Monday, November 28, 2011

the magic of wet on-wet water color painting


I have been putting off doing wet on wet water color painting for a while now. I am not sure why it seemed so hard to me. Maybe because there are so many steps you have to take to prepare for it, or because I had never done it, but after reading so many wonderful things about how important it is to the Waldorf curriculum and child development, I gave it a go. Wet on wet water color is all about experiencing color not form. We used yellow and red, as we are in autumn and seeing all the trees changing color now. After we soaked the paper and set up everything  I told the story of the trees dressing up in their party dresses and dancing in the wind. As I told the story, the paint danced on the page in front of me. It was so alive and magical. I never explained to the kids that I was painting leaves or that red and yellow make orange, I simply told the story and let them see the colors change and experience the truths of autumn and color on a heart level. The kids watched me and then got to experience the magic of the paint for themselves. I was so taken by the beauty of the experience and so happy that I had finally decided to share this with my children.  I can't believe it took me so long to try it.  To learn more about wet on wet water color painting here is a nice video. 






3 comments:

boatbaby said...

I am glad you didn't get too intimidated to try it. When we first did it, I was put off by the cost of the "essential" items to make it happen. Then I realized that good paper was the only essential and we made do with the rest (like I see you did too) Now it's a part of our regular routine. You can save the finished products to cover in oil to make lanterns or to cut up for beautiful cards and such. Enjoy!

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

thanks for the great ideas!