Howdy friends! Over the next few weeks while we’re all staying home, I’ll be posting fun art activities that you can do to pass the time and keep your brain’s creative juices flowing!
These art activities are for kids and adults. One of my favorite things about teaching is getting to make art with kids. I’m really missing it. Before school was cancelled, my classes were working on some really fun projects, including comic-making, stop motion, and printmaking.
If any of my students come across this, HI! I miss making art with you!
So for our first activity, I’m going with an oldie but a goodie. We’re going to be making Weird Watercolor Critters.
This activity is all about letting loose, playing with shape, and then using your creative minds to find new things in the shapes— like when you look up at the sky and find faces or animal shapes in clouds. I used to do something like this with my dad as a kid, where I’d draw on shapes and splatters he’d made on paper. This is also inspired by a really great monster-making activity in Lynda Barry’s Making Comics.
For this activity you’ll need:
-a partner (a parent, sibling, roomie, whoever)
-watercolor (if you don’t have any, you can make some! I’ll explain below)
-brushes
-cardstock or watercolor paper
-a cup of water
-pens and/or markers
Here are two different ways you can make your own watercolor at home, one with food coloring, and the other, old markers:
Got your supplies and your partner? Alright, let’s get started!
Step One
You and your partner both get a sheet of paper each. I’m doing today’s activity with my partner, Chloe. Each person needs a brush and access to a cup of water and the watercolors.
Using your watercolors and without sketching beforehand, make eight shapes on your paper. Your partner will do the same, on their paper.
Try to make your shapes really different. Give them character and personalities.
Your shapes can be spikey, swishy, bubbly, round, sharp, whispy, wiggly, long, squat, geometric, or drippy. Try combining colors within the shapes to give them even more flavor.
One thing I recommend is to not have a particular outcome in mind for the shape— like a cat or a tree. Just let it flow. Get weird and creative!
Step Two
Once you and your partner have finished, set your pages somewhere to dry.
Notice anything about the shapes we made? I noticed a few similarities, like the spikes shapes and wiggly shapes.
While they’re drying, read a book, take a walk, eat a snack, sing a song— find a fun way to pass the time. Really give them time to dry because you don’t want soggy paper for the next step. If you’re feeling impatient, put them outside in the sun with stones to weigh them down or give them a little help with a hairdryer.
Step Three
Switch papers— you should have the paper with your partner’s shapes on them.
Get a pen or marker ready and look at the first shape. Turn the paper around and look at if from different angles. What images are jumping out at you? A face, an expression, paws, ears? Whatever it is, go from there. Add details and turn the shape into a critter— a real one or one you made up. There are no rules. It could be just a head or a full body. Use your imagination.
This shape immediately screamed "frog head!" at me.
Really let the shape inform your character— what is it doing? Is it shouting, singing, howling? Add sound effects or other details as they come to you. Don’t worry about it being perfect- the point of this is to have fun, get weird and creative, and use your imagination.
Once you’re both done with your whole sheet, share them! There will probably be some giggles— you probably created some really silly and wacky critters. You can name your characters or make up ways they relate to each other. How do they know each other? Could some be family, friends, or neighbors? Maybe they’re all at a party together. You and your partner can add additional details together. These characters could be a jumping off point for a story— it’s up to you!
Here are Chloe's critters with the shapes I made. The star shaped dog really made us laugh.
These are the critters I drew from Chloe's shapes. Do you see any similarities between our pages. I noticed we both made snakes! And spike dog-like creatures.
I hope you found this activity fun! If you do this activity and want to share it, share it with the tag #athomeartclub on instagram. I’d love to see what you came up with. And keep an eye out for more fun at home art activities.
Thanks for making art with me! :)
Comments