Grandma's Flower Garden, Ninja Style!

This mom of 4 was so excited to have her boys paint.  When she told them her plan, C1, C2, C3, and C4 had some pretty sweet plans to create ninja scenes and bombs.  Taking that info to heart, we chose her Grandma's flower garden.   Don't worry boys, it made total sense to mom and me.   So, although there are no ninja's hiding out in this amazing painting, I still think you can all be very proud of what you created!  Here's the story- Ninja style (I don't really know what that means).

First up was the littlest "C".  Here he is, rolling up his sleeves to prepare!

Sky first!

After a little paint incident, we put on the protective gear (I'm really trying to make this sound ninja like)

 After the sky little "C" worked on the roads and the roof of the house.

I totally did not tell him to smile here...okay maybe I did...but either way, he's totally cute!  I asked what else he would like to do and he said play with my son.   Fair enough!    Awesome work little "C"!

Next "C2" was up and he learned how to use two colors of paint to create the look of shadowed siding for the house.  Totally nailed it!

 Then, his favorite part- the clouds!   I showed him how to dot them in first and to add some grays to make them more realistic.  "COOL"!  Love it!

Final step for "C2" was the first layer of the tree line behind the home.

He used a few shades of green and would fill in my dotted areas with them....the final result was awesome!

Almost done!

And complete!   Hey mom, notice you and my husband talking in the mirror reflection? ha ha!

Session 2:   Here's "C3"!  Ready to paint in the base for the garden.   We started with the simple stuff first!

You can see where I boxed out some areas for shading so he knew where to paint certain shades.

"Hey boys, let's get you all in the picture!"  Almost happened!

 After filling in the garden base, "C3" worked on the second layer of background trees.  Lots to fill in here!

Love this tree so much!

 Okay, picture of you with what you did!   Not to say I don't like your first pose, cause I totally do, but let's just take 2!   :)

CUTE!

Final step was the oldest and ?wisest?  brother, "C4", coming into to work on the garden itself.

The first step was to create a bush by the house which you can see coming together here!

Then, I had him fill in lots of stems. Lots. of.  stems.

Next up was the flowers themselves.  Here "C" used the photo we had to help him know where to place the varying colors of flowers.   You did a great job with this "C"!

 AMAZING!

Finally, I had him finish off the house!

Awesome work "C"!    That is one excellent painting!

I think my favorite moment was when the little brothers came in and said, "WOW! Awesome!"   This will be a great gift for mom, boys!  Your artwork, her Grandma's garden.  LOVE it!  See you again soon!

The Beach

These three gems of kids (ages 8, 11, and 14)  were back after Christmas to make a painting of a special photo for their mom!  YES!  Finally, mom gets to keep one of their creations!   Here's the gorgeous painting- recreated from the photo image below....

Base man and camo beanie wearing "P" was back first, working on the sky,

then the far off ocean water.

You can see where he filled in the water where the waves would break as well.

First painting for them to paint in the sides!

Then I told "P" to get rid of the paint on the brush in this area...older sister would fill it in more later.

Now the sand.  He looks so pro-artist in his beanie!

Some blending here.  

And yep, you nailed it again "P"!

Now "M" came over to do the waves and clouds.  She used a dry brush with white to create the breaking waves.

I would paint some water on the canvas and then have her go over it with paint to blend in the colors of the water hitting the beach.   She was a master blender!

Now our next layer of waves...

"M" also painted over my pencil line to show where the water hits the beach.  Then she went back to blending the water.  LOTS OF blending!

Here again, I wet the paint and she went over it with light "squiggly" :) strokes

 to create movement in the water.

Look at her great work!

Now some touch ups, and finally the clouds...

Awesome work "M"!   I had so much fun with you and "P" today!

Okay, this is a GREAT painting to work on during a freezing cold spell in January!

Overnight, I sketched in Grandma and Grandpa for "E" to paint in.   Then "E" came over and worked on them the next day.   She started with the skin tones first.   This being her 3rd painting with me, she was able to work independently with the image of G and G on the laptop in front of her.   So I did some other art projects this afternoon and we just hung out, painted, and relaxed today!  The only thing I really helped her with was paint colors- and Grandma's hair, right "E"?  :)

It was obvious early on that this would look amazing!

Looking at the picture image....

Such a chill day!  At the beach, and at my place!

Filling in Grandma's suit- awesome work with blending "E"!

Now was Grandma's hair- I wish I captured all phases of her hair highlighting!

And here is cute (and cold) "E" with the amazing finished product.   I'm so excited for your mom to have this painting hanging up in your home!   Excellent job to all of you!