I help with a creative activities team with a local MOPS group. I really joined it because I think the leader does an excellent job of making projects and activities accessible to large groups of people--I wanted to learn what she does better! It's been fun working with her and the others on the team.Wine and Canvas and other activities have been so popular the last couple of years. The leader (who is also a graphic designer and makes adorable baby textile items on the side) found an idea of a dandelion and knew that she could lead about 50 women in making this on the cheap. Impressive! We got together to try it out before hand to have a few examples and see how it would work with the larger group. She had canvases out, paints and brushes available, and all our spots set up. She just used cups to prop up our canvas--super easy! I wondered how to do that many easels myself.
We started with our background colors, layering a few if desired. I mixed lime green and a turquoise (some of my favorite colors) and just brushed it all across, using just the green or just the turquoise in some spots. Then we made a ball and stem for dandelion. I did mostly brown with a little black. It reminded me of mixing hues and shades of different colors in art classes in high school and college. It's been a while since I played with so much paint! To be honest, I didn't like the way the stem looked; however, I knew it would be changing shape soon.
For the dandelion, I used mostly white with a little cream mixed in. Our fearless leader had us use a number 4 brush for this part. We started in the middle and then spread in outward.
We kept filling the spots in and then did oblong dots on the ends of the spirals and along the fluffs. I wasn't sure about this in the beginning, but it started pulling it all together. I added a few floaters off to the side.
Everyone's turned out so differently, though the general concept was the same.
