Little Picasso's: Cabin by the Lake

How many of us have great memories of summer vacations with Grandparents? These kiddos definitely will, and they will also have a beautiful painting to recall those memories! We worked on this masterpiece as a surprise gift for Grandma and Grandpa to put IN their cabin by the lake. Here is the story!

"B" and "G" had previously painted art work for their rooms, and now it was time to work together for a gift! Mom took pictures for me of a favorite spot for the family in the summer. The backyard of Grandma and Grandpa's cabin, complete with the fire pit, lake, trees, and cat tails. With the picture image in hand, we set out to re-create it Little Picasso style!

"G" started out the process. I thought it was so cute how he remembered techniques he had learned from his first painting! We started with the sky. For large canvases like this and little ones, I find it helpful to pour the right colors right on the canvas and have them spread!

Sky and lake.....

Here you can see my little mock up to test out child friendly painting techniques and colors....

Here you see the paint and the spread! Different colors are on the canvas so as they are spread, they add dimension easily!

The cat tail areas.....

Then we did some blotting for the background trees with "G". Hard to see in this picture!

Here is where he stopped....LOTS of painting for him. He was tired!

Next up was "B". She worked on the cat tail stems.....

And the tops of the cat tails....

Here is where we wrapped our first session. I already LOVED it! Mom's photo helped us get the perfect setting for the rest of the painting.

SESSION 2:

We had created a backdrop that mom said completely captured the backyard fire pit spot! AWESOME! For our next meeting, "G" worked on more stems, and cat tails......

Putting on the tops!

We also added a bald eagle because he is a big part of life on the lake. They all see him up north and he is a part of the cabin experience! We practiced on paper before putting him on the painting.

Next up was the bean bags the kids sit in at the fire. "G" knew the exact shades for the red and blue bags that he uses!

Another great session "G"!

Next up was the people! I had "B" draw a picture of her family first to see what her art looked like. SO CUTE!

Now it was time to transfer her drawing to painting!

Adding clothing.....

People take a long time! As simplistic as a child's drawing is, the painting takes lots of time!

"B" had fun chosing out the colors her family would wear and the clothing. She said Grandpa would have a shirt with stains and splatters on it from doing work that day! LOVE IT!

Here is where we wrapped up after our second meeting. One more left before this masterpiece would be complete!