Because I'm very linear myself as an artist, it's tricky for me sometimes to break free of lines and take students on a more abstract journey. I'm trying though! This project inspired by Peter H. Reynolds' The Dot was quite a departure for me, and I loved it. The kids really enjoyed it, too, because there absolutely was NO wrong way to do this. (Not that there's ever a wrong way to make art, but kids are tough on themselves, even the little ones.) It was wonderful to be able to help them turn a "mistake" into a beautiful part of their art. (Don't like that red dot? Add yellow! Make it bigger! Outline it with purple! Endless possibilities!)
I read The Dot to students, then gave them oil pastels and a piece of drawing paper and turned them loose. The only direction I gave them was to fill their paper with dots...big ones, small ones...dots everywhere! The next week we painted. Again, anything went, though I did keep an eye out for muddy colors. As I always do when I paint from the cart, I had a parent volunteer, so an extra pair of adult eyes watching out for over-saturated paper or too-thick paint was very very helpful. This was an excellent experiment in color and pure abstraction, and I adore the results. Here are a few more of our dots!
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