Art Time - Masking Tape Resist Painting

There's been a lot of this painting technique going on at other blogs and it's something I've been wanting to do with M for a while now. I really want to make his initial with it, but wanted to start off with a project where he just learns the basic technique.

He loves masking tape lately, we are finding small pieces of it all over our house, so I knew this would be a hit. :)

We used the shiny side of freezer paper to paint on. I knew the masking tape would peel off of this pretty easily. I'm wondering about using it on wax paper the same way. I bet the finished piece of art would look pretty hanging in a window!

First, it's always a good idea to tape the paper to the work surface. It just makes any kind of art so much easier for little hands. Then tear off several pieces of masking tape and stick them where your child will be able to get at them easily.

Explain how to put the tape on the paper in any design they want, or just randomly. At first M wanted to put the tape on the edge of the paper, as if he were taping the paper down. I had to show him that I wanted him to put the tape in the middle of the paper.

Next - paint, paint, paint! Let them do this as long as they want, and ask them to try to cover the entire piece of paper. M was very proud of himself when he got every little inch covered in paint.

Let it dry.

Then have them pull the pieces of tape off. You will probably have to start each piece for them. Hold the page up to the light if you are wondering if you've got them all. You'll be able to see the tape outlined if there is any left. It's a neat surprise for the child to realize what they've done, that they kept some of the page white by putting the tape on before painting.

The finished artwork:

It's beautiful to do with watercolors on watercolor paper, but we used regular tempera paints today. There's a lot of variety with this technique - you can use shapes cut from contact paper, or color with a white crayon and make a "mystery design".

Have fun! And have a beautiful day! :)