Hi Friends!
Today we are sharing a fun watercolor challenge! The idea came to me about a month ago, when my 5 year old M.S. wanted to do some painting with me. I thought the easiest thing for him (and me) would be to use 5 shapes he could identify and draw, give him watercolors, a brush, and let him have at it! He was excited! He asked me to help him draw the shapes, then I drew the same for myself and we proceeded to paint. He liked that so much, he wanted to paint more. I said we would expand on what we already had, that way we could keep working with the same paper. He was a little blank, so I came up with some ideas which he thought was pretty cool!(I've included a photo of our work at the very end) Doing that with him gave me an idea for a future activity! What if I switched paintings with a partner and we were challenged to create something with each other’s work?!
So, here we are attempting that very challenge, but for this to be authentic, my partner could not know about it. WHY? We want it to be fair and without any preconceived ideas.
How it works: 1) Work with a partner or group 2) Chose and draw 5 geometric shapes (they don’t have to be the same as theirs) 3) Paint designs or patterns ONLY 4) Admire your work 5) SWITCH with your partner or someone in the group 6) Now CREATE a person, place or thing with THEIR shapes.
Check it out below!
*Click on photos for closer look
What You'll Need
Heavy Weight Sheet of Construction Paper or Card Stock
Pencil
Watercolors
Paint Brushes
Rinsing Water
optional: Paper towels/Rag(for drying off brush), Ruler or other measuring items
If only she knew her mama was going to swap paintings with her! LOL
The Steps
Naomi drew a triangle, square, circle, trapezoid and a small square on its corner. I drew a circle, triangle, square on its corner, diamond and upside down trapezoid.
We both used the ruler to create our shapes. Naomi used a small mason jar for the circle, I free-handed it
We then proceeded to paint our shapes. Watercolors dry faster than other paints, layer nicely and blend well when wet.
Top right: Turquoise paint Bottom left: black ombre (looks brown/burgundy) Bottom right: multiple colors
Phase 1 of the challenge is done! We’re both proud of our work and loving the colors we both chose. Naomi thinks THE challenge was painting the shapes with unique designs/patterns but that was just the first part.
THIS IS WHEN YOU SWITCH!
I proceeded to tell Naomi she could no longer keep her painting and that we were switching. She didn’t understand at all and was bummed. I then explain that we were going to challenge ourselves a 2nd time by exchanging our paintings and creating something NEW out of each others original work. She was all for it!
The ONLY RULE, any additions to the paintings have to be attached or a part of the original work and you can use the shapes from any angle.
That’s it!
Left: Naomi’s original work
Right: My finished painting!
Triangle= Summer flag(tilt head)// Large square= Aquarium// Circle= Tiger paw// Trapezoid= Cactus plant & planter// Small square= Chair
Left: My original work
Right: Naomi’s finished painting!
Circle= Lolli pop// Tilted square= Kite// Triangle= Roof & house/hut// Diamond= Magic carpet(tilt head)// Upside down trapezoid = Noodle bowl
Side story: Naomi started sketching out a planter & plant with the trapezoid but soon switched it up to a noodle bowl as she was craving noodles. She said her noodles looked so enticing she HAD to have Chinese food for dinner and then proceeded to convince me to take her to Panda Express lol So guess what we did? We went to Panda Express and grabbed us some dinner :)
Here is my painting and MS’s. He did a pretty good job!
Top: Rectangle= Sign, Circle= Sun, Square= Chair, Diamond=Kite, Triangle= Christmas tree
Bottom: Rectangle= Flag, Circle= Balloon, Square= Chair, Diamond= Sign, Triangle= Tree
What do you think friends, are you up for this challenge?! Take it from us, it was easy and really fun!
Happy crafting friends!
Amanda and Naomi
To share: take a photo of your craft click on photo submission and submit the photo.
