beginnerswork

Finger-painting is the closest a child can come to meditation. They become completely absorb. Think Zen sand gardens... being slowly raked by a monk. With finger-paint pleasure comes from the immediate experience with form and color. The learning comes from connections between paint and fingers and brain. This strengthens her understanding that her scribbles can be intentional rather than random.

The key to a rich finger-painting experience is to see it as a printmaking process. By making prints you are free to record more then one image along the way. The key is not to use too much paint. Ask your beginner to tell you when they like the image then make a print. If the paint dries, a light mist from a spray bottle of water helps.

Here we began with blue, just a quarter size dollop... (you can add more if you need to.) The tubes make it easy to control. My beginner has had experience with finger paint so she asks for another color. I add a bit of yellow. Now, she can mix the colors to make green.

Last comes red which will make purple, orange and brown possible. All the colors are beautiful. When she is older we'll create a COLOR WHEEL and she'll learn to control the colors, for now watching the color changes and lines is satisfying enough.

As we work, I make paper towel prints, being careful not to press too hard and ruin the image. She decides to make hand prints with all the colors.

Making prints changed my view of finger-paint as a medium. In the classroom I have put paint on a large formica covered table and let six beginners paint and mix and make shapes and lines, all at once. Then, I made a huge print using white mural paper and it was beautiful! It became a background for a bulletin board and eventually wrapping paper.

Clean up is easy with a plastic spackle knife and a spray bottle of water. Of course, with the cookie sheet it was a snap in the kitchen sink. The experience and result was, as usual, well worth the mess. And her fingers came completely clean in the bath that night!

Next time, we'll use drawing paper to make prints and her Mom will cleverly use them for cards...