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Thursday, November 11, 2010

Thrifty Art Thursday: Reusing Kids Paintings!

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I was completely inspired by The Book of Kells, when my kids and I watched it last night. It is a beautiful movie, thanks to Grey Catsidhe for the suggestion! So there I was, desperate to make some awesome white on dark art, scouring the house for materials. White gel pen in hand I needed something to draw on!

I love my white gel pen, but I've found that it doesn't always write well on all surfaces. It needs a little tooth to really flow well. What I've found works the best is my kids old finger paintings! It turns out that cheap tempera is an excellent ground for gel pen. It dries to an extremely matte surface which is just what I need.

For those of you who don't have a ton of kid made backgrounds you'll have to make it yourself. I suggest getting yourself some cheap tempera paint, and a bunch of stuff to make marks with, including combs, sponges, leaves, cheap bristle brushes, and especially your hands. Go for abstract rythym and movement, let everything be unplanned. I love the papers that my kids make, I've been saving them for years. They make wonderful backdrops to gel pen, collages, block prints and stamps. Hope you're having a wonderful Art Every Day Month, and thanks for stopping by Thrifty Art Thursday!


8 comments:

  1. I love the background and the white on color is beautiful :-)

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  2. Magical.
    Beautiful Line Work.
    I get out my white pens now!

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  3. Beautiful! What a great Idea to honor your children's artwork!

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  4. I've never worked with gel pens before, but you make it look so beautiful! How fun that you work with something creative your kids did first.

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  5. What a fabulous idea to draw over finger paintings! It looks fabulous!

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  6. That's a beautiful drawing; I love all of the detail! and what a great idea to use the kids' finger paintings!

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  7. What incredible fun!!!! I love the whimsy and spirals and yes, I can see how the spiral pear echoes this. I love that you used the kids' finger painting for the background -- reminds me of how Eric Carle does his backgrounds for his kids' book illustration! Lovely!

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