Experiment with Watercolors

Grab some watercolor paints, a couple of brushes, some watercolor paper, and play around with art.

Add Salt: When the paint is still wet (but not puddles), sprinkle salt on the area. It's easiest to do this one section at a time, while the paint is still wet. When the painting is completely dry, gently rub the salt from the surface of the painting. It adds texture to skies, water... wherever you want some texture.

How does it work? The salt prevents the paper from absorbing the pigment, so depending on how big the crystals are, or how much you use, you can get different textures. Here's a fun video showing the process.

Add Plastic: Wet your paper with a brush (or clean sponge). Using a wet brush and some of your favorite colors (three is a good number) paint colors onto the area. Colors will spread, and where edges meet they'll mix. While the paper is still wet, place some plastic wrap over the painting. Make sure it has full contact with the paper. Wrinkles are good. If you don't have plastic wrap, use bubble wrap or waxed paper.

Let them dry overnight, and then peel off the plastic. (You can save the plastic for another painting) Here's a video showing the process (with acrylics) and a longer one showing a variety of plastic techniques.

 This is National Arts in Education week. Visit us tomorrow and every day this week for arts activities and book reviews.

The Iridescence of Birds

The Iridescence of Birds
by Patricia MacLachlan; illus. by Hadley Hooper
40 pages; ages 4-8
Roaring Brook, 2014

If you come to this book hoping to gain understanding of things ornithological, you might be disappointed because it's a biography of artist Henri Matisse told in two questions - one that spreads over the first 32 pages and the other quite short.

But you don't have to read the entire book in one breath. In fact, you'll want to take your time on each page as the story unfolds.

It begins: If you were a boy named Henri Matisse who lived in a dreary town in northern France where the skies were gray...

If you were such a boy, and you wanted color and light, what would you do? In this portrait of words and art MacLachlan and Hooper bring Henri to life. Color begins to seep into the pages until, by the end of the story, the pages are as full of color as a Matisse painting.

This is the sort of book that makes your fingers itch with wanting to paint, or tack warm-colored tapestries on your walls. It will also have you taking a second look at those ubiquitous pigeons whose feathers and feet may have inspired Matisse.

The language is spare, the art simplified relief printing, the story inspiring. There's even back matter: author and illustrator notes, and a short list of books on Henri Matisse. Curious naturalists can learn more about iridescence and birds here at Cornell Lab of Ornithology and curious artists can check out Matisse's artwork here in his online galleries. You can even learn to paint like Matisse.

Today we're joining the roundup over at the Nonfiction Monday blog where you'll find even more book reviews. Review copy provided by publisher.

The Writing of Art

An art teacher I know once asked kindergarteners, "How many of you are artists?" Nearly everyone raised their hand. When she asked third- and fourth-graders this same question, less than half the class raised their hands. In the sixth-grade classes only one or two kids raised their hands.

"Ask a room of adults," she says, "and chances are no one will raise a hand." Somehow we forget how to be artists. Or we begin to be too critical about what we put on paper.

Now comes a book for kids - and adults - who want to let their creativity loose on the page:
Paint It: The Art of Acrylics, Oils, Pastels, and Watercolors 
by Mary Bolte; illus. by DC Ice and Pamela Becker
144 pages; ages 8-14 and beyond
Capstone Young Readers, 2014

In a single volume, Capstone Press brings together four of their books in the "Paint It" series. It's nice to have them all under one cover... because some days you might want to play with watercolors and another day might beg for something more textured.

Don't know how to paint? Don't worry. Each chapter opens with a section titled "In your Art Box". There's good information about paints and pastels, brushes, papers, and notes on "color palette"- what you might want to stock up on for the first few projects. Then there are the projects - more than 45 in the book - each highlighting a different technique to explore.

Projects range from "testing the waters" to mixed media, Chinese brush painting to glazes and scumbles. Paint large, paint small... try some realism and some abstract. Use lines, use dots. Toss in a sponge or layer it on with a spatula. The big picture: step out of your comfort zone and get paint on your sleeve. Or nose. Tip: if you're painting in the kitchen, buy a large plastic table cloth to put on the floor so you don't leave paint splots on the linoleum.

Head over to Nonfiction Monday to see what other bloggers are reviewing. As for me - I'm off to rummage through the art closet and see whether we've got any paints left... Review copy provided by publisher.

Carmine, A Little More Red

Ruby

Vermillion

Magenta

Scarlet

Crimson

Pink

Rose

Cinnamon

Rust

Cerise

Today’s color: Red. As in Carmine: A Little More Red, by Melissa Sweet (Houghton Mifflin, 2005).

Theme: being aware of your environment

This is a retelling of “Little Red Riding Hood” with a fun twist: it’s an alphabet book that introduces luscious language into the vocabulary of young children. Also, the wolf doesn’t eat Grandma, and the woodcutter is nowhere near. Set in contemporary time – Carmine (Red) rides a bike and keeps in touch with Grandma by phone.

Opening: “Carmine had a beloved granny who taught her how to read by making Alphabet soup.” The story follows 26 words in alphabetical order. Next comes beware – as in: come visit me, but be careful and no stopping on the way. Unfortunately, Carmine does indeed dilly-dally, because the light was exquisite, and she wanted to paint a picture for granny.

Why I like this Book: I love the twists and turns in the story. While Carmine paints her picture, a wolf interrogates her dog about the path to Grandma’s house, because she needs food for her pups. In this tale, the woodcutter does not hear Granny’s calls for help, because he’s off with three pigs discussing floor plans for wolf-proof houses. And at the very end, when Carmine rescues Granny from the closet, Granny reminds her that she’s been told a zillion times not to dawdle – and then hangs her painting on the wall. Seriously – what kid can resist all those fun words?

Plus – there’s a recipe for Granny’s alphabet soup at the back.

Beyond the Book:

Go on a color hike and see how many different shades of your favorite fall color you can find. If your color is green, look at different kinds of leaves, grass, moss, lichens. If it’s yellow, check out the leaves, flowers, and insects you see. Collect a sample of each color and create a color palette when you get home – or use paint to create the different colors you see.

Go on a field trip to a paint store and look at the paint cards with all the different shades of your color. Who knew that there are 30 kinds of almost-white?

For more ideas, check out the teacher guide that Melissa Sweet created. It is chock-full of activities across the curriculum. 

Today's review is part of PPBF (perfect picture book Friday), an event in which bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's site. She keeps an ever-growing list of Perfect Picture Books. Review copy obtained from a library.

Blue Chicken

The leaves are turning, so this week I’m celebrating art and color. Today’s color: blue. As in … Blue Chicken by Deborah Freedman (Viking, 2011)

There is so much to love about this book – from the visual jokes (a red wheelbarrow, white chickens) to the minimalist text to the “oops!” of things-gone-wrong-while-trying-to-help. Imagine: a nearly finished drawing left on the artist’s table. It’s a pastoral scene – a barn with a cow and cat, a coop with chickens resting inside and, resting in front, the infamous wheelbarrow.

Also on the table:  two pots of paint, one red, one blue, and a jar with water and two brushes.

The book begins, “ “At Last! This picture is almost finished. The chickens are white, their coop is brown… and this day is perfect for painting the barn.” And who should want to help, but one of the chickens. She tips over the blue paint pot and turns everything blue – except those odd green patches on the ducklings (yellow + blue).

Chicken tries to undo the blue by adding water, but the entire jar spills and everything is a wash. Everything gets cleaned up except for the sky which, the animals agree, should stay blue. So there we are, a beautiful blue sky day “that is perfect for painting the barn.” 

But where is that white chicken? She's not back in the coop. No, she's lurking behind the pot of red paint with one of the ducklings. Nothing to see here.... just turn the page. When you do, you find some very wet & tired red ducklings – and one red chicken – looking out the window at a newly painted barn. Red, of course.

This is a fun fantasy about characters that won’t stay on their page, and colors that won't stay inside the lines. But watch out! Reading this book might result in kids grabbing paints and brushes, and then who knows what chaos will ensue..

Review copy from library.

Mousterpiece

Mousterpiece
by Jane Breskin Zalben
40 pages; ages 3 - artists of all ages
Roaring Brook Press, 2012

I wish this book had been around when my kids were young. This is such a fun book to read - imagine: a mouse painting pictures. It's also perfect for taking along to an art museum because it features paintings, drawings, collage and sculptures of modern artists. (Of course, my kids spent most of their time in the Asian collection studying the Samurai armor...)

So, the story: a mouse lives in a museum and one day discovers the section of modern art. She is inspired to paint using different techniques: pointilism, cubism, abstract... It's a fun romp through the history of modern art from a mouse's perspective - especially since she paints mice portraits.

There's four wonderful pages of back matter that tells about each artist: Georges Seurat, Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol... it's like having a very condensed version of an art history course, but tons more fun.

Review copy from local library.

Stripes of All Types ~ blog tour & more

Stripes of All Types

Written & illustrated by Susan Stockdale

32 pages, ages 2 – 6

Peachtree, 2013

How can you pass up a book with a cover this bold?  Or one that begins: “Stripes found in water/ sliding through weeds/ Drinking from rivers/ and darting through reeds”?

Like Susan Stockdale’s other books, Stripes of All Types has bouncy, alliterative rhyme that is great fun to read aloud. The illustrations are sharp, bright, and authentic. And, like her earlier books, this one embraces environmental themes – in particular: patterns in nature; animal diversity; beauty. It’s got to have beauty, she says.

Fortunately, I was able to talk to Susan a couple weeks ago and asked her three questions which she so graciously answered.

Sally’s Bookshelf: Talk about how you use art to encourage children’s connections to their environment.

Susan: I got inspired to write the book while visiting an exhibit of colorful frogs at the American Museum of Natural History. There were so many striped frogs that I thought it would be neat to do a whole book about stripes. Once I started looking at pictures of striped animals, I realized there are many that children might see in a park, zoo, or even their back yard.

Though my books are about animals, I intentionally include children interacting with them on the last page. For example, in Fabulous Fishes, I show a girl snorkeling among tropical fish. In Bring On the Birds, I feature a boy and girl gazing at a robin’s nest. And in Stripes of All Types, I end the book with children cuddling striped cats. This is one way I try to connect children to nature.

SB: Your text is so lively, with natural rhyme and flow. It’s clear you love to play with words. How do you know when you have an idea that will fly?

Susan: Usually a line or two will jump out, and I’ll play around with them. They may not end up in the book, but they help me get going. Then I start playing around with ideas. With Stripes I tried three approaches: looking at stripes as animal parts (like stripes on a tail); looking at stripes through how animals move (leaping stripes, creeping stripes); and looking at stripes on animals in different habitats. I settled on the habitats because it gave me a chance to highlight where animals live, plus a chance to use cool verbs. (Animals sprint and scale and drink and crawl….)

The text is spare- it takes kids on a word ride. At the back I include descriptions of the animals – that’s where I work with scientists to make sure that the information is accurate.

SB: Your illustrations add information to the story. I’m thinking of the ring-tailed lemur drinking from a river; you have a baby on her back. What sort of research do you do for illustrations?

Susan: Lots! (she laughs) I start by collecting images of as many striped animals as I can – from photos, books, magazines… A photo of a zebra swallowtail butterfly makes me wonder: what other striped insects (or spiders) could be on a leaf? I try to come up with many candidates for each habitat, and think about what I can say about them, and how I can show their beauty.

Then, as I work on the illustrations, I get feedback from scientists. My original jellyfish sketch had stripes too close together. I even ask botanists about the plant life in the animal’s habitat – for every picture I paint, I make sure it would occur in nature. I paint with acrylics because I love the sharp colors and lines I can get – and because I can paint over mistakes, which you can’t do with watercolors. And I make plenty of mistakes…

Beyond the Book: Susan mentioned that she focused on verbs in this book. If you’re looking for a way to explore language, act out the movements in the book.

Explore science by going on a “Stripe Hike”. You might find garter snakes, woodpeckers, turkeys or monarch caterpillars in your neighborhood. Or visit a zoo or aviary and look for stripes.

Explore art by painting pictures of animals with stripes, or taking photos of striped critters in your neighborhood.

Play a game: Susan pointed out that stripes can camouflage animals or make them easier to see. Look at the environment outside. Then paint some 4-inch paper plates with stripe patterns and colors that might camouflage them or advertise them in that “habitat”. Head outside and put the plates around the habitat and then challenge your friends to find them.

You can check in on the rest of the blog tour at the Peachtree blog. In addition to the blog tour, this post is part of STEM Friday round-up. It's also part of PPBF (perfect picture book Friday), an event in which bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's site. She keeps an ever-growing list of Perfect Picture Books. Review copy provided by publisher.

Ostrich and Lark

Ostrich and Lark

By Marilyn R. Nelson, illus. by San Artists of the Kuru

32 pages, ages 4-8

Boyds Mills Press 2012

“Ostrich and Lark started each morning together at first light, day in and day out. And they parted at nightfall.” What Ostrich and Lark do in between makes up this delightful tale set on the African veld. You see, Ostrich is very big, and Lark is very small. Ostrich is very quiet, while Lark sings and sings. Then one day Ostrich finds his voice and surprises everyone – including himself.

The illustrations are colorful! Bold! Based on the traditional paintings of the !Kung San people who have inhabited Botswana since before time. At times Ostrich wears a red feathered cape; other times he sports a rainbow of tail feathers and speckled leggings. One spread features insects on one side – striped flies, spotted beetles, long-snouted stylized critters that bear little resemblance to anything in my field guide – and the other page shows the Hornbill, Bee-eater, Hoopoe and other birds that feed on these insects.

The San artists of the Kuru Art Project continue the artistic tradition of their ancestors, a tradition recorded in rock paintings thousands of years ago.

Beyond the book:

There are many books about ancient cave paintings and rock art. Here are some you might find in your library: 

Native American Rock Art : messages from the past by Yvette La Pierre

Stories in Stone : rock art pictures by early Americans by Caroline Arnold

African Rock Art : paintings and engravings on stone by David Coulson

Painters of the Caves by Patricia Lauber

Try your had at painting your own "cave art" or stylized drawings. You might want to paint the birds at your feeder this winter, or illustrate your own story.

Or watch videos of  San artists  and other Rock Artists.

Check out other neat books and activities at Perfect Picture Book Fridays. Review copy from publisher.