Carbon paper!
This particular carbon paper was packed with purple ink and through some experimentation I found that this ink was extreeeemely reactive to water (it bled like crazy) as well as it STAINS really bad. Purple sinks and counter tops. Eep.
Anyway, my older elementary kids are in the middle of some standardized testing and I thought they could use a nice loose one-day project to unwind.
So - We read "Beautiful Oops" by Barney Saltzberg and talked about how in art (and life) if you make a mistake sometimes you can turn it around into something even better. If you have not read this book - do. If you do not own it - you should. It's a real confidence booster and helps kids think of mistakes as opportunities rather than failures.
ANYWAY - I gave them 4"x6" watercolor paper, carbon paper, crayons and the option to either add water using a paintbrush or by dipping into a tub of water. They were to create a "Beautiful Oops" by allowing themselves to simply draw on the carbon paper, not knowing exactly what their final drawing would look like (since the carbon paper covered the transfer as they drew).
On a side note: This carbon paper sans water would be good for blind contour drawings as well...
Here are a couple pics of the results:
They remind me of Paul Klee!
That's it for now! Thought I would share since it turned out to be a very fun project!
