MAKING OF A DRAGON WITH A 4-YEAR-OLD ARTIST
Since school got cancelled today and we could not go outside because of the rain, I decided to keep my son busy by asking him to paint. Painting is one of his favourite activities.
So far I used to let him do the background for my paintings. It was a win-win situation for both of us.
He was having fun and I was getting an unique texture to start with.
Seeing that he was really into painting I promoted him to having his own canvas.
He was more than thrilled to hear that he was allowed to use acrylic colours and create his own masterpiece.
Right away he asked for some of my tools (brushes, knives, wedges, etc.) and incorporated even some of his own plastic toys that he used as stamps.
Today he asked me to be his assistant which was really funny.
Thus I got to open the tubes of paint for him, wash the tools he had used during the creating process and paint and edges of his masterpiece.
At first he applied some blobs of yellow paint directly on the canvas, like a pro, as you saw in the photos above.
Then he moved on slowly and added more blobs of different colours all over the canvas.
Then with a palette knife he spread the paint in different directions, blending the colours.
Each time he used the palette knife, I was asked to clean it for him. Being his assistant, I conformed with his request right away.
Plus I did not wish to have paint all over the kitchen.
By the end of the painting, I already had to remove the acrylic paint from the wall and chair, where he had left his tiny fingerprints.
Once he almost covered the entire surface of the canvas with paint, he added more blobs of colour which he pressed on with the palette knife in order to create various types of texture.
Then he asked me cover one corner of the canvas with the net from the tangerine box. Placing the net on top of the blobs of paint, followed by a smooth movement of levelling the excess paint with the palette knife gave a beautiful effect of scaled skin. As soon as he saw it, he said that he was painting me a dragon. I could not take photos of this step, as I was involved in the process.
Then he focused on the remaining white areas of his canvas. He added more paint and used either the knife or the sponge to cover the white spots.
He dabbed the paint on with the sponge in several layers which built depth.
Pressing the thick layer of paint with the palette knife created irregular pattern and gave the impression of foliage.
Let's have one more look at the final result!
Let me know in the comments if you'd like to see more of his paintings!
Unless stated otherwise, all photos used in this posts are taken and owned by myself. If you wish to use any of my images, please contact me!
Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it! Please leave your feedback in the comments, I would love to hear your thoughts!
Looks like a ton of fun. Great artwork.
Thanks! We both had lots of fun yesterday.
I absolutely love this and your son is a true artist 😊 love how he asked for your tools and explored... So great to se the steps and how focused he seemed. Awsome idea to do on a rainy day my friend. I work with kids every day and I know how appreciated this kind of thing is.
Thank you for sharing this, really cool to se.
Have a wonderful evening. Cheers! 🤗
You should have seen his serious face while he was painting, careful not to touch with his little hands the texture he had created. Priceless! You must be having lots of fun at work with the kids. Have a great day!;0)
You are blessed to have such talented and amazing son, @lymepost. :) Continue to guide and support him. I believe someday, he will be one of the renowned great artist in the world. :)
Blessed, indeed! I do my best to support him and provide guidance. Thank you for your kind words! ;0)
This is awesome! I absolutely love the effect of the mesh bag on the paint, that turned out great! What a little visionary you have on your hands!
Thank you! It was a first time for him to experience with the mesh bag. ;0)
This is amazing and inspiring! I will do the same with my nephew.
Thank you! In case you will post something about it, tag me so I can see it.
She's already a great artist, I love her work, and you gave me a great idea to share with my little boy.
Thank you. He had lots of fun painting. I am sure you two will enjoy painting together. ;0)
I'm sure you will.
Your son is adorable. You're such a great mother for letting your son express himself in this way. I really appreciate the detail of this painting, as well as, the color blocking. <3
Thanks! He has been always interested in painting. I think I allowed him to paint with acrylics when he was close to 2 years old. Before that he only used water colours. Now he doesn't even look at the water colours. He says they are for babies. lol
thats so good. notice how children have a knack for abstract composition! THANKS for sharing!!!!
They do! I love it how they don't try to make everything symmetrical.
Hi @lymepoet ,
The new Curie Author Showcase that includes this post is now up and ready for viewing.
Thanks for being a part of it!
Gene (@curie Curator)
Thank you for featuring my post! I am honored!
Not bad at all for a 4-year-old. I think he did an amazing job and it seems like he had fun doing it as well. He definitely put your tools to some good use and created a beautiful piece of his art with them. :)
I am sure you are a proud mom. He really did do a great job. Heck probably better than me trying to paint something similar. lol
Thank you for sharing it with us.
Have an amazing day. :)
Proud mom, off course! I was surprised to see that he knew how to use some of the palette knives. I loved it because I did not have to say anything to him. I let him do whatever he wanted, the way he wanted.
Have a beautiful day! ;)