This week was our final session practicing the grid method. Some of the children finished last week or during this session so they had a go at enlarging another picture.
Next week the children will be drawing different Derbyshire wildlife in their sketchbook and experimenting with what they wish to use to create their final piece.
This week the toddlers have enjoyed exploring mark making with paint, acorns, pine cones, leaves and sponges.
The first experiment we tried out was rolling acorns through paint, to begin with the acorns kept getting stuck in the paint but after a few pushes they began rolling better. For our second experiment we had different shaped pine cones and the toddlers experimented with rolling them too initially before they realised it was more fun to hold onto the pine cones and twirl them in the paint. For our third experiment we placed a leaf on a piece of paper and used a sponge stamp to splodge paint on top and around the leaf. This left the shape of the leaf behind when we removed it.
Some of the toddlers were enjoying squeezing the paint in their hands so we showed them a fun colour changing experiment where you paint each hand a different primary colour and then rub them together to change the colour. Some of the parents/guardians kindly allowed the toddlers to use their hands for the experiment if the toddler did not want paint on their hands.
Next week we are going to make some animals you can find in Derbyshire.
This week our 4-9 year olds have been making some Autumnal Lanterns using recycled jam jars, acrylic paint, tissue paper, leaves, glue and tea light candles. We had a battery operated candle available so we can test out the lanterns before taking them home.
The children were given the option of making Halloween themed lanterns if they wanted to instead of autumn themed. Some of the lanterns had different pictures on each side of the lantern, the pumpkin lanterns were all orange except for their front and a couple of the lanterns had a repeating pattern on all sides. One child made a Bonfire lantern, they painted the jar and then stuck leaves all over it.
We have ended up with a wide variety of different and interesting lanterns, with the three pumpkin ones being the only ones similar to each other. Next week we are going to be exploring negative space with leaves.
This week the children started on their chosen images for their second trial of using the grid method to enlarge an image. This week I gave everyone free choice on what material they wished to use to add colour to their image. They had the choice of watercolour paint, brush tip pens, pencil crayons, oil pastels and chalk pastels.
Everyone told me they found drawing the grid the hardest part and the children using the pens found that they would dry up after prolonged use and need resting for awhile before being used again. The children did find the grid helped them with scaling up the image as they could use the lines of the grid to help them judge angles and proportions.
This week our toddler group have been exploring mark making with leaves, they also had access to a piece of grass and some bark. The leaves were different ones I found around Belper whilst on a walk, I tried to find different shapes to make it more interesting.
We used thin paper, graphite sticks, chalk pastels and brushes to make the leaf rubbings. The children used the brush with the chalk pastel rubbings as we found it helped pick up the details of the leaves better. With the graphite they could just rub it over the paper on top of the leaf.
After we had finished exploring doing leaf, bark and grass rubbings the children had fun making some leaf collages out of their favourite leaves. Next week we will be exploring mark making with paint and some different autumnal found objects such as acorns, pinecones and leaves.
This week our 4-9 year olds will be filling this entire roll of paper with drawings of their hands, they will have access to different fabrics, glue, pens, oil pastels, chalk pastels and pencils to decorate their hands different Autumnal colours. The plan is to make a tree on our display board out of everyone’s hands. Some of the older children also made some trees they thought could go on the display board, they made them small so that they could go on the top of the grass and give a sense of perspective to our display, with the hand tree in the foreground and the small trees in the background.
Next week we will be creating some Autumnal lanterns out of jars to take home.
We have an ambitious project coming up this term for the Friday group. They will be creating some British wildlife art in their sketchbooks which they will then use the grid method to enlarge on some A2 paper for the display.
To prepare them for it we are going to spend the next three weeks practicing using the grid method in their A3 sketchbooks. I have given everyone some A4 acetate sheets with 4cm x 4cm square grids to use for this project. They will be drawing 8cm x 8cm square grids in their sketchbook and then placing the acetate grid over a picture, using it to help them draw bigger versions of the images.
For this week the children had the choice of some different famous paintings to test this method out, the materials they used were brush-tip pens and pencils. I also asked everyone individually what they would like to try drawing next week.
This week our Toddler group had lots of fun exploring the texture of paint with their hands and experimenting with tape resist painting! We also had brushes available for anyone who was worried about touching the paint at first. In the end everyone enjoyed getting stuck in and loved peeling the masking tape off and putting it back on the paper to paint over again.
We ended up with some fun, messy process paintings and lots of smiles and giggles. Next week we are going to experiment with mark making with leaves.
This week our Wednesday and Thursday afternoon groups explored Pointilism. They drew the outline for their picture and then used the end of a paint brush to make dots. One of the children used the end of a chop stick to make suitable block shaped spots for their painting of Steve a character from Minecraft. A few of the children experimented with mixing lines and spots together.
Everyone said they enjoyed experimenting with dot paintings, the older ones found it easier than the younger children. Next week we will be starting the 4-9 year old groups’ contribution to our display.
For our last session exploring 3D Art the children spent the first part on creating some felt plush using felt, embroidery thread, buttons, scissors, stuffing and fabric glue. The children enjoyed trying out creating their own plush/cuddly toys, especially the fact they could choose what they wanted to make.
Once their plush were completed the children enjoyed experimenting with clay and moving on to make some sculptures of their own using the techniques they had experimented with before choosing what to create. The clay sculptures ended up taking nearly as long as the felt plushies due to how detail orientated they were, a lot of hard work and care was put into everything.
Primrose Art Club will be closed for two weeks for the holidays, we will see everyone in September.
Primrose Art Club 