Open-ended Art (Yellow Mixed With Red & Blue)

I was a little clueless to what we should do for Open-ended Art this week. The theme is “Mixing with Yellow” and that is so “open-ended” that anything goes. As much as I hate to admit, I am more comfortable if there is some sort of boundary. So, I chose to try out two different art projects with Sophie today.

Project I : Window Markers on (Overlay) Transparency – Yellow, Red & Blue (Mixed)

I decided that it might be easier to start with the “dry” and less messy art work first. Basically, my set of window markers has been sitting in the drawers since forever and I really want Sophie to use them before they all dry up. And of course it would not be too wise to let her draw on my windows (not when she still cannot discriminate the different types of markers). Hence, I took out some old transparencies and let her draw with the window markers, one colour at a time. Using the overlay method (little old school me), I hoped to see some “green”, “purple” and “orange”.



Sophie started out with the blue window marker. She was gliding its tip on the transparency as if someone was ice-skating and cutting marks on the ice. I thought she was enjoying the feel of drawing on contrasting textures - transparency and drawing paper.



When Sophie started playing with the marker and cap, I thought I was in trouble and she was not interested in this at all (so soon?!). Then she started drawing again and I was relieved. Papa was on his way to work so he tried to make her laugh with his silly facial expression and gestures. And that was why she was grinning the way she did towards the end of the video clip.



Whatever Papa did, it worked on Sophie brilliantly. She was so cheery and energized that she started naming what she drew. She carefully made some doodles and told me it was a bird (and it actually looked like one!) then, she made a few lines and called it “nana” (banana). The interesting part was when she looked at her “bird”, she saw something that resembled a “frog” and pointed it out to me. Sophie was never taught with flashcards so whatever (animal) she has learnt (successfully), she is able to recognize it in any form (from real picture to abstract drawing to origami). I think she tries to pick up the distinctive features of the animal before deciding what it is.

The effect was not very outstanding unfortunately. Partly because the ink was too opaque and she drew too many lines instead of blotches of ink. Oh well, the process was fun for her at least...

Project II : Mixing Yellow Paint With Red & Blue Paint

This was a more traditional approach so I added a new element to make it more interesting. I introduced “twine” as a painting tool to Sophie. Somehow, she did not really use it to paint. Either she prefers painting with her hands and fingers or I need to start coaching her to paint with a more alternative tools. Also, I think I need to try dipping the twine into paint and let her paint with it rather than putting the paint on the paper and getting her to “drag” the twine around.



I deliberately gave Sophie the primary colours so that she could see how green, orange and purple can be created. However, with the three colours mixing around on the same sheet of paper, it was fast becoming more purple and brown. Thus, I made a last minute decision to clean up the table and her hands so that we could achieve “yellow + blue = green” and “yellow + red = orange” (sorry, purple will just have to wait).



I think Sophie was much more enthusiastic when I let her handle the paint bottles herself. Maybe she felt that she had more control over what she was doing so the task became more meaningful for her.



To a certain extent, I think Sophie is much better at open-ended art than I am. She enjoys the process and she does not really care about the end product. Of course she also loves the stuff that we made together, but she really goes all out to experience the process every time I let her do art.

And when the day was done, Sophie finally decided to fiddle around with the twine…. Aiya….