Mural Mania!

 

Summer Camp started for us last week and we're already having a blast! We had a group of kids who worked extra well together so I decided it would be a perfect time to do a mural. I love murals. I love their sense of community and collaboration, not to mention the encouragement offered to each other while discussing ideas. As anticipated, the kids did a wonderful job and everyone (including me) had a great time!

 

Materials:

Large Sheet of paper or tag board
*I prefer tag board, which is thicker. You can find it at certain art stores by the yard. Mural paper or any really large piece of paper will work OK though, even with wet media.
Assortment of paints
Brushes
Markers
Scrap Paper
Scissors
Glue
Scrap Fabric

Step 1

Decide on a mural theme, either beforehand or as a group. Occasionally it's fun to have kids just go at it BUT if there are going to be arguments this is when they can occur. You can keep it loose, something as simple as landscape or farm, or more specific. Either way, I find going in with an idea works best. (Our theme was the countryside, I drew out a rough quideline for painting shapes)

Step 2

Set up paper. Whether using the floor or a tabletop, make sure your paper is secure and can handle a little rough handling. (We worked on a tabletop)

 

Step 3

Start painting. Work from the inside out to ensure the whole surface can be reached. I try not to have too many rules once the painting starts, just encourage lots of color and pattern.

 

 

 

Step 4

Add fun elements. Once the mural is all painted you can add houses, people, animals, hot air balloons, etc. with markers, scrap paper, fabric or anything you like!

Spring In Review!

Spring Classes are ending this week and we're gearing up for summer. It's bittersweet as we won't see some of our students back until fall, but have loved and enjoyed our time together. As always, we've been blown away by the beautiful and imaginative work created at the studio. Here's a little review of this Spring's favorite projects! (Please feel free to email me for any instructions on the following lessons, info@thescribbleartstudio.com)

 

Beautiful Jellyfish



 

Princess Self Portrait

 

Get Em Batman

 

Gnomes in the Garden

 

Expressive Portraits

Mama and Baby Giraffe

 

Frida Portrait

 

Sea Creatures in the Window

 Circus Collage

Messy Teddys!

 

This is a fun project to do with younger kids. It's mainly a painting project with a funny twist at the end! I did this project with my Mommy and Me and Folk Art class (ages 3-6).

Materials,

Practice Paper

Pencils

Bristol Paper

Black Crayon

White, Light Blue, Yellow, Black, Pink and Black Acrylic Paint

Brushes

Pink and Brown Construction Paper

Scissors

Glue

Buttons

Fabric for dressing bear (optional)

 

Step One

Practice Drawing Your Teddy!

Practice drawing a teddy bear made out of circles. Circle for the head, circle for the body, and circles to make up the face, ears, paws, legs and tail. The simpler the better!

 

                                                   

Step Two

Paint Your Teddy!

Draw teddy bear on Bristol paper and outline in black crayon. Next paint the bear a light blue and the background yellow. Make sure your teddy is dry (use a hair dryer if necessary) and paint a large white circle on the face and little white circles in the paws, ears, tail, and legs. Using black paint, put a nose in the white circle on the face and outline your bear, pulling out the shapes if they got lost during the painting process. Add buttons for eyes.

 

Step Three

Treat Your Teddy to Ice Cream!

Draw a circle on pink construction paper and a triangle on brown construction paper. Cut out and glue the pink circle on top of the brown triangle in your teddy's hand, creating an ice cream cone.

 

Step Four

Get Your Teddy Messy!

Now for the fun part! Get your teddy messy by using the pink paint to create drips and splatters, the messier the better!

 

Expressive Self Portraits!

I love expressive painting! Sadly, as an artist I wasn't exposed to expressive painters until I was in college. As a result I try to teach as many expressive projects as I can!

 

This week I did Expressive Self Portraits with some of my younger and older students. I like this project because unlike most projects we do, there aren't a lot of guidelines. You just draw your face and paint. The only guideline I gave was to keep your colors fresh and try to avoid over mixing. Enjoy!

 

Materials:

Practice Paper
Pencil
Little or Handheld Mirror (optional)
Bristol Paper
Black Crayon
Various color Acrylic Paints
Brushes

Step 1

Start by drawing your face. I went over simple facial features and placement with my younger students. I had my older students look into a mirror while practice drawing their faces.

 

 

Step 2

Draw your head and shoulders on Bristol Paper, making sure to take up most of the page. Outline in black crayon. Paint using a variety of bright colors. I left traditional colors (peach, brown, and cream) off the palette.

A Home For Bugs!

 

This year we will be participating in the Children's Museums Bug Festival! Kids love to draw bugs or insects of any kind so creating a fun project for all ages was easy. Along with lots of other wonderful activities, kids will make their very own bug jars. For those who won't be able to make it out to the festival, here's a similar project you can do at home!

Bug Jars!

 

Materials:

Bug Drawing Sheet

Jar Drawing Sheet










Practice Paper
Pencil
Bristol Paper
Oil Pastels
Blue and Green Acrylic Paint
Watered down Blue and Green Acrylic Paint
Brushes
Brown and Green Construction Paper
Scrap Craft Paper
Scissors
Glue

 

Step 1

Practice drawing bugs and jar. Then draw a big jar on bristol paper, making sure to fill up most of the page. You'll want a roomy home for your bugs to live in!

 

Step 2

Paint all around your jar with blue acrylic paint. Next using the green paint, add brushstrokes along the bottom of the page to create grass. Once dry (hair dryers help with drying time) paint inside the jar with watered down blue acrylic paint and along the bottom of the jar with watered down green acrylic paint. The watered down acrylic paint is lighter giving the jar a see through appearance.

 

Step 3

Next, use brown construction paper to create twigs for your bugs to crawl along and green construction paper to create leaves. Glue down and start drawing bugs inside your happy habitat!

 

Step 4

There's a couple of different ways to color in bugs once drawn. You can use oil pastels or create wings, etc. out of scrap craft paper, or a mixture of both. Either way works well and you're sure to love your little home for bugs!