Art Works! is a series of blog posts created by the staff at www.EscapadeDirect.com that offer children of all ages and abilities the opportunity for hands-on art activities that allow them to explore, discover, and express their individual creativity.
We encourage parents to join in on the activities, too, and create their own Art Works!
Art Works! Activity #22: Wax Resists
A wax resist painting is one where you use wax to protect parts of the paper from paint. When you apply a water-based paint over the wax, the wax repells the paint and creates an interesting texture to your painting.
This activity is fun for kids of all ages and gives them an opportunity to work with resists. Spark your imagination, and get started!
The example below uses the color green – just in time for St. Patrick’s Day!
What You Need:
- Green Construction Paper (or your choice of color)
- Green Crayons or Oil Pastels (crayon should be the same color as your paper)
- White Tempera Paint
- Paintbrush (a larger brush works better than a small, thin brush)
- Water in Small Cup (used to help thin the paint)
- Art Tray or covered work space
What You Do:
- Use a green crayon to draw a picture onto the green construction paper – make sure to press hard and create a thick line. You might want to draw a large shamrock to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day! (HINT: It may be hard to see your green crayon marks on the green paper, but if you tilt your paper slightly toward the light, you will be able to see the wax shining in the light.)
- When your picture is drawn, paint a thin coat of white tempera paint over the paper. (Make sure the paint is not too thick.)
- The white paint adheres to the construction paper, but doesn’t cover the green lines – making your drawing instantly appear!
- Sign and date your work of art, then display it for others to see.
Variations:
- Use this same technique with a variety of different colored paper and crayons! For example, use red construction paper and red crayons to make Valentine hearts! Use blue construction paper and blue crayons to make bluebirds in the Spring!
- Use a variety of different sizes and shapes of construction paper to draw on. When you’ve painted all your designs, use string to hang your pictures in your windows or around the room. You might even want to create a mobile using your designs.
- Use this technique to create your own greeting cards! Simply fold your paper in half and create your wax resist painting on the top of the card and write your greeting on the inside. A fast and easy way to create a unique card!
- Use a white Art Board and a white crayon to create your drawing. For example, draw a landscape, your favorite toy, or simply draw swirls and squiggles. When your drawing is done, use a variety of different colors of watercolor paint to make your painting colorful. Of course, the white crayon marks will remain white, but the rest of your art board will be very colorful!
- Use white paper and a variety of different colored crayons or oil pastels to make your drawing. When you apply paint over your drawing, the colors from your drawing will resist the paint the same way, but you will also see the colors of the crayons.
- Write a secret message to your kids on the paper, then have them paint over it to reveal their special message. What a fun way to say “I love you”!
- This wax resist method works great on Easter eggs, too! Simply use a crayon to color a design on your egg before dying.
Tip:
- Since construction paper is porous, we have found that a thicker, higher quality construction paper works better than the very thin varieties.
You Might Also Like:
Water Wizard Buddha Board – Paint with water with this unique and fun art board!
DIY Nature Kaleidoscope – Use items found in nature to build your very own kaleidoscope!
Share Your Art Works! Activities!
If you have an Art Works! project that you would like to share, email us a digital picture (or scan) of your project , and we will post it in our Kids Gallery. If you would like, include the artists first name, age, and your state. It’s fun for kids to see how other children interpreted the project!
As always, encourage your children to come up with their own new ideas for art – and make sure to check back next week for another Art Works! activity in this series!
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