creating with a kid: squish paintings

MY PHILOSOPHY ON CREATING WITH A KID:

My long time readers know I've been making art with Lucy from day one. From riding on my back while I filmed online classes to letting her create with me in the studio, it's been a priority to share the art making process with my daughter. As I have mentioned in the past it is important for both my husband and I to incorporate Lucy into as many creative projects as possible. And while it makes no difference to us if Lucy grows up to be an artist, we do want her to be a creative thinker. I believe creativity and the ability to think in a creative way is one of the greatest gifts we can give our children and while I am always evolving as an artist and mama, I am learning so much as I watch her develop her own voice. 

I love finding projects that Lucy and I can both get excited about. I am finding that the older she gets, the more common creative interests we have! One thing I know from making art my entire life, is that often creativity is less about the finished product but more about the process. These days when I plan out art projects for Lucy I really try to come up with things that are are all about the process. 

A process we are loving over here is something I like to call "squish paintings". It is fun, colorful, messy and a great project for artists of any age! 

All you need is paper (or canvas), saran wrap and acrylic paint.

Begin by squirting or dropping paint onto your surface.

Next, lay a piece of saran wrap over the top paper.

Now comes the fun part (especially for kiddos)! Start squishing that paint around. Smash it, knead it, move those hands and fingers all over the surface of the saran wrap and the paint will mix and blend and even pick up the texture of the saran wrap.

You get the sensation of squishing your hands in paint with out the mess on your hands!

Pull that saran wrap away and you are left with a really interesting, colorful painting.

You can also make prints of that colorful saran wrap. Start by squishing.

Then pull the saran wrap away.

Chances are there will be a lot of left over paint on that saran wrap so place it face down on another piece of paper.

Use a brayer (or your hands) to press it down.

When you pull the saran wrap away you will have another impression of all that paint! 

This is a really fun way to make colorful handmade paper.

All this paper will get added to our art journals and used as colorful backgrounds for drawing and collage!

You can check out my entire series of "Creating With a Kid" HERE