I’m a pretty laid back person and encourage my children to always try new things. Not much irritates me or has made me fret over how white my carpets are or how clean the floors are. This peaceful aura was only accomplished after having raised five daughters, mostly on my own. However, several years ago we tried an art project that made me wish I had a time machine that would transport us back to the day before I conceived this bright idea.
A fan of the Charlotte Mason method, I loved teaching my children about classical music, books, and artists. A favorite book of mine is DK’s Art: A World History. This monster packs 712 pages and weighs a hefty 6.1 pounds. Each week we would choose a famous painter or sculptor and I would read about his or her life. Then we’d set out to make our own works of art.
One week I decided to focus on Renoir. I went to our local Michael’s craft store to purchase canvas boards, oil paints, thinner, and linseed oil. Right away I noticed that these supplies were much more expensive than pastels, watercolors, or acrylics. However, I wanted my kids to have experiences with as many art mediums as possible.
Knowing that oil paints were messy, I laid down newspapers and had the kids put on their most ragged T-shirts. As my girls picked which painting they wanted to duplicate, I prepared their paints on Styrofoam plates (back when I used them) and tended to my own project as well.
To say that oil paints are messy is an understatement. Try as we might, we still got the paint everywhere. My youngest dropped her canvas and it landed, paint-side down, on the dog. It took several days for the paintings to dry, and the colors looked very muddy. Nobody was satisfied with their work and our kitchen table still bears the marks of our failed attempt at oil painting. While I thought we were diligent in cleaning the brushes, by the time we went to take on a new project the bristles were dry and stuck together.
Over the years I’ve collected a nice array of wannabe Picassos, Van Goghs, Warhols, and Cassatt’s, just to name a few. But after our experience with oil paints, we stuck to acrylics.