Colorful Bird Printing

Okay everyone, Get ready for messy paint fingers!  Thank goodness for smocks, soap and water!!

Two of the paintings on my website, delightfullyfunandwhimsical.com, include birds.  Of course, "Flitter and Flutter", with its orange birds whose airborn movements are determined by their mood, are an inspiration for this art project.  And "In The Shade," resting blue bird sits and awaits, cooling herself before taking off, once again, to flight!   And then, spring has most definately brought all sorts of birds back to my yard.  I hear the morning tweeting of birds as I'm writing this.

The printing of these birds is fun and easy.  No drawing skills required here.  In fact, this project shows how three simple simple shapes used togther create the form of the bird. 


So, let's begin!

You will need:
Paper for your printing, marker, 1 sheet of craft foam, small piece of stiff cardboard or matboard, glue, scissors, waxed paper or paper palette, acrylic paints (either artist's tubes or the inexpensive small bottles),  palette knife or paint  brush.

For the bird, begin by drawing the a small triangle, a half circle and a teardrop on the foam. The half circle is the bird's body, the triangle is the tail and the teardrop makes it's head. Help the child to keep proportions of these shapes within reason to each other and to the size of the tree. Cut shapes out and glue each onto a piece of cardboard. While glue is drying, work on printing the tree.

On the waxed paper or paper palette, squeeze-out some brown paint.  Spread out a bit.  Using the edge of the cardboard/matboard, dip the edge into the paint.  Transfer the paint onto your paper, building a tree by repeating this process.  See Picture no. 1.  It's always a good idea to practice the technique on a scrap paper. 

Now, let's print some birds.  Squeeze out some other colors of the child's choice onto the palette.  Yellow, red, blue, violet, orange, whatever.  With brush, dab colors into body (half-circle).  Try not to mix colors too much, as they will mix somewhat when pressed onto paper.  Next do head and tail.  Make bird's heads point in different directions.  

Now the masterpiece is complete!  Don't stop at one.  Makes lots and lots!  And don't worry about little bits of paint that get transfered from fingers onto paper.  That's part of the charm!  Happy birdwatching! 

My Brain is Buzzing with SOOOOOOOOO Many Thoughts and Ideas

Hi everyone.  Last weekend I attended a Society of Children's Writers and Illustrators conference.  Why, you may be wondering?  The poetry and paintings on my new website, delightfullyfunandwhimsical.com, will be part of a book that I am hoping (actually, working my tail off!) to have published.  I believe that I have something good and inspiring and positive to say to kids, and I want to do just that!!!  Until that time when a publisher says, YES DENISE, I will publish your book because it is so fabulous, to which I will reply, yes it is, isn't it!, I'm happy to have kids know my work through my really wonderful, easy to use website!  By the way, I checked with my two greatest nieces, Lexie and Rachel, to see their responses to the poems and paintings, and I got two thumbs-up!! (or should I say, four thumbs-up!!)  Thanks greatest nieces!!

I met so many really wonderful published and unpublished children's authors and illustrators at the conference.  SOOO inspiring!  I took a double workshop with author/illustrator Judy Schachner, writer of the Skippyjon Jones series.  She is as fun and Skippyjon Johns himself.  If you are don't know her work, or even if you do, go get one of her Skippyjon Jones books and read it.  Then read it again pretending that you are 7 years old!!  Just amazing! 

So now my brain is so full of ideas for new poetry, paintings, and even a full-lenth story.  My creative/crazy brain doesn't quite know what to do with all of this new stimuli!  I'll figure it out.  But in the meantime, I think it's time for a new art/craft project.  Hm, what shall it be?