Kids Atelier

We were focused on recreating existing traffic signs to make them more enjoyable and acceptable, almost like adopting the approach of street artists.
We also drew inspiration from a compilation of all existing road signs (used as a projection on the wall).
Following this, children began imagining their own signs, aiming to bring humor to their streets or homes. They sketched their ideas using pencils and black markers, and then added lively watercolours to complete their designs.

In the last session we were preparing to go on a spring holiday, packing our dreams and flying high in a hot-air balloon.
But before we commenced our travel journey, we did a small warm-up exercise involving colourful ink-spots and lots of water. After that, we were ready to work!
The children first sketched their story on aquarelle paper, thinking about what it would be like to travel on their holidays with their friends or family in a fantastic self-designed hot-air balloon. Then they used bright watercolours, with the option of using black ink and pen to highlight the important contours if they wanted.
Their favourite part seemed to be playing with the watercolours and ink spots to give life to their visions.

In an earlier class we learned to mix all the colours of the rainbow and also discovered how to make our own grey shades (for clouds).
This time, we were ready to use these skills to create an imaginary cat that swallowed a rainbow 🙂
The children could either choose to draw cats from memory or pick a photograph of a cat as inspiration.
Using acrylic on canvas, they produced lovely artworks combining both very bright colours and grey-scale tones to express an array of funny rainbow animals.

During our last session we tried to combine learning with fun, and made our own colour wheel, starting with only the three primary colours – yellow, red and blue – and mixing them to make more colours using acrylic paint.
With this palette, we then tackled our new topic, using photographs as inspiration: to paint a brightly coloured Italian village – or maybe one in Mexico?

We took the opportunity to explore acrylic paint and how it can be blended into various tints. Our exercise was first to mix three primary colours – yellow, red, and blue – to obtain black.
This self-made black paint became a base for creating a pallet of grey tints, simply by adding a little white acrylic paint.
The children then chose images of clouds they liked, in black and white. Using these fluffy clouds as inspiration, the children went on to depict them in their own style (using a normal brush, silicon brush, stamping tools, etc.)

An exploration of the timeless theme of the self-portrait using charcoal pencils was our task on Thursday 24 September. For a few children, this was a new technique as well as a new subject, and we all benefited from deepening our observational practice. We spoke about the proportional characteristics of a child’s face, paying attention to neck and shoulders, etc.
When the kids were done with their black-and-white self-portraits, it was time for something fun and expressive. We kept with the theme of a face, but this time the children could draw a very colourful and imaginative ‘funny head’ using acrylic markers.