Painting Together

 Here's a really fun project that you can do with your kids this summer.  I've had this old canvas in my art stuff for years, but could never quite figure out what to do with it... until yesterday!  We decided to do a "family painting."

 The canvas was an old piece of white upholstery fabric with a geometric design.

 I painted it with flat white paint to seal the cloth and get it ready to paint.  (That's called "priming the canvas."  You can buy artist's "gesso" or just use wall primer or flat paint, which is way cheaper.)

Then I divided the canvas up into random squares so that each person would have their own space to paint.  You could give each person their own square or more than one.  Just draw with pencil, you can paint right over it.

The key to getting everyone to paint something that turns out nice altogether is to choose the colors ahead of time.  This part is totally up to you, mama.  I'm really into the "fiesta" color theme, but use whatever matches your house or combo you like.  About 5 or 6 colors, without black and white is a good start.

We all sat around the painting, working on our own areas... chatting and laughing and of course comparing techniques!

A random cat joining in...

Loosen up that grip!   We improved quite a bit by the end... : )

A five year old "Lefty."

Dueling artists.

Learning how to blend colors.

Mixing up the leftover paint. 

Gotta have some tunes, of course.  Today it's John Mark McMillan.  Still such a great album!

Acrylic dries so fast!  That's why we were able to keep the palette in the middle.

Isn't that cool? 

Each kiddo was so proud of their square and wanted Daddy to guess who painted each one.  

 Each is unique, but flows into the next to make up a whole. 

Just like a family.

: )