Article Type Making Art Together Making Art Together Categories Painting

Watercolor with Words

Margaret, one of our summer interns, hosted a special Studio activity a couple weeks ago. Here is her report of the day…

Watercolor with Words/ Special Sunday at The Eric Carle Museum Art Studio Watercolor with Words/ Special Sunday at The Eric Carle Museum Art Studio

When first coming up for an idea for my Special Sunday, I was a little stumped. The possibilities were overwhelming. There were so many! To narrow them down, I focused on my interests as an artist. What type of art do I enjoy most? Well, that was easy: illustration. I have always been fascinated by the dynamic relationship between art and words. A word may be descriptive, but it can only go so far. Pictures, however, can reinvent the words in new and exciting ways. The artist, then, must call forth the imagination.

With this in mind, I thought it would be fun to make a list of words that kids could illustrate themselves. Then I realized I could add adjectives and nouns to make more interesting combinations. This would allow kids to generate ideas that were more…atypical. With that, my idea came together - I would have a bowl of adjectives and a bowl of nouns in which kids could draw out their idea and paint them using watercolors.

Watercolor with Words/ Special Sunday at The Eric Carle Museum Art Studio Watercolor with Words/ Special Sunday at The Eric Carle Museum Art Studio

I chose watercolors because they offer a playful palette and a new way to explore than merely tempera paints. Meghan helped me come up with the idea of using black gel pens in addition to the paint, which added another dimension to the pictures.

Watercolor with Words/ Special Sunday at The Eric Carle Museum Art Studio Watercolor with Words/ Special Sunday at The Eric Carle Museum Art Studio Watercolor with Words/ Special Sunday at The Eric Carle Museum Art Studio Watercolor with Words/ Special Sunday at The Eric Carle Museum Art Studio Watercolor with Words/ Special Sunday at The Eric Carle Museum Art Studio

The day itself was perfect. There was a good crowd who all were very enthusiastic about the activity. I particularly loved how quiet the atmosphere was, as if the families were working very hard on their paintings. As a somewhat quiet person myself, I felt that fit my personality as well.

Watercolor with Words/ Special Sunday at The Eric Carle Museum Art Studio Watercolor with Words/ Special Sunday at The Eric Carle Museum Art Studio

By the end, the results were great! I appreciated how creative the kids were with their odd combinations. Some examples included “clumsy city”, “silly sky”, or “speedy moon”.

Watercolor with Words/ Special Sunday at The Eric Carle Museum Art Studio Watercolor with Words/ Special Sunday at The Eric Carle Museum Art Studio

For the little ones, it was great that they were able to explore with the paint, even if they did not choose a word. Overall, I loved my Special Sunday and felt it was a success!

Margaret_Frothingham/ Art Studio Intern

This post was written and compiled by The Art Studio’s Summer Intern, Margaret Frothingham. For more information about The Art Studio Internship Program, click here.