Summer Zoom painting- My Galaxy

Hello again!

I really like today’s project. It always turns out so differently and unique to the individual. While tutorials that highlight skills are important and edifying, projects where personality shines through are my favorites. 

Small skill start- 

I had two things I wanted to talk about today. First, Nicole uses the terms ‘galaxy, universe, solar system’ all kind of interchangeably. I know your kids are very intelligent and would point out they’re not really the same thing, so we talked about how she was making a star system, because it was not the solar system (there is only only one solar system. It is this one. And it is named such because our sun’s name is Sol). This was to hedge off any ‘um, actually’ that might come up. We all know the scientific terms and let’s just focus on painting. 

The second point I wanted to make was about white watercolor. White watercolor is tricky because watercolor is supposed to be translucent for layering. You can’t make white and translucent paint. Most often, artists use the paper itself for white instead of resorting to paint, but one way it would be useful in our project today would be using it instead of plain water in the background for more bright, impactful ‘explosions”. 

After we finished painting, I mentioned that letting the paper dry thoroughly and using very concentrated white to draw lines and stars would work instead of using a gel pen. 

Painting together-

Today, we painted My Galaxy. Here are ours. 

The final step in this project is to use a gel pen to add small/fine details. You can use metallic paint, acrylic paint, very thick white watercolor, or a white colored pencil to achieve the result. Make sure your painting is very dry before attempting any of them, though. 

Our verse this week is Psalm 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. 

Just like our paintings all reflected the uniqueness of ourselves, the universe shows the majesty and creativity of our creator. 

At home practice-

This week’s at home is very simple. You’re going to make water explosions. 

Paint a wash. 

Add water to the top. 

Watch. 

This is more an experiment in observing how water moves and dries, how it reacts when it’s wetter or you add more water or they blend together. It’s just a really good practice in understanding you can’t control everything about watercolor. I need a lot of practice to remember I can’t control everything. 

I hope you have a blessed week. Maybe take some time to go observe the actual skies. See you next time!