What a Boy Wants!

"G"'s sister did a beautiful Fairy Garden for her room, so when mom starting planning his room art, he was pretty excited, knowing what to expect.  Mom said that when she went to wake him up in the morning that our art session was scheduled, he opened his eyes and said, "Is today the day I paint!?"    That's what I love to hear!

Mom originally wanted to go with a painting inspired by the book "The Little Blue Truck" and although "G" likes the book, he felt it was "too babyish" and opted for fast cars and fire rings instead.   His choice turned out to be perfect!

"G" is 4 years old, and I knew that with this type of project style, the best way to create the right look would be to treat it as a coloring page.   I okayed it with mom to see if she minded that approach and she was totally willing.   So you can see that when he arrived for our first session, I had the concept sketched in and then we worked to paint in the picture.   Here he is adding the sky.

Nice Job!   "G" was such a great listener and worker!

Next up was the road and fire ring!   Basically, I let "G" use the big brush while I detailed in the outlines with a smaller brush.  You can see my lines starting at the top of the track while he paints in the bigger part.  For using such a big brush, he did a great job staying in the lines.   

Here we are adding in tire and track marks.  He had fun with a new brush and new technique!

For the background details, I painted in the outlines and he filled in the color.  Great lesson in shapes.  When we started working on the stands for the fire ring, I thought we could fill them in, but "G" knew he wanted to make "x's"   I loved his choice!  He did a wonderful job!

Next up:  the FIRE RING!   My goal here was to keep him following the circle shape, while dabbing in the color with a brush.   He did great!   I LOVE the smoke!

 Lunch Break!  
Our conversation, "We're American because we love the Packers."
"Is it okay if I like the Bears?" 
Pause, "Well, yeah, I like the Packers cause Johnson Creek IS the Packers." 
Wow, Johnson Creek people better know where they stand!

While "G" finished lunched, I outlined the track with black to make it pop more...you can see the slight change in the following pictures.  Then we got to adding more dimension to the fire ring with more color.   AWESOME job "G"!  He really had fun with this.

 It's coming ALIVE!

 This is where we left off after our first session.   Next meeting:  THE ROCKET CAR!

Before our next session, I added the "rocket car" sketch in so "G" could paint it.   The concept of using the painting as a coloring page worked so incredibly well for our first session, I was curious how the smaller, more detailed aspects of the car would work out.   It went great!

Here is what the picture looked like before we started painting.

We continued our method of me providing a paint outline and him filling it in, which meant more great shape review.   We started with grays and blacks on the wheels.

Next up was the body of the car.    To create shadowing on the car- I would add a strip of darker paint and then have him paint over it with white.   We also worked very hard to not dab the brush as we had for the fire ring (which was a hit).   This time, it was all about using "lines".   I had him work with a flat brush.  He did amazing well.

When we wrapped up, here is what the painting looked like:

I did not want to touch up the car much at all.   It was important to maintain "G's" creation so he could be proud of what he did!  I did touch up a bit and if you look at the following 2 pictures you can see the minor differences- where he left off and I added:

Before car touch ups

 

After car touch ups



Show off your painting "G"!   You did an AMAZING JOB!  You were a GREAT listener and so much fun to work with!