Cindy Crushes Programming: Mushroom Paint and Sip

The following pieces of art were created by the Romeoville teens  in my most recent teen program.

I am not an artist. I know my talents lay in crafts. My teens were asking for some art and I said that  I will try and so we had a cottagecore painting night. Since the Cottagecore aesthetic is so popular, I thought this was as good of a starting place as any. I picked an image of a mushroom house I liked and that was the goal. (Editor’s note: This could also be a fun tie in for The Last of Us and its killer mushrooms.)

Supplies

• Paint
• Brushes
• Canvas
• Pencils 
• Juice

Before Steps

1 We painted the canvas blue beforehand, so they could focus on their mushroom. A really quick way to do this would be to buy spray paint and mass spray paint the canvases on a back lot and let them dry.

2. We printed out stencils of mushroom and snails to help save time.

During the Program

I  was really honest and I told the teens I would try to help but painting is not my number one skill. I was lucky and they were wonderful. They didn’t need my help at all and created some amazing art. To do this, follow these next steps:

1. Trace the shape on the canvas. 
2. Do the first layer of paint. Let them be creative. There are no wrong mushrooms. 
3. Let the paint dry and apply a different layer. 
4. Repeat step three as often as you need.

Honestly, the teens blew me out of the water. They were amazing and I realized I did not have to be an artist to run this program. The point was having fun and making a piece of art and we succeeded. I am going to do this regularly now. 

For more canvas fun, check out these posts

Filed under: Art, Canvas