Whale Watercolor Relief - Kindergarten

Whale watercolor reliefs are always a fun way to kick-off the art program in Kindergarten. The kids are always so surprised when they see their wax crayon or oil pastel image popping through the watercolor paint. It's so much fun!

INSTRUCTOR:
Shawna K.

GOAL:
My main goal with this project was not only to create something fun and interesting, but also to teach them about a variety of different art mediums and different art supplies.  They learned about how to take care of their paint brushes and the differences in the types of paint, what a sketch is, etc.  It was a brief but thorough introduction to the subject of art. 

SUPPLIES:
What you will need: pencils, 9x12 watercolor paper, liquid watercolors in various shades of blue, black and white wax crayons or oil pastels, large watercolor paint brushes, salt, and smocks.

INSTRUCTIONS:
To begin, have the children draw their whale step-by-step in pencil. They can draw a "mountain" for the back, a "smiley" for the belly, triangles for the fins, etc. They will also want to draw a line through the middle of the whale so they can color the top portion black and the bottom portion white. Some students may want to add other elements to their drawing such as smaller fish and seaweed.

When they are done drawing, they can start coloring. Be sure the students are coloring thoroughly because any portion of their whale that is not colored will turn blue with the watercolor paint. When they are done coloring, they can paint over the entire sheet of paper with the liquid watercolors. [Note: a little bit of liquid watercolors go a long way. The paint can be diluted with quite a large amount of water and still be vibrant]. Before the paint dries, the students can shake salt over their image. Some people use rock salt, but I prefer plain old table salt or sea salt. Each granule will soak up some paint, leaving behind shapes full of shades and textures that look like bubbles. It is just perfect for underwater scenes!

TIPS:
Be very mindful of students who are clearly using too much paint.  If it's too wet, their paper will be ruined and Kindergarteners have a tendency to go overboard.  Also, I put the salt into tiny indiviual salt shakers so the students wouldn't have to hunt down the salt.  Some students don't use enough paint and thus it will be dry before they put on the salt.