he calls himself a painter

The other day I was reading Martha's journal and was so inspired by her entry on limits and constraints in art and design. I have no background in art or design, so I haven't the foggiest clue how to "teach" my child about art, but Martha's approach made complete sense to me. And since I've been wanting to let the boys create more "art" for our home [something they can hold on to when they grow up and move out the house...what, did I just say that? sniff sniff], I thought this would be the perfect project. So after a quick trip to Kyobo for some canvases and paint, we were ready to go.

I whipped out a nice clean canvas and Baby J was so excited to get started. I was scrounging our recycling bins to find appropriate containers for the paint, but Baby J was getting antsy so I gave him a light grey paint to use while I looked for more containers.

As he started brushing the paint on to the canvas he asked me, "What am I?" And then answered himself by saying, "Oh, I'm a painter." Too cute. And without any prompting he started telling me that he was painting the road from Oregon to Korea [and what road would that be?].

I found another container for the darker grey paint.

I loved how he naturally moved to different sides of the canvas to work on his painting.

I finally found the last container for the green paint. This is his favorite color. Or it was. Now it is red.

After many more layers of paint he declared, "I'm finished".

I had presumed he wanted the painting hung in a landscape fashion, but he informed me it was supposed to be hung portrait style. Huh, who knew?

I just love the texture of the painting. This was such a fun project and I cannot wait to let Big J work on one this weekend. It will be interesting to see what he comes up with, I'm guessing a dinosaur or two will pop up. [Martha, bring on lesson #2!]

P.S. Thank you for all the Tokyo recommendations!! Wow.

Comments

[Chelsea]

This is fantastic. I want to do this if I ever have kiddies. I LOVE the painting!!!

[Ann]

Does anyone else see (in the green) the shape of person with their head tilted, arms crossed and a thumb up? Very cool! I'm inspired to get my two year old going!

[Eugenia gina]

sally, this is a good idea, especially the part that martha have to limit the color, it really make sense heehee.. gotta try this at home, thanks for the info!

[Mariss]

I just showed it to my painter/artist beau and he loved it! When I just saw the photo on Flickr, I thought it looked like a road map / plan view like their carpet in the playroom! Great story :)

[Nancy]

love the painting and of course the photos are great too

[tia]

wow! you move fast, sally! {i totally loved martha's project for her son, too.} i am in love with your son's painting...i see many things in it, particularly when it is viewed oriented in portrait... it's a keeper!

[cindy k]

they say we are what we say we are! i love how baby j described what he was painting. it looks great. also love his pony tail!

[Cate]

I have done this and it's great, My little girl loves her painting, it's now 7 years old and she still recalls the day she painted the canvas when she was three. I love baby J's painting the colours are beautiful and the explanation of the road is delightful.

[Michelle]

Ohmygosh, that's Baby J? No *wonder* you're saying things like "when they grow up and move out..." That is some fabulous artwork, Sally!

[hannah]

that baby j. he's a smart one, and a painter! i really should let the kids do this, but i feel like i would just end up with a brown canvas like all the brown water color paintings i have.

[Amy Kelly]

Looks like you have a little Pollock on your hands! I think it's great that you're encouraging creativity at a young age.

[Nicole]

That is a great painting! Thank you for posting this!! I also have not much of an idea how to teach art to my children. I have two little boys (the oldest being around Baby J's age) and I have been hesitant to let them just go with it... also, the oldest dislikes all things art related except playdoh. I have been looking to help get his creative bug going.

[Zoe]

fantastic! I'm planning to do this with max one of these days, but skeptical that his work could possibly turn out as amazing as J's and O's...can't wait to see what Big J does!

[Toni]

Just last week I bought a handful of canvases for Noah. Our children ARE artists, the best kind, free from restraints.

[Aunt Spicy]

Wow! That is fabulous! I just started an oil painting class and am still afraid to even try!

[viv]

Baby J most definitely painted Wall-E in the barren landscape of future Earth. =)

[leslie]

this is fabulous!! i love how you showed the stages as you added more colors. i have a hard time keeping my kids from making "mud" with the colors. maybe letting them do one at a time is key! i am loving your blog journey to korea, seems so exciting and exotic.

have fun in japan!

[patricia]

Wonderful! Kids are the best artists!

[Cherry@NewburghRestoration]

Great that you are developing creativity in Baby J

[Michelle S.]

Your daughter is adorable!

[Edward Kinnally]

That is SO cool! I love the pictures, and the work is better than a lot of art that I've seen
;-)
But please make sure that you're doing things safely. Please take the time to read http://www.pixelatedpalette.com/artmaterialssafety.html