Some anticipate what they’re depicting before painting. Some are interested in how it works – putting the brush in the water, then rubbing it on the cake, then applying it to the paper.
They may perform experiments in color mixing, either swishing the brush around in every color of paint cake, or swishing it on a paint cake and then putting it back in the water. Or mixing colors on the paper.
It may be a sensory experience, with the brush rubbed and rubbed on the paper until it makes a hole.
The painting may gain significance as it’s being painted. A plaque beside a Jackson Pollack painting at the Worcester Art Museum says this: “His emphasis on spontaneity and the belief that the painting revealed itself to the artist as it was being created help elevate the act of painting to a level of importance equal to that of the finished picture.”
Or a painting may extended a dramatic play that is taking place.
We’ve already seen all of these approaches!
In case you’re wondering what to say when a child is painting, one good question is: “Tell me about your painting.” And then wait and see if s/he says anything – no response is perfectly acceptable, even if it’s not very satisfying!
Travers extends his penchant for dramatic play by declaring that he is painting a storm, something that he did on Thursday as well: It’s a storm. It’s a paper storm. Whoa, it’s a big storm! That’s a big storm so I got to flip it over and it sticks on (the table because it’s wet).
Kaya, Thomas, and others announce that they are painting storms as well. Interestingly, we see a weather theme emerge.
