Full Moon Art

     With the impending full moon looming on our skyline there has been quite a bit of talk about last year's super moon- our kids are sure the super moon is going to come back any time now. It's tough to convince them that there is no super moon but just a regular full moon looming- I remember as a kid every full moon looked gigantic! So with the moon as our inspiration we did some city- scapes.

  

    To start with draw a moon and stars with oil pastels on a heavy piece of water colour paper- the oil pastels will repel the water tempera paint and create a glowey effect!

    Once the moon and enough stars are drawn take some thinned out tempera paint and do light washes over the entire piece of paper. This effect works best when using light coloured pastels and darker coloured paints. To thin out your tempera blocks simply put about an inch of water into a small container- then load up your brush on the tempera puck- depositing the colour back into the small container of water.

    I find that if I have everything set up first the project is easy and accessible to the kids making the success of the project very high.

   Once the sky has met with the artist's satisfaction you can move onto the next step which is to add some texture into the drawing. I love the transparency that tissue paper achieves when it is glued down and layered up. Torn tissue makes for excellent clouds! I always save tissue from any package or gift we receive.  Use either store bought or home made Mod Podge and a brush- brush on Mod Podge, add cloud, brush more Mod Podge over top to make tissue transparent and sealed.

   Using some salvaged cardboard from yet another package we make the mini city- which Miss Lo decided needed some extra clouds covering low down- it has been quite foggy here at night recently!

  Use a black or grey pastel to draw in stylized windows- no need to be super precise- just enough to give the idea of windows and doors.

 
 Everyone has a different technique and The Boy used more of a drip style of painting- Miss Lo is much more precise in every thing she does- including her art.

    The finished project- a few easy steps, a fun narrative and an easy way to start a conversation about the cycles of the moon. I find this project can also be used to spark conversations about our surroundings and the seasons- just tweak the colour pallet to suit your "lesson".



 Home Made Mod Podge 

1 cup of water
1/3 cup of PVA glue- school glue
add 2 tsp of water based varnish if you want it glossy
add glitter if you want it sparkly



   Friends I can hardly believe it is Friday again! Wherever you go and whatever you do this weekend- may you have sunshine at your back and hot coffee in your mug!