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Kids Art: Dripping with Paint

Childhood 101 | Kids Art Ideas: Drip Painting

I think this may have been the craziest painting experience we have ever attempted but I am in love with the result!

It began last week when Immy was free painting with child friendly acrylics. She had been mixing colours and brushing and spooning the paint onto the paper hung on her easel. Then she picked up one of the paint cups and tried to pour the paint onto the paper. Unfortunately she did not have enough paint in her cup and/or it wasn’t runny enough to pour onto the page. She lost interest soon afterwards and painting time was over.

Childhood 101 | Kids Art Ideas: Drip Painting

The next day I saw this post over at Not Just Cute about the work of artist Holton Rower (watch the video it is fascinating) and I thought pouring paint, why not?!? Immy and I mixed nine shades of child friendly acrylic which I diluted slightly with water (if we did this experience again I would make the paint even thinner to encourage the pouring and running effect).

Childhood 101 | Kids Art Ideas: Drip Painting

We set up our painting station using Immy’s easel as a base. I covered everything with a disposable plastic tablecloth and used masking tape loops to hang a large canvas (we were reusing an old painting of mine which is I covered with a quick top coat which is why you can still see some of the image underneath).

Childhood 101 | Kids Art Ideas: Drip Painting

Immy climbed up onto her stepstool and the ‘painting’ began. It probably would have helped if Immy was an inch or two higher but she was fascinated by the paint running down the canvas, especially as the paints ran at different speeds.

Childhood 101 | Kids Art Ideas: Drip Painting

She regularly jumped down to have a look from a different perspective and we moved the stool around so that she could work from different angles, and she was fascinated with the process and effect of the paint on the canvas.

Childhood 101 | Kids Art Ideas: Drip Painting

Young children’s art is most definitely about the process of experimenting and exploring and this experience certainly was an experiment! But you know, I love the final product as well…

Childhood 101 | Kids Art Ideas: Drip Painting

Would you be brave enough to try dripping with paint???

Time to Create by Christie Burnett

Christie Burnett is a teacher, presenter, writer and the mother of two. She created Childhood 101 as a place for teachers and parents to access engaging, high quality learning ideas.

Read the comments or scroll down to add your own:

  1. Amy A says

    Christie- I love this drip painting! We did something similar last summer after we returned from visiting the Pictured Rock National Lake Shore. http://childcentralstation.blogspot.com/2010/07/pictured-rocks-national-lake-shore.html and http://childcentralstation.blogspot.com/2010/07/pictured-rock-inspired-paintings.html We did ours on a smaller scale and dripped the paint down with medicine droppers. We've also been experimenting with the tall painting :). Messy paint and process art is right up our alley!

  3. Amy says

    What a great idea! I am so adding that to my to do list. We are re-doing the kids bedrooms and that would make great art for there walls!

  6. Amanda Kendle says

    I love the end result, I have just the wall for that here in my study!! Will have to file this away for when my little man is a bit older. Gorgeous idea Christie!

  7. Amanda says

    Looks great. If I did this my K and L they would immediately put their hands into the paint and swirl it all together. They'd end up looking similar to when we did the Ikea Castle! I would love it if I could get something neat and left alone.

    • Christie-Childhood 101 says

      I think Immy would be the same except she was fascinated by the different rates at which the paint ran down the canvas and we were talking about which colour would 'win the race' and things like that. Also when she had finished pouring I asked her if she would like another surface to do a different kind of painting on and she did do a bit of hand painting but quickly lost interest and went back to see what was happening to the paint on the canvas.

  9. Kim says

    Oh that looks like lots of fun! And I would happily hang the finished product on my living room wall! xK

  11. sarah says

    What a fantastic exploration, and I agree, the end result is really vibrant and beautiful. I wonder if my kids would be able to keep their hands to themselves like Immy is - hmm, I'm not sure. I can only imagine them really wanting to get into that beautiful wet paint with their hands!

  12. liga krista says

    hi, where do you get child friendly acrilic?:) this looks so great,especially now, when in Asweden has started the summer season and we can finally take out our art time!

  15. Tammy says

    We did something similar as well http://www.housingaforest.com/pour-painting/ There is something about pouring paint that is so satisfying for kids and adults. Thanks for sharing. I and in love Rowen's tall painting as well, they were also our inspiration.

  18. Rachelle says

    This made me laugh because before I had kids I spent about three days making paintings JUST like this one by Immy :) And it hadn't occurred to me to try this with my own daughter. We just got a new canvas, and now I know what to do with it. Thanks for the inspiration!!

  19. jennie_hi says

    I love this....I never would have thought to do it this way. I saw the video and enjoyed it...but I couldn't figure out how to do a flat surface. Oh, we are going to have to try this. Love it Love it Love it.

  20. Dawn says

    I really liked this. This would be something that I would try with the children. Dawn

  21. martha says

    i saw pour painting over at Housing a Forest (http://www.housingaforest.com/pour-painting/) a few weeks ago, and thought about my GS troop, but I like your way better. thanks for sharing.

  22. Darlene says

    I love the thickness and texture of the paint. I want to try this with my kids. I'm curious about the "child friendly acrylics." I'm assuming that means they're washable? Where do you get them?

  23. Marnee says

    Since I saw this I can't get it out of my head...love it! And then seeing it up in your book area wow. So creative and it is a piece of art that will stand the test of time. So interested in giving it a go. I will have to purchase some more paints soon as our supply is very low...can you recommend a brand and where to get it.

Trackbacks

  1. [...] I like having the children use eyedroppers to drizzle and drop the paint (a great way to incorporate fine motor strength and control as well as eye-hand coordination), though I’ve also used brushes, and have seen a few bold children dive right in with their fingers.  The flatter the paint, the faster it dries of course, making this paint a perfect candidate for fold art like these butterflies.  It’s also an ideal extension for Laura Numeroff’s book, If You Give a Pig a Pancake , and I’ve even considered experimenting with it for some tall paintings or pour art. [...]
  2. [...] (including her sister’s “plump little cheeks,” as she says it), so when I saw this gorgeous post at Childhood 101 I was inspired to pull our squeeze bottles out for a painty afternoon. I purchased the bottles [...]

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