Watercolor Painting - Red and Blue in Small Tin Palettes

Max and Sebastien started off the watercolor painting in the tin palette's with a little painting, a lot of dumping, and Sebastien added in some splashing and hand stamping.

Theo took his time coming over to the paint but once there he worked through what colors he was using. Blue and yellow were the two mentioned most often. Theo understood quickly that the little brushes had to be dipped in the paint often to get more color on the paper. He also started experimenting with mixing colors on the palette. For Theo this was his first experience with the watercolors presented on the palettes which seemed to capture his attention longer than his fellow Wednesday play-group friends.

Friday Group - Watercolor Painting with Warm and Cool Colors

To conclude our liquid watercolor exploration I presented the Friday Group with tin paint palettes filled with either warm or cool colors. The paint palettes offer smaller amounts of paint the the small wells so I offered small paint brushes as well. I also left two of the palette wells empty. The presentation of the paint in the palettes gave the children an opportunity to mix new colors in a more confined area. The small brushes allow for more precise marks and in order to make the marks one has to utilize the brush more as a tool because you have to continually re-dip it in the paint. Kaia and Sebastien begin their exploration in this manner.

Very quickly the painting turned into dumping. Once the dumping began, it was contagious, everyone tried it at least once. For every time I refilled the palettes the children would return to the table to once again dump out the paint. Even when the palette was already empty of paint the children would still test to see if anymore would pour out. The brushes did come in handy to help wipe out any remaining paint.



Watching the wells full watercolor run into puddles on the paper presented the perfect opportunity for the children to experiment with using their hands to move and splash the paint on the paper. Immediately after the watercolor was on the paper Kaia and Sebastien began their "finger" painting exploration.



Bryce found all the bright colors very appetizing!



Hannah, Max, and Bryce spent more time exploring the paint with the brushes than Kaia and Sebastien. Popular movements with the brushes included dipping the brush and then painting and pushing the spilt paint with the brush.

Friday Group - Watercolor Painting with Red and Blue

The last two color combinations to explore was red and blue. Kaia and Sebastien begin the exploration with exploring the individual colors with the fan brushes. Once Sebastien decides to pour the blue out, Kaia follows suit. What is interesting is that with these two colors you can very visibly see them layer on one another in stark contrast. Even as Sebastien tries to get every last red drop out of the jar, the splatters make a striking pattern on the blue puddle. Kaia has come so far in her tolerance of paint on her body and even thinks it's "silly" now!

After the initial pouring out of all the colors I add a little more water to the jars, just in time for Hannah to arrive. Hannah dips and paints with her brush on the paper where a small puddle of paint has formed. Although the paint moves fluidly she refills her brush with paint again.



Bryce couldn't be more excited about the paint. He comes to the table with his favorite drum in hand and still manages to get a two paintbrushes in one hand while painting. Maintaining a grip on the brushes in one hand and the drum in the other, he moves the brush to splat the watercolors. Then he actually drops the drum to become more involved with the paint.

Wednesday Group - Painting with Warm and Cool Color Watercolors

When I present art experiences to the Wednesday and Friday group they are usually very similar in presentation and content. With the Wednesday group I deviated from the pattern of offering two complimentary colors that mix well together but make a new color. Instead I offered them several colors that will mix to make different hues of either warm (reds, oranges, and yellows) or cool (blues, greens, purples) colors. My motivation behind this change was the fact that we would be having a shorter session and in the previous sections they were not all that interested in the colors or what happened when the two were mixed together.

In the first video there is a lot happening both in what you see and hear. The video was taken right at the start of the exploration. Max and Theo are dipping and painting when Sebastien joins them. Listen and watch as Theo labels the colors he sees as he paints. Watch as Max decides to pour out the colors one by one. Sebastien observes while simultaneously paints back and forth using the red. In the background Caleb is looking on from afar. He says "uh-oh" and his mother asks "what happened". Caleb responds "make a mess" as he watches Max pour out the watercolors.

Before the majority of the paint ended up being poured on the watercolor paper, Theo very carefully perfected the dip and dab painting technique. Even after the paper is overflowing with the paint, Theo choses to continue to dip is brush in the jars and then paint on the surface. I love how Max is still testing to see if he can pour more paint out of the jars.



Caleb comes to the area to see if he can pour anymore paint but discovers that they are empty. After a quick swirl with the paint brush he declares "more paint"!



The week after the warm color exploration I set out cool colors for the children to explore. Only Caleb and Sebastien are in attendance but they continue where they left of during the previous week's puddles of color. This time they add a little splashing and more movement to the watercolors.



Once the watercolors were emptied and spread on the paper, both boys were ready to move on. Caleb wanted to bring a play wooden knife to the table and I mentioned that the sticks could be brought over and used in conjunction with the watercolors. Sebastien took to this idea and explored the watercolors with a new tool.