Art Techniques

Many famous painters have used this pointillism picture technique. They paint a picture using lots of dots to create solid shapes.

What You'll Need:

HOW TO MAKE A POINTILLISM PICTURE:

Step 1: Cover your work surface with newspaper.

Step 2: Find a colorful picture in a magazine. Cut it out -- ask for permission first -- and glue it to a piece of drawing or construction paper.

Step 3: Use a cotton swab to dot the paint on the picture.

Step 4: Cover each color in the picture with the same color of paint. To change the shading of the picture, paint white dots to add highlights and black dots to add shadows.

As you dot in the colors, you can mix them together to create new colors. Mix red and yellow dots together for orange areas; mix blue and yellow dots together for green areas.

Continue reading to the next page and find out about a fun foil printmaking technique.

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This foil printmaking technique allows you to transfer a picture piece-by-piece.

What You'll Need:

HOW TO TO MAKE A FOIL PRINT:

Step 1: Cover your work surface with newspaper. Draw a square on a sheet of foil. Make the square slightly smaller than the paper sheet you will print on.

Step 2: Draw a picture in the foil square. Select one color of paint, and paint in the parts of the picture using that color.

Step 3: Then place a sheet of paper over the foil print and press. Carefully peel off the paper, and let the paint dry. Use a damp paper towel to wipe off the old color from the foil.

Step 4: Now select a different color, and paint in another area of the picture. Reprint it on the paper as before.

Continue reprinting the paper until you use all your colors and your picture is complete.

Want to learn how to make a vibrant picture with only one shade of color? Continue reading to the next page and find out more.

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One color can be quite interesting. Try this shades of color art technique and create different tones in the same picture.

What You'll Need:

HOW TO MAKE A SHADES OF COLOR PICTURE:Step 1: Cover your work surface with newspaper. Sketch a picture on a piece of paper.

Step 2: In the empty egg carton, put a small amount of one color into seven different sections.

Step 3: Mix in one, two, and three drops of white paint with three of the sections.

Step 4: Then mix in one, two, and three drops of black paint with three other sections. Do not mix any other colors in the seventh section.

Step 5: Now paint your picture using the one color and the various tones of that color.

Think about the direction the sun will shine on the field. Place lighter shades facing the light and darker shades away from the light to make shadows.

Continue on to the next page to learn more about our crayon and paint art technique.

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It's fascinating to see how crayon and paint mix together to make a most unusual texture. Try this crayon and paint art technique and create a new visual experience.

What You'll Need:

HOW TO MAKE A CRAYON AND PAINT PICTURE:

Step 1: Cover your work surface with newspaper. Draw a beach scene on a piece of paper using crayons.

Step 2: Lightly color in the blue sky, the light brown sand, and the bright beach towels and umbrellas.

Step 3: Now recolor the picture using watercolor paints. Use blue paint over the blue crayon, light brown paint over the light brown crayon, and the same paint colors over the bright beach towels and umbrellas. Let the paint dry.

Do you like to make casts from plaster? Find out how to make your own casting from shortening on the next page.

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Try a different technique to make plaster casts. This grease casting technique is so much fun since you can easily "erase" your design and start over.

What You'll Need:

HOW TO MAKE A GREASE CASTING:Step 1: Cover your work surface with newspaper. Cut a 4 by 6-inch square or 6-inch circle from aluminum foil. Fold up the sides about 1 inch.

Step 2: Use a knife to spread a 1/8-inch-thick, even layer of shortening in the foil shape. Press the ballpoint pen into the grease to draw your design.

Step 3: With an adult's help, mix the plaster of paris according to package directions. Carefully spoon it over the grease. If you'd like to hang your plaster casting, press a paper clip into the top edge.

Step 4: When the plaster is set, pop it out of the foil. Clean the plaster casting with warm, soapy water. Let it dry completely.

Continue reading to the next page to find out more about our palette painting art technique.

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This palette painting art technique uses dabs and dots of paint instead of straight lines, adding dimension to your artwork.

What You'll Need:

HOW TO MAKE A PALETTE PAINTING:

Step 1: In a small container, mix a small amount of cornstarch with poster paint until the mixture becomes thick like pudding. Repeat with other colors of paint.

Step 2: Now "paint" a picture on a piece of cardboard. Use a craft stick or butter knife to apply the thick paint to the cardboard. The paint will "stick up" from your paper. Try an abstract design first.

Step 3: Create "heavy" areas of color by building up the thick paint; to make "light" areas of color, spread the paint out. Then try to "paint" a portrait of someone.

Since you are painting with a craft stick, you won't be able to add a lot of detail.

Continue reading to the next page and find out more about our foil embossing wall hangings. They are easy to do and will make your wall sparkle.

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Whether you emboss one pretty flower or a wild abstract design, these foil embossing wall hangings will shine in any room.

What You'll Need:

HOW TO MAKE A FOIL EMBOSSING WALL HANGING:

Step 1: Have an adult cut two backing pieces of poster board or cardboard into the size of the picture you want to make. It's best to start with a small piece, about 8 x 10 inches.

Step 2: Cut out some geometric shapes from poster board or cardboard. Glue them in a design on one of the backing pieces. For example, arrange triangle shapes into a pinwheel or square shapes into a checkerboard.

Or ask a friend to trace your profile from a shadow. Cut out your profile, and glue it on the backing. After the glue has dried, place a piece of foil over the top of the shapes and rub until the design is raised onto the foil.

Leave the foil in place and color the raised design with permanent markers. Then carefully remove the foil, and glue it on the other backing piece.

Can you draw a picture without ever lifting your hand? Continue to the next page and see if you can complete our continuous picture art technique challenge!

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Use this tracing art technique and embark on a creative voyage. The fun comes when you color in your trace-marks, using imagination and wild designs.

You can trace any picture without tracing paper. Pick a picture from a magazine that you want to trace, and cut it out -- ask for permission first.

What You'll Need:

HOW TO DO THE TRACING ART TECHNIQUE:Step 1: Tape a picture with a piece of paper over it on a window. You can see the outline of the picture through the paper.

Step 2: Use a black felt-tip pen to trace the outline of the picture. Take the picture and paper off the window.

Step 3: Now add your own details to the outline, and color them in.

If you traced a picture of a dog, then draw and color in the eyes, a nose, the fur -- or whatever else you want to add.

Continue reading to the next page and find out how to make all sorts of unique shapes with our splatter print painting technique.

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You're in good shape when you use this terrific splatter print painting technique to outline favorite objects.

What You'll Need:

HOW TO MAKE A SPLATTER PAINT PRINT:

Step 1: Cover your work surface with newspaper. Put on an old paint shirt. Place a piece of drawing paper in the large cardboard box.

Step 2: Place an item such as a pressed flower on the paper. Dip the bristles of an old toothbrush in watercolor or poster paint. Point the toothbrush down at the paper.

Step 3: Now rub your finger over the bristles toward yourself to splatter the paint around the flower. Remove the flower.

The splattered paint looks like confetti outlining your picture. Let the paint dry. To create rainbow splatters, use different colors of paints.

Want to learn how to make different shades within the same picture? Try our hatch and crosshatch art technique on the next page and find out how.

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This hatch and crosshatch art technique uses lines to create highlights and shadows in your drawing instead of coloring it in. The hatch-crosshatch technique uses small lines to create dark areas (shadows) and light areas (highlights) in a drawing.

Hatch marks are lines drawn in the same direction, and crosshatch marks are lines crossed over each other in two or three directions.

What You'll Need:

HOW TO MAKE A HATCH AND CROSSHATCH DRAWING:

Step 1: Sketch an outline of a picture, such as an apple, on a piece of drawing paper. Make hatch and crosshatch marks to "color" in the apple.

Step 2: Create shadows along the side and bottom of the apple with crosshatch marks. Highlight the center and the top of the apple with hatch marks.

Continue reading to the next page to find out more about our continuous picture art technique. You'll be glad you did.

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Here's a drawing challenge. Create a picture using only one line -- using this continuous picture art technique.

What You'll Need:

HOW TO MAKE A CONTINUOUS PICTURE:

Step 1: Draw a picture on a piece of paper, but don't lift up your pencil or pen as you draw. Make a picture with one long, continuous line. Start drawing a person, then make him or her into a vampire.

Step 2: Start with the mouth, add pointy teeth, and then draw the nose and eyes. Next, fill in the head and body with a bat cape. Just don't pick up your pencil or pen!

Looking for a new art project? Continue to the next page and learn more about our brayer printing art technique.

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A brayer evenly applies paint to larger areas without brush lines. These are important goals for fine printmaking.

A brayer, or ink roller, rolls paint evenly and is great for printmaking. To "ink" a brayer, you'll need something smooth and flat to roll the paint on, such as a sheet of acrylic or glass.

This will be your palette. With an adult's help, place duct tape around the edges of the palette to cover any rough ends. Before you begin inking, cover your work surface with newspaper.

What You'll Need:

HOW TO MAKE A BRAYER PRINT:

Step 1: Place pieces of masking tape across a piece of finger-paint paper to create a stripe design.

Step 2: Put 3 dots of paint on the palette in a row. Roll the brayer in one direction until it is coated with 3 stripes.

Step 3: Roll the inked brayer over the paper to make a stripe design. When the paint is dry, peel off the tape.

Continue to the next page to learn more about our tessellation art technique.

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A tessellation is like a mosaic, using small squares to make a repetitive picture. Try this tessellation art technique on your own.

What You'll Need:

HOW TO MAKE A TESSELLATION PICTURE:

Step 1: Draw a grid of nine squares on a piece of drawing paper. On the left side of one square, draw a curvy line. Repeat that same line on the left side of each square.

Step 2: Now draw a different curvy line at the top of the first square. Then draw the curvy line at the top of each remaining square. Take a look at the squares to see what the shape is starting to look like.

Step 3: Fill in more lines to create a shape, repeating the same line in each square. Each line creates part of the next square's design.

When you are done, you should have the same shape in each square. Color in your design using colored pencils.

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