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Making paper fabric for a catwalk!
March 16, 2024

Making paper fabric for a catwalk!

This week the kids used all manner of pattern making techniques to create a wonderfully vibrant fashion catwalk – with cardboard human and other animal mannequins. The process was simple enough – but the results certainly weren’t. We had scarfs, saris, hats, capes, boots – you name it! Using techniques such as scarffito (sratching into wet paint to reveal a painted layer underneath) and stenciling they first made their ‘fabric’ by covering a piece of A4 paper with their pattern design. While these…

Art Classes, children art 1155Views 0Likes 0Comments
monoprinting from magazines
March 10, 2024

monoprinting from magazines

This week we worked with collage to make amazing, but unusual monoprints. Usually monoprinting involves painting onto a plate of glass or perspex and taking a print, or you cover that plate with ink and then make marks to remove some of it and take a print. This way is a variation on the first type but with the added addition of magazines as the base from which to work from (as paper is the term’s theme). The kids all chose images from…

children art 3007Views 0Likes 0Comments
Half term arty fun!
March 6, 2024

Half term arty fun!

This half term we had another eclectic mix of activities on offer. The sculpture activities seemed particularly popular – including making abstract sculptures out of bike parts, more delicate sculptures out of wet toilet paper (surprisingly able to hold a shape) and of course many varied and imaginative cardboard creations! This time we also had a few bold children embarking on a 3-day project in which a small group designed and constructed a fish tank, complete with a futuristic city inside – called…

Art Classes, Blog, children art 1638Views 0Likes 0Comments
Exploring paper weaving
February 28, 2024

Exploring paper weaving

This week I showed the kids some basic, and some more complex, ways of weaving with paper. With help from Naomi Kendall, who provided this helpful post on the subject, we made some beautiful designs,  using both strips of coloured paper and strips of magazines to make some v beautiful patterns. Of course, you don’t need to keep to the regular patterns I demonstrated. Some adventurous children deviated from the patterns with strips of different widths, as well as colours which did not…

Art Classes, children art 1789Views 0Likes 0Comments
Marvel at our marbling!
February 5, 2024

Marvel at our marbling!

Exciting this week as the kids tried their hands at marbling – with some always unexpected, beautiful results. Marbling is an ancient technique of paper decoration, in which paint is dropped into the ‘size’ which is water thickened with a special powder. (traditionally a type of seaweed). Because of this thickener the paint sits on top of the surface of the water and from there it’s possible to take a print. Before you do that though you can manipulate the paint on the…

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Paper mosaics
February 2, 2024

Paper mosaics

Week 2 and this week we made paper mosaics. But we weren’t limiting ourselves to the simple, regular square types, oh no. We had strips, rectangles, dots, the lot! And used magazines as well as coloured card. A really simple technique, ideal for the younger ones, is to cover a piece of paper in strips and then on the reverse draw the outline of an animal  (remember to choose an animal that is recognisable from its silhouettes – so generally this means side-on).…

Art Classes, Blog, children art 1553Views 0Likes 0Comments
Tissue paper magic!
January 20, 2024

Tissue paper magic!

Welcome to our new term! This term will be all about paper! Each week a different activity using paper (or card).. First up was tissue paper – surprisingly versatile. While of course you can make some lovely collages with tissue paper, especially using its translucency to create different colours where they overlap, and coating in diluted PVA to bring out those colours. But you can also use bleeding tissue paper to stain the paper you are working on – as one child said,…

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Modroc sculpture – part 3
December 10, 2023

Modroc sculpture – part 3

Last week of term this week so yes, it’s time to paint the modroc sculptures! Everyone came with brilliant ideas of how to paint the sculptures they’ve been making the past two weeks. We used acrylic paint which is easy to paint details or corrections on top, once dry. Some even added other elements such as tissue paper wings or paper clothing. Love the results!  

Art Classes, Blog, children art 6572Views 0Likes 0Comments
Wire and modroc sculpture – part 2
December 7, 2023

Wire and modroc sculpture – part 2

This week we were ready to add modroc to the wire sculptures we made last week. Though of course for some, the wire was a perfect medium for their creatures and they started afresh today. The trick with the modroc is to keep it wet while you’re working. If you let it dry it’s harder to add more layers, or to alter the ones you have. For this you also have to keep your water fresh – once it’s cloudy it needs replacing.…

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