finger-painting fun

When I was small the norm for art projects involved finger painting -

not so much anymore...

my kiddos thought I was nuts when I informed them 

they were going to paint with their fingers.

We expect them to be 'grownups' way too early...

to miss out experimenting and making messes...

but what a shame

and a missed opportunity

to make something like this...

and end up with hands like this...

and  learn all about color mixing on paper instead of on the palette.  

so let us begin...
Step #1

We started with red, yellow, blue, and white only...

and we divided our paper into three sections.

We painted one section with a mixture of yellow and white,

the next was yellow and red,

and the final section was yellow and blue.

We tried to do all mixing on the paper 

so we got some really interesting color mixes...

Step #2

We then looked at our pieces with an imaginative eye 

and tried to figure out what our painting could become.

Pencil was used to draw in the image.

Some paintings turned horizontal (or 'hot dog' versus 'hamburger' 

which is vertical for those of you that don't speak "kiddo").

We then mixed white and blue and 

painted over every part that would be in the background.

This is a very tough thing to do (at least for me).

Basically you are doing the opposite of what your brain wants to do.

But they brilliantly rose to the occasion!

Step #3

Outline whatever you see in the painting with permanent marker 

and draw doodles and texture to give interest...

and finally add oil pastels for the finishing touch.

So here is a before...

and after...

and another before...

and finished...

and the rest of the  masterpieces...

The one above is a view out of the window -

how clever is that?

Wow I was impressed -

wish I could return to that kid-like naiveté 

and take those blinders off my eyes

and just paint with wild abandon...

I got to finger-paint at Art Fest this spring

with Jesse Reno...

an amazingly gifted artist with a unique, imaginative

approach to painting.

but as I said before

it was really tough for me to think in a new way.  
This old brain sometimes does not like change...
So I am happy I got to try a second time
 and teach some younger brains some of his mixing techniques

(only primary colors and black and white mixed on the paper)

with the best tools around -

our fingers...

and I don't think my fingers have ever looked prettier!