Winter Watercolours

It's that time of year again! Watercolour paintings depicting an outdoor ice-skating scene (inspired by the magical artworks of Kathe Soave) were made by children aged 6 - 12yrs at Katoomba Library during these chilly holidays, and the results and wonderful!

Here's the artwork by Kathe Soave that inspired us (but check out more of her amazing work here) :

And here are the interpretations created by students!

Paul Klee Watercolour Paintings

Paul Klee, Castle in the Sun

Today the class created watercolour cityscapes in the style of Paul Klee. We focused on drawing geometric shapes, putting them together to build fantastical city buildings. Then we added colour with watercolour pencils. 

                

                     

                     

                         

                      

    

And here's a bonus: a beautiful rainbow and dino!

Rainbow Fish

Springwood Art Class based their fish paintings yesterday on the illustrations in the classic book 'The Rainbow Fish'  by Marcus Pfister. Students coloured their fish drawings in with watercolour pencils, using metallic oil pastel for the shiny scales. The oil pastel resists the water and watercolour paint.                        

Ice Skating Watercolour Painting

Above: artwork by Kathe Soave

Inspired by the wintry painting above by artist Kathe Soave, the class today had the task of using watercolour pencils to create an ice skating artwork. We drew the rink and skating characters (including skating animals!), stars in the sky and cosy houses in the distance. 

Salt Painting

Here's a fun art and science activity from today's class! Firstly we drew patterns or simple images/words using squeeze bottles of PVA glue. Then, at our salt station table, we covered our drawings with salt and shook the excess into a plastic tub to reuse. Using thin paintbrushes, drops of watercolour paint were added to the salt-covered PVA. The salt slurps up the watercolour quickly, so you can see it bleeding along the lines of the drawing - very cool. 

To do this at home, you'll need:

Cardboard, watercolour paper or paper plates
Watercolour paint
Table salt
Thin paintbrushes or plastic paint eye-droppers 

Hints and warnings:

*These works are very fun to make but they aren't hardy - unfortunately they won't last a long time. Make sure to take a photo if you like what you've created!
*The colours will change overnight as the work dries out.
*Cover the PVA drawings as thoroughly with salt as possible so the paint will spread well. 

Have a look at these amazing works from today, I hope the students are as thrilled with the results as I am!