I am so excited to share with you my first ever TIME-LAPSE VIDEO of my Annual Collaborative Mural Painting! This year the theme was " Hot Air Balloon Magic". I looked at many images for inspiration. Most ideas came from three main artists; Joey Chou, a current Disney Illustrator, Mary Blair, a Disney Illustrator from the 50's, and Ton Schulten, my favorite abstract landscape painter.
ENJOY!!!
I have done this for about 10 years now. I used to have students paint a flower garden. They could paint any kind of flower, anywhere, any color. Doing a mural that way is more creative for students but it runs into some issues. It is not a smooth process, there are arguments about location, size, colors. Then if someone does not finish, they are upset when someone finishes it differently than they planned. You can see the headache it can become.
I started 6 years ago drawing a mural around a school wide theme. First year, I let students paint in certain areas with warm colors, other areas cool colors. It was okay, but looked very unorganized. Then, 3 years ago, my classes were taken from 60 to 45 minutes. Game changer, I began creating a large paint by number. I mix lots of colors, this year 21 color wheel colors.
I tell students, "I get to be the artist! My vision, my work of art, you are going to help me paint it!". THEY LOVE THIS! It has made this experience so fun! Everyone likes having a color with a number. No arguing, no issues! They have a blast and feel proud of being a part of something huge.
I number part of the mural first, let the colors get filled in, then decide how to number the rest of the areas. Students paint way faster than you expect! If yo see me in the video working, I am numbering, not painting. I try to keep up with their pace!
DONE!!!