Painting with a Toddler- Part 1

I know that for some of you, the title of this post alone has turned you away! :) But, I really hope you stay and just check it out!!!

I have always enjoyed painting with T-Man, and probably started with him around when he was one.  Don't get too excited that this could be an afternoon project to share with your little one, because realistically, you're looking at about 5, maybe 10 minutes of fun!!!

My first suggestions, get prepared before you grab your kiddo.  They are quick grabbers, fast workers, and it will be done before you know it...and if you're not ready, you might miss the whole thing...and end up with a painted table :)

This is what I usually grab:

To ensure success, break your painting up into multiple parts- each part using analogous colors (colors that are similar because they are next to each other on the color wheel.)  Since we are making a painting for Livie's room, I chose pink, red, and fuchsia.

Also choose a LARGE brush.  Your child will cover more surface area, and this really helps when you are painting the background.

Now it's time to get this party started!!!  I gave T just pink to start with.  Ever since he has been painting, he has really preferred a Pointillism approach...meaning, he likes to hit the canvas/paper with the brush :)  ...Great for paint, ineffective with Crayons :)

Next, he actually requested the red, so I added a smaller amount to his paper plate.  Since he is working so quickly, the colors blend very well.  This creates value (lightness and darkness of a color).  You can see in the picture below how they blend nicely.  The more that he painted in an area, the more the colors blended.
*To avoid this, constantly turn their canvas/paper to help them fill all the areas.

We then added the fuchsia to the palette.  I chose this color because it matched a painting I created for her room (see below), and was a pretty shade to go with the pink and red.

 

Once he had covered a good bit of the canvas, we set it back to dry.  I think leaving some white space on the canvas gives as much interest as using multiple paint colors to create value.

I was actually super excited to see how his Pointillism technique created what I thought were the start of some beautiful abstract flowers!!!

Below is the picture that I made for her room!  It is both paint and fabric, and I LOVE how it turned out! I think I'll be painting the frame white, what do you think?!

Be sure to stop back by for Part 2, where we'll be adding a second set of colors to the base of our painting!!  Enjoy painting with your toddler! :)