designy kids art
I am shamelessly enamored with my kid’s art. There I said it. sorry. But man, this is so fun! Being an artist myself, I cant even help the geek factor when my son wants to draw with me. I melt. I turn to butter, I am all his.
I also adore making his work special, and frame-able, and part of a process, where he learns steps and stages to making work. I love to use my expensive art supplies with him when we work on something over time. This piece took a few sessions together. Kids draw so amazingly. I mean, really. The final result is so wonderful. But its also incredible to see your busy, bouncing son, sit and calmly concentrate on something that he loves. It kills me as an artist, but more as a mom.
So. Here is the process we did for this painting. I would love to have some sort of tutorial, for those of you new to these steps, but that’s not in the cards tonight. Besides, I’m sure you can figure this out for now. (hmmm… I should do a lilacwindow class on this…hehe)
remember this all took a few weeks, so do a little at a time. take it slow…
1)choose subject matter. Marcel chose “Trucks and Transformers”. (which he calls “transporters”. cute.)
2)search the internet for appropriate pictures and print them out
3)trace them on tracing paper using a special pen. We use my calligraphy pen that you dip in india ink. yup. I let my four year old use it. (dont tell Mark.) This is my favorite part. I love the concentration and the beauty of the drawing that results. From an digitized and shoddy print out, we get a magnificent line drawing. The pen is important. I love the ink pen, because it teaches control, but it also makes such wonderfully complex lines.
4)scan the drawing onto the computer. I use photoshop to erase any smudges etc, and add a statement at the top. Of course Marcel decided what to put here. This stage is difficult if you are not tech savvy. duly noted. I’ll try think of something to help.
5)print out the drawing, and paint it with watercolours
6)hang on your wall with pride.
7) of course you could print many, and use as cards, gifts or a new wallpaper.
August 5th, 2010 at 7:08 am
Interesting! This is a totally new process to me! Um.. so, silly question, why don’t you just color the original tracing?? Is it too smudgy? Does it look better printed out? I think I’m missing something.
August 6th, 2010 at 12:27 pm
yes. That is a good point. You really could colour the trace, especially if you hang it in a window and trace onto thicker paper (but then you cant use a calligraphy pen…). But trace is hard to colour on, and if you paint on it it gets all bumpy. ALso, you cant just hang it up. I use bits of scrap trace too, so the edges are ripped and its nice to scan and size onto paper, just how you want it. I also can erase the smudges that way. It does look much more polished. Also, its stored for posterity, and you can make many reproductions. if you want. Also, its a fun way to add digitized text that make it look more like something professional. Also its educational. Marcel is already learning photoshop, and how to use the scanner. May not be a good thing…?