Enriching with Mark Making

This past Tuesday I had the pleasure of beginning an after school Enrichment class with my daughter's schoolmates..."Exploring Art Journaling" with a handful of 2nd-6th graders. It was a complete blast & I can't wait to meet up with these wonderful students over the next 6 weeks!

{For the parents & students from school that might be checking out the post today, I intentionally tried to blur some of the artists names on the photos...see if your child can pick out which image was their creation & tell you about it if they like!}

We began the session by using everyday items & things that most of you would consider trash to make marks on canvas paper...

Old loyalty credit cards, corks, lids, a tomato container, a kids broken flip flop, bubble wrap, broken wheels from a toy...basically anything that will make an interesting mark on the page!

This image is the example I prepared ahead of time:

And here is what these aspiring artists created in the beginning:

 Cool texture added to some finger swipes!

Kids really are wonderful artists - not afraid to think outside the box & just create whatever comes to mind!

 The kids had some mini pretzels for a snack & a few dropped them into their paint & used them on their pages - making marks or gluing them on! Above, a student is using some drywall tape to make marks by getting paint on her fingers & then dabbing it on the tape to make dots!

 More pretzel stamping!

Love this hand SK!! It is so much like what my hands can look like at the end of a canvas!

Some kiddos went crazy & embraced the messiness, while others were more methodical...

When the paint was dry, I gave the journal prompt of "Friendship" & asked them write a little about what it means to them, words, names, whatever came to mind.

They may look a little kooky now, but they are actually wonderful starting blocks for the rest of our class!

I showed them that art journaling is a great way to get your feelings down on paper & then cover up what you want with paint by expressing those feelings in marks & colors. Some covered up a little of their writing & others just left it.

Eventually, we will cut these pages in half, use one half as a page in their finished journals & the other half might be cut up for collage work!

I can't wait to show them more fun techniques & get some of more of those feelings down on paper & paint!

See you next week girls!