Painting with my Daughters

Painting with my Daughters

My daughters have grown up with parents who enjoy many creative, artistic pursuits, and with my recent plunge into the world of art and painting I’ve begun showing them around a paint brush. They’ve painted before, but not with the artist acrylics I’ve been using, and this may have been their first tutorial on painting.

photo 3

There’s a trick to getting the paint to just the right consistency, something I didn’t find out until much later in college. We started with some ocean beach scenes on little canvas-covered illustration boards. Allison, my oldest daughter, wanted to paint the MockingJay pin from her favorite book last year, The Hunger Games. She’s much more the perfectionist about these sorts of things, just like I was, and exhibits the same frustration when she can’t get things exactly the way she’d like.

Jessica, on the other hand, was gung-ho about getting her beach painted with a palm tree. At 8 years old, she blasts into projects like this with great enthusiasm. No fear, no hangups, just give her the brush and she’s off! Both stuck it out for several paintings before showing fatigue. They didn’t realize we’d been at it for a couple of hours.

Photo Jan 13, 4 09 00 PM

Both of them tried out my little beach scenes (above), and then did their own. It was a way to spend time with the girls, sharing with them some tricks and skills without the interference of a glowing screen. But for me it was fascinating to see elements of my own personality play out in their excitement, frustration, and their own view of the world through these little pieces.

0 comments on “Painting with my DaughtersAdd yours →

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *