Children at Art

Art is a great way to get my kids to the table. I have started homeschooling and it can be hard to get started for the day if my son thinks he is going to have to do paperwork, but when he thinks he is coming for an art project he is on board immediately.  He then seems to have lots of fun with the work I do have for him.

 I discovered that with some colored paper, water in her cup holder and a paint brush the baby can have a great time "painting" along with the big kids. Sometimes she uses brush and sometimes fingers but she always loves to play in water so this was just the thing.

Play-doh has been in use a lot recently. All three have been enjoying it in someway, the baby likes the tool and getting them out of the bucket. Also she discovered that the bucket makes a great walking assistant.

 My son is finally making a few drawings. He has been very hesitant to try drawing because of his perfectionism and lack of hand control. This is his painting of a Grandpa Sun who has a beard and walks on the Earth.

 Something that can easily bring the whole family to the table, and we spend a lot of time with is Lego. We all have our own Lego collections but Dad's is certainly the largest.  I have no idea how many pieces we have in this house but it would be very interesting to know. Lego collects in corners and closets, on the tops of furniture and (heaven forbid) under the couch. Everyone has to be very careful to pick up anything that they drop or Daddy will ban them from playing, I think he knows everyone of his thousands upon thousands of pieces.

Baby Face.

I love the sweet little baby face and love the way the paint fades into the canvas. This painting was so fun to work on the raw linen. I still have a few touch ups, on the hands mostly, to do once the paint is drier.

Airing out Linens

This painting is my first attempt to use clear primed linen. With this type of canvas the point is to allow the canvas to show thru and add to the painting. I am trying to be very careful to not over paint.

 

Lots still to go. The thing that is bothering me the most currently are the teeth. I certainly do not have them right yet.

Homeschooling Preschool

To begin our homeschooling adventure we added several important things to our dining room walls. We have a daily schedule that can be adapted for each day, A chore schedule with an assigned daily kitchen helper and an attitude chart.  For the chore chart we took pictures this morning so the kids can see what they should be doing until they learn to read.

 

 

We also added the Ten  Commandments adapted for kids and some rules for our family.

 

Morning routine in Pictures

 

Very Cute little Man that Nathan drew in Salt while practicing s's

Table Work Time

There are no Words

Getting close

 Here is a view into my easel set up and painting in progress. I have gotten quite a few brushes loaded with paint in today's painting session. I will use odorless turpentine substitute to get most of the paint out. Next I will be cleaning them with my all time favorite brush cleaner, Masters brush cleaner soap. I almost never use the turpentine substitute when painting. I use liquin to thin my paint out instead.

I still need to tackle the hands but most of the rest of the painting is getting close.

Cable knit sweater

Today I am not sure whether I accomplished a lot or not much at all. I followed up with a lot of art business and kept the kids from making too much of a mess, put up one piece of drywall in the bathroom I am remodeling.  I also fed children multiple times.

 

I cleaned yesterday because I woke up thinking it was Saturday, the day I usually try to do some more serious cleaning. So today I felt like I should be finishing my weekly cleaning but the house did not look messy enough to get me motivated.

 

I worked for several hours on this self portrait, and entered an art contest. Most of my efforts have no immediately visible results but I am hoping to see fruits from my labor in the future.