Wet on Wet Watercolour & Happy Accidents

For our wet on wet work this week I introduced Yellow & Red.
We started with red in the centre & I talked about how red is a bossy colour who likes to dominate & have FUN!
Then along comes Yellow! Yellow likes to play, be friendly & dance around.

Here is a link I found very helpful for the process of writing your own colour stories & talking about colour with children.

I also recently had some great wisdom shared with me regarding wet on wet by a lady called Mel.
Here is what she had to say:

The purpose of the wet-on-wet method is not to create a finished product but to experience the process. To delve into the color. To learn it's nuances. What happens when I put it on heavy here? How about if I put a small bit here and keep spreading it out. How far can I take this on drop of color? Where is the light coming from in my picture? Is there warmth? Is there movement? What is it like to put the smallest bit of paint on our brush and pull it across the page? How about if we put a lot? How can we take away excess paint?

Rather than telling them NOT to paint or draw a picture, help guide them through a deeper experience. These are as much soul exercises as much as they are intellectual and physical.

Keep at it - it will happen. Watch for the shift of understanding and connection in yourself and your children.

I found this helped us today hugely! No-one (much to my great surprise!) tried to paint 'something' they just explored with the colours.

My first grader put down her brush mid-way & stated that she had had enough-she didnt like her work & wanted to start again. Hmm..
I suggested that once I was done with my own painting, I would get out new paper for her. She sat for a while & then picked up her brush again. she finished her work & was happy with it. We talked about 'happy accidents' :)

When we had finished clearing up, I noticed my painting had been splashed with water -effectively lifting some of the colour. "It is pretty, mummy" said Elianna. "A happy accident!"

Elianna's work:



Rose's Work:



My own Work: