hunt) and it's fun to use in art projects! Plus it's cheap and teaches about recycling! Cut up brown paper bags, old Christmas cards and stationary; throw it in the scrap paper bin.  Parents, you can always get a few more minutes to any art project if you pull out the scrap paper bin. *Don't forget to clean out your scrap paper bin every so often to keep it new and exciting!


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