Summer Cloud Paintings

Hey! It’s liZ, one of the two Elizabeth’s, from over at Simple Simon and Company and we are happy to be here at the Crafting Chicks today!!!

Today we get to share a project that I’ve done about 2.8 billion times with students in my art classes and with my kids at home. It’s a favorite because it’s fun, they always turn out interesting, and this project lends it self nicely to so many different teaching topics….from the weather, to types of clouds, to color resist, to mixing colors, to making water color washes, etc. etc. Plus it’s easy enough for a preschooler but is still interesting enough for a junior high student to work on….I’ve done it with students of all ages and have consistently gotten terrific results.

This is a project that you can do inside or outside. All you need is access to see the clouds in the sky. (Since this after all is going to be a painting of the clouds.)

So, once you’ve found your cloud viewing location gather your supplies:

Now look at the clouds very carefully. Are they long and thin or fat and fluffy? Are there many clouds or just a few?

Next start to draw what you can see. Use a white crayon to draw the clouds on your white paper.

(It might be a little tricky—and silly if you’re 4—not to see the crayon on the paper but you can do it!)

When drawing press hard…and remember not to just draw the outline of the clouds, color them in all white to!

After you have your clouds just the way you want them paint over the top of the entire page with the blue sky color of your choice.

(Just use regular, plain, old water colors…the kind you can get at the store for like $2.)

As you paint you will see something magic start to happen. The blue paint will cover you paper but won’t stick to your clouds…and within minutes all the clouds that you drew with your white crayon will magically appear!

And if you are 11, like my son is, you will be more interested in why the wax of the crayon will repel the water and that will lead to further experimentation. (Which will be fun to.)

And, of course, you will be more interested in drawing all the different types of clouds (see the cumulus cloud below drawn by my 7 year old) instead of what you actually observe in the sky. (Which is ok to—there is no “right way” in art…especially if you are a “scientist” and not an “artist”.)

However, if you are 4 you won’t care about any of that.

You will do your best to draw the clouds how you see them and then just be amazed when you paint the sky on top of them.

It’s fun. It’s easy. It’s entertaining. And it’s almost educational!

Who could ask for anything more?

(And…in a few months when the snow is falling you can do it all over again…just change the clouds to be snowflakes or snowmen and you’ve got a brand new project to keep everyone happy on a stormy day!)

Thanks for inviting us over to play today ladies! We just love stuff like this!

(And if you want to see a few simple science projects that kids love just head over to Simple Simon and Company to see what we’ve got going on today.)

***Or if you need another really easy art project you can find one here: Tape Trees, A Tutorial ***

Thanks again!

-liZ