Art with a Creative Spin

When I repurposed the loft into an art room, I purchased a lazy susan from IKEA for $7.99. Generally, we keep it in the middle of the table so the girls can easily share supplies. One day, my younger daughter had a friend over for a playdate and they came up with a new version of spin art!

They taped paper to the lazy susan and used crayons to create spin art! Isn't that awesome!

Give it a spin and barely touch the crayon to the paper.

You can even do this with a friend or as a group project and see what the end result is.

 Markers work great too!

Luckily, these were washable markers and nothing a little magic eraser can't clean off!

You could have kids create the spin art and then they could color it in with different colors. You could even had a bit of oil to it afterwards to create a sun catcher and hang it in a window.

2012: Project 5: Keith Haring-Inspired Figures

I was so excited about our art projects this summer and I have to admit after the bird camp (which I still need to post about) we kind of fizzled out. Or maybe I did. Or maybe we just were so busy with other things there just didn't seem time. So overall, we didn't get as many projects completed this summer as I hoped. But the girls have consistently used the art room on their own and created some of their own projects. I sort of went with it and just let them be creative too. I didn't want to always direct them in a certain way.

With all that being said, one of our organized projects was inspired by 80's pop artist Keith Haring. We looked at several pieces of his artwork:

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After showing the girls some of Haring's art, I asked them what common elements they saw in his work. They said things like bright colors, people, designs. Here is what we wrote on our chalkboard as we talked about his work:

I also showed them how to draw the figures in his style. We started with the head, then neck, arms, torso, legs. There are MANY Haring art projects for kids out there in the blogosphere. I showed the girls a few different projects. And they were most inspired by this image on Artsonia.

My 8 year old LOVED this project! My six year old I think was a bit overwhelmed at the thought of all the lines she might have to draw so she just filled hers in with shapes. :-)

 First, they drew three figures with pencil, then started outlining with marker.

 My 8 year old decided to use warm colors for the people and cool colors for their motion lines.

 My six year old just colored however she wanted. ;-)

And here are their finished Keith Haring projects:

 I LOVE how they turned out!

Do Something Creative Every Day

"Do Something Creative Every Day". This is the wall decal we have hanging in our art room. And one reason why I wanted to put an art room in our house. I wanted my kids to have access to art supplies anytime they wanted. So they can create whenever they are inspired. And just look what my six (nearly 7) year old created this morning!

What is it, do you ask? Why, an umbrella of course!

She was stamping away with the dot markers on that middle section of the flower. I stopped as I was walking by to ask her what she was doing. She said simply, "Making an umbrella." I just said, "Ok, carry on." And walked away. Not sure how much time had passed, but I was then in the kitchen and she came down from the art room and showed me her A-MAZING umbrella! I mean, if she had used plastic instead of paper, that thing would be functional! I was so incredibly proud of her. And blown away by the engineering it took her to figure the construction out. Here's a few more photos for you:

I am soooo behind on posts for this blog, but I just had to post this project. I don't know maybe everyone's kids come up with stuff like this. But I think it was amazing she did this completely 100% on her own. She had a vision and made it happen! This mama is swooning! Now, if that doesn't inspire you to be creative today, I don't know what will!