This week we explored painting in an unusual way. We painted a picture using an unconventional paintbrush, everyone had their own unique paintbrush.  Some had balls of wool attached to a stick, some had bits of rubber or plastic. The picture we were painting was also being described to us, rather than a picture being put down in front of us to copy. This was to make us consider the importance of children creating their own unique works of art.

 

It is important that children are not restricted to using the same “usual” tools to create their art work, by them having their own unique tool to paint with it allows them to have their own unique style. By us not being able to actually see the picture we were painting, this made us really use our imagination and creativity, rather than copying exactly from the picture.

Rather than using a traditional paint pallet we simply used paper which meant the colours we used ran together. This gave us the opportunity to explore colour mixing and working with the shades we ended up with.

 

As shown in the two images below, although everyone in the class was working from the same stimuli, because we worked with different tools, different colours and our own creative

imagination, we all ended up with very different end results. I felt it was very refreshing to see everyones different interpretations of the description, as I had never had an art lesson like this one before. This made me realise the importance of encouraging different perspectives within the arts. Eisner states that “The expressive arts honor and encourage different perspectives, and one of the most important lessons that children can learn from the arts is that there are multiple ways to view our world” (Eisner, 2002).

 

 

 

References 

Eisner, E. (2002) The Arts and the Creation of the Mind. Yale University Press/ New Haven & London