Art | Blog

Make a Fingerprint Dandelion with Your Kids

by Erica Johns | Jul 28, 2016 | Art

Welcome to one of the projects in our series 8 Awesome Handprint Art Projects to do With Your Kids! To learn more about the project and see a complete list of methods, materials and projects, click here to start at the beginning. (new tab will open for you) Affiliate links have been used.

Make a Fingerprint Dandelion Painting

4. Dandelion

Supplies you will need:

Colored paper and paper with patterns if you choose to do the matted look and mount them for impact. (See photos.)
Glue sticks for mounting
Small paint brushes: I recommend this brand of brushes. They do not fall apart like cheaper brushes do, they hold up to frequent use and proper cleaning as well.
Foam flat brushes
Colored acrylic paints: This is the same set I have in my own home. You get a nice variety of colors at a good price. Plus, the box this set comes in is sturdy, so you can continue to use it for storage.
Black sharpie or nice thin pens for detailing

You will need yellow, white, and green paint.

First, paint stems, leaves, and grass. Then paint a yellow circle at the top of the stems. Let dry for a bit.
Once the first paint is not too wet, it’s time for the petals. You’ll want to use a smaller finger, like a pinky to make them. Using a foam brush, paint the pad of the finger white. Turn the paper around to make it easy for you to get the right angle for the petals. Reapply paint to finger as needed. Finish by making a few petals flying away as if the wind is blowing them.
After paint is totally dry, you can add details with pen or marker if desired.
Complete your artwork by mounting it onto a background page that peeks out around the edges to form a frame and give it a matted look. Use glue stick on the back of your artwork to affix it to the background page.

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Make a Handprint Kite Painting with Your Kids

by Erica Johns | Jul 28, 2016 | Art

Welcome to one of the projects in our series 8 Awesome Handprint Art Projects to do With Your Kids! To learn more about the project and see a complete list of methods, materials and projects, click here to start at the beginning. (new tab will open for you) Affiliate links have been used.

Make a Handprint Kite Painting

5. Kite
Supplies you will need:

Colored paper and paper with patterns if you choose to do the matted look and mount them for impact. (See photos.)
Glue sticks for mounting
Small paint brushes: I recommend this brand of brushes. They do not fall apart like cheaper brushes do, they hold up to frequent use and proper cleaning as well.
Foam flat brushes
Colored acrylic paints: This is the same set I have in my own home. You get a nice variety of colors at a good price. Plus, the box this set comes in is sturdy, so you can continue to use it for storage.
Black sharpie or nice thin pens for detailing

You will need a dark color for the kite string and a bright color for the kite itself, and then a contrast color for the bows on the string and white for the kite base pieces.

First, paint the hand (whatever color you want for the kite) with the flat foam brush. Press down well, making sure whole hand is touching paper, then pull up slowly by rolling the hand off to the side, not straight up.
After it dries a little, paint in the white cross on the kite base and then use a dark color for the string and do the bows.
After all paint is dried, you can use pens or markers to add in other details, if desired.
Complete your artwork by mounting it onto a background page that peeks out around the edges to form a frame and give it a matted look. Use glue stick on the back of your artwork to affix it to the background page.

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Paint a Handprint Peacock with Your Kids

by Erica Johns | Jul 28, 2016 | Art

Welcome to one of the projects in our series 8 Awesome Handprint Art Projects to do With Your Kids! To learn more about the project and see a complete list of methods, materials and projects, click here to start at the beginning. (new tab will open for you) Affiliate links have been used.

Make a Handprint Peacock Painting
6. Peacock
Supplies you will need:

Colored paper and paper with patterns if you choose to do the matted look and mount them for impact. (See photos.)
Glue sticks for mounting
Small paint brushes: I recommend this brand of brushes. They do not fall apart like cheaper brushes do, they hold up to frequent use and proper cleaning as well.
Foam flat brushes
Colored acrylic paints: This is the same set I have in my own home. You get a nice variety of colors at a good price. Plus, the box this set comes in is sturdy, so you can continue to use it for storage.
Black sharpie or nice thin pens for detailing

You will need dark cobalt blue, teal and a black fine pen.

Paint the entire palm of hand with a foam brush, in the dark blue. Press down carefully in the center of the paper, being sure to make good contact. When removing your hand from the paper, roll it off to the side to gradually release it from the page, rather than lifting straight up.
Let it dry and then paint your pinky fingertip in teal, and add one fingertip dot to each of the dark blue fingertips on the paper.
Once those are dry, go in and use the pen to add in feather details, face, legs, and so on.
Complete your artwork by mounting it onto a background page that peeks out around the edges to form a frame and give it a matted look. Use glue stick on the back of your artwork to affix it to the background page.

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This project has also been included in the 2016 Paint-a-Thon project, which is full of a ton of great art ideas for you to use in your home!

Paint Handprint Birds or Chickens with Your Kids

by Erica Johns | Jul 28, 2016 | Art

Welcome to one of the projects in our series 8 Awesome Handprint Art Projects to do With Your Kids! To learn more about the project and see a complete list of methods, materials and projects, click here to start at the beginning. (new tab will open for you) Affiliate links have been used.

Make handprint Birds or Chickens
7. Birds or chickens
Supplies you will need:

Colored paper and paper with patterns if you choose to do the matted look and mount them for impact. (See photos.)
Glue sticks for mounting
Small paint brushes: I recommend this brand of brushes. They do not fall apart like cheaper brushes do, they hold up to frequent use and proper cleaning as well.
Foam flat brushes
Colored acrylic paints: This is the same set I have in my own home. You get a nice variety of colors at a good price. Plus, the box this set comes in is sturdy, so you can continue to use it for storage.
Black sharpie or nice thin pens for detailing

You will need white paint and/or any color you’d like to make the birds and a black fine pen.

Using your fingertips in different sizes, make birds or chickens by first making dots with them on the paper and letting them dry.
Once they are dry, go back in with the pen and draw legs, feathers on heads, faces and beaks. So cute!
Complete your artwork by mounting it onto a background page that peeks out around the edges to form a frame and give it a matted look. Use glue stick on the back of your artwork to affix it to the background page.

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Make a Creative Scene with Handprint Painting

by Erica Johns | Jul 28, 2016 | Art

Welcome to one of the projects in our series 8 Awesome Handprint Art Projects to do With Your Kids! To learn more about the project and see a complete list of methods, materials and projects, click here to start at the beginning. (new tab will open for you) Affiliate links have been used.

Make a creative scene with handprint painting
8. Make a creative scene

Supplies you will need:

Colored paper and paper with patterns if you choose to do the matted look and mount them for impact. (See photos.)
Glue sticks for mounting
Small paint brushes: I recommend this brand of brushes. They do not fall apart like cheaper brushes do, they hold up to frequent use and proper cleaning as well.
Foam flat brushes
Colored acrylic paints: This is the same set I have in my own home. You get a nice variety of colors at a good price. Plus, the box this set comes in is sturdy, so you can continue to use it for storage.
Black sharpie or nice thin pens for detailing

You can use any color paint you choose for these and then you’ll need a fine black pen.

You can cut pieces of construction paper in half to make a long piece for each child for these and then it doesn’t use as much paper.
They can use any combination of fingertips, stacking or doubling even, and getting creative in making a themed picture. Let them do the fingertips and then let dry.
Once it’s dry, they can go back in with pen and fill in details. They come up with some great stuff doing these!
Complete your artwork by mounting it onto a background page that peeks out around the edges to form a frame and give it a matted look. Use glue stick on the back of your artwork to affix it to the background page.

All posts in this series:

Free Prehistoric Art Mini Course

by Erica Johns | Jul 27, 2016 | Art

Affiliate links are used in this post.

I know that so many of you will be studying Ancient History this year, so you are going to be very interested in what’s coming available from The Art Curator for Kids!

First up is a FREE mini course on Prehistoric Art, which is so cool! This is an area of art that is often overlooked in more traditional art appreciation courses, but is so fascinating. This class is ideal for your high schoolers, and for your own education that you can use when teaching your own children, or even if you will use your new knowledge to teach a co-op class. This free class begins in August 15.

Now, I do want to let you know about a few things:

Pre-historic art is discussed, with the timeline of the world going back to 2.6 million years BC. For those of you that object to anything other than young earth viewpoints, this may not be for you. Personally I found the mentions of timelines to be perfectly fine, and something that would not hinder me from learning about prehistoric art.
Lesson Two spends time studying paleolithic venus sculptures, such as Venus of Willendorf. This type of art is common for the time period, the handling of the subject matter is appropriate, but if you do not want your child to view prehistoric nudity in art, this may not be for you.

Instructor Cindy Ingram does an excellent job of teaching in a personable and informative way. I personally love learning new things for myself and to become more equipped to be a better home educator, and as I watched these class videos I felt myself feeling more and more excited to have learned so much new and interesting information! Don’t forget to fill your own cup, too, fellow homeschool moms! This is a free class and doesn’t take a lot of time, so it’s a perfect place to start,

Included in the class are

videos
workbook to download
assignments such as art observation, essays, reflection, poetry, and more
facebook group access to discuss with other participants as well

Click here to go sign up for this free course!

Coming this fall there will also be a full Ancient History art appreciation course that will include art from Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome, China, Japan, and more. This will be a wonderful opportunity for you to add another layer of understanding to ancient history!