Art Project # 15; Dragonfly Silhouettes

Yesterday's art project was just for Alec and myself.  We decided to make dragonfly silhouette paintings.  We figured they were perfect for spring and we were both in the mood to paint on canvas... something we haven't done in awhile.

Part of the 100 Days of Art Challenge was to not only inspire my boys to create but to force myself to keep offering OPPORTUNITIES to do art; I never force them to participate and that is why it was just Alec and I.

I had started this challenge as a way to hold myself accountable for consciously planning something fun and creative for us to do each day; something I had really been slacking off on doing for the past few years.

Ian really did not want to join in on today's art project and Evan had so much fun with his watercolor dragon kit that he wanted to work on another one.  I got him settled and then Alec and I prepared to paint.  Evan worked all on his own and did such an amazing job!  I still can't get over my little "I HATE art" boy having so much fun painting.  It was an even greater bonus that he had a whole made up story to tell me all about his dragon!

His golden dragon

Now onto today's art project:

Alec and I started with our backgrounds.  We used large brushes and starting with white we painted a large circle in the middle of our canvas.  We then added colors getting gradually darker as we got towards the edge of the canvas.  It was a great lesson in blending and complementary colors.

Getting darker.. 

My completed background

Alec's completed background

 

We set our paintings aside to dry in the sun.  It only took a few minutes!  Meanwhile we cleaned off our brushes and got some new fresh water.

Once we were ready to start we used small brushes, black paint and some water to draw dragonflies, grass and flowers.  We did not sketch anything out first and while we both made a few mistakes we figured out how to fix them (either we wet the area down and blotted it off of our canvas or else we turned it into something else).  I tended to start in on the drawing first and show Alec how I was approaching it but he often had his own technique that worked just as well.  Sorry I have not pictures of us working the canvas... I was kind of busy painting.

My completed picture 

Alec's completed picture

Others in this series: 

Project 1: Painting with Hexbugs

Project 2: Tissue paper flowers

Project 3: Star Wars Crafts

Project 4: Watercolor compass circles

Project 5: Floral pens

Project 6: Watercolor outlines

Project 7: Scratch art jellyfish

Project 8: Oil pastel flowers
Project 9: Fingerprint dandelions 
Project 10: Beaded Sun Catchers
Project 11: Bird crafts and snacks
Project 12: Symmetrical, color mixing, butterflies

Project 13: Water gun art

Project 14: Watercolor Kits

Project 15: Dragonfly Silhouettes 

Project 16: Painting pet rocks 

Project 17: Spray Paint Resist

Project 18: Water bottle windsock

Project 19: Stained glass made easy crafting kit 

Project 20: Tin can windsock 

Project 21: Firework glue art
Project 22: Qixel art kit

Project 23: Makit Bakit Kits 
Project 24: Wood burning cutting board

Project 25: Making our own rafts 

Project 26: Spray Painted Canvas

Project 27: Paper bowl jellyfish 

Project 28: Tin Foil Art

Project 29: Oil Pastel Bubbles 

Project 30: Chalk Pastel painting 

Project 31: Washi Tape Votive holders 

Project 32: Drip Painted Pots

Project 33: Sun Art 

Project 34: Tissue paper transfer 

Project 35: Stained Glass dragonfly

Project 36: Art Museum field trip. 

Project 37: Taking a Family Art Class

Project 38: Painting Minecraft T-Shirts

Project 39: Painting Pikachu 

Project 40: How to Draw Books

Project 41: Wax resist Watercolors

Project 42: Splatter Paint Canvas

Project 43: Fine line fall leaves 

Project 44: Fairy Village field trip

Project 45: Oil Pastel Resist Leaves

Project 46: Tissue Paper Leaf Art

Project 47: Bat Silhouette Painting 

Project 48: Beginner Photography

Project 49: Making Harry Potter Wands

Project 50: Drawing Cat Faces 

Project 51: Making Homemade cards

Project 52:  Learning the Art of Zentangle

Project 53: 3-D printing 

Project 54: Gingerbread Train

Project 55: Paint Swirled Ornaments 

Project 56: Loom band ornaments and bracelets 

Project 57: Candy trees 

Project 58: Strand of light chalk drawings

Projects 59-64: Christmas Crafting Kits from Oriental Trading

Project 65: Painting Ceramic Village Pieces 

Project 66: Washi Tape Cookie Cutter Ornaments
Project 67: Learning Origami 
Project 68: Art Books and Artist Study
Project 69: Playing Go Fish Art
Project 70: Edible Chocolate Art
Project 71: Geometric Hearts 
Project 72: Marble Swirled Hearts
Project 73: Solid Tempera Paint Drawings
Project 74: Qixels 3-D Maker
Project 75: Making Cupcakes
Project 76: Window Marker Art
Project 77: Shamrock Zentangles on Scratch Paper
Project 78: Painted Pandas 
Project 79: Minecraft Digital Art
Project 80: Charcoal Drawings
Project 81: Chalk Pastel Lighthouse Drawings
Project 82: Dying Easter Eggs With Bleeding Tissue Paper
Project 83: Painting Pottery
Project 84: Drawing En Plein Air
Project 85: African Savannah Paintings
Project 86: Woven CD Garden Decoration
Project 87: Working with Clay
Project 88: Art Lessons with Art Academy
Project 89: Melted Bead Wind Chimes
Project 90: Perler Bead Projects
Project 91: Ivory Soap Carvings
Project 92: Ice Cube Tie Dye
Project 93: String Art
Project 94: Multimedia Ocean Paintings 
Project 95: Balloon Splatter Painting
Project 96: Making Mosaic Stepping Stones
Project 97: Glass Bead and Glue Sun Catchers 
Project 98: Coloring Book Art
Project 99: Metal Stamped Bookmarks

Project 100: Water Balloon Art