Art Classes from a Medical Student

A friend of mine who is a medical student and soon to be qualified doctor gave me some very interesting ideas and tips for conducting an art class.  Although I haven’t yet tried these ideas out on Gavin, I thought it worth while to blog about them for other parents who might be interested to include them into their own art programs.

So here they are:

1. Vege-painting – using vegetables as stamps to create interesting patterns.  Cut up carrots, potatoes, and leafy vegetables and use them to print creative patterns with paint.
2. Sponge-painting – like vege-painting but using sponges cut into shapes instead (like what you get with the Pelikan fingerpainting kit).  Although, if you’re really lazy (like me) you can buy ready made shapes from Art Friend in The Gardens, Midvalley for a few Ringgit each.
3. Medium flat brushes are apparently easier to use than rounded brushes.
4. Buncho paints are the recommended paint of choice from my friend (although I have yet to try them out – I am also not sure if they are as “safe” to use for young children as those non-toxic paints made specifically for young children)
5. Paper towels are great for soaking up excess water from the brushes.
6. You can teach kids about primary, secondary and tertiary colours by mixing paints together (which I think is much more interesting than just pointing to circles of solid colours and explaining how you get the colours).  You can also use black and white to make darker and lighter shades of colours.