Thursday Art Club: Watercolor Fish

Back to basics. With almost every group of kids that have been in my art clubs over the years, there's one activity that they always get excited about: painting.

Photo by Sofia Han

Photo by Sofia Han

 This is a project we did several months ago, and it had been such a hit that I decided to revisit it, with a slight alteration. The last time we painted goldfish in watercolor, we drew the fish with an orange Sharpie, ensuring that the outline they drew would not bleed when painted over. This time we used Crayola markers, which bleed instantly.

Why? For one thing, I have more art students, but less colored Sharpies, than before. But other than the supply problem, I hoped that the bleeding markers will challenge the kids' creativity and accuracy.

First, a little directed art...

Photo by Sofia Han

Then, the fun part.

Getting used to the bleeding markers was a challenge for the girls. They are mostly first- and second-graders, so I made sure they concentrated more on fun than accuracy. It was a fun night, listening to 70s and 80s music, but not so loud that we couldn't hear the rain outside.

After we had lots of painted fish and the mess was cleaned up, a couple of my littlest ones spent their down-time flipping through Secret Wars, deciding which heroine (or villainess) was the prettiest, and who they wanted to be.

Maybe someday they'll actually read it. :)