If you’ve ever tried your hand at creating abstract art, you may have wished you could just turn off your brain and get your Crayola on like a kid again. Been there! But amidst my frustration, I had a fun idea. Why not actually get some markers and let Lucy do just that?
I’d love some fancy modern art for my walls, and would love it even more if my toddler created it. So I set her loose with some washable markers, and then worked a little copy machine magic to transform her scribbles into modern art.
Okay, so here’s how the art making process went down. I dragged Lucy’s play table into the dining room (where the light is prettier), and she started getting really excited. Something special was going to happen, she just knew it. More like something magical really. Magic markers, you see. Why are these markers magic? Well… I’ve never thought about it until I started typing it out. Maybe because they’re amazingly washable? I basically let Lucy go to town on several pieces of cardstock, black marker getting on herself and the table in the process. She became a little concerned about the marker on her hands and table, but we wiped it all down, and it magically disappeared. So that’s why they’re called magic markers! Good to know. (First time mom here, obviously.)
Lucy is two years old and finally interested in making art. When I gave her the paper, she excitedly sat down and then thought about what she was going to do for a second. It was hilarious to watch. She would slowly move her marker, then quickly begin to scribble, then make dotted marks, à la Georges Seurat. She’s obviously going to be a famous painter one day.
When Lucy was finished, I chose my favorite of her scribble sheets and did a little copy machine trickery. Using my Canon printer, I blew up the portion of the page I liked most, then took it to a copy shop to have it enlarged to fit an Ikea frame I had on hand. I also inverted the colors for extra drama. The other pink and orange piece was made with some Photoshop layer magic— the orange layer used the “lighten” blend mode over top of the pink layer, which used the “multiply” blend mode. But if you want to do something similar, the look could easily be replicated by using colored markers and cardstock.
Pretty fun, huh? I might try making more fun colors and giving small prints of them to family for Christmas. Of course, I’ll keep the originals because they might be worth lots of money one day. –Mandi
Credits // Author and Photography: Mandi Johnson. Photos edited with Stella and Valentine from the Signature Collection and Pearl from the Fresh Collection.
I absolutely love love this!!!! Phil and Chris Stupeck were telling me about this wall art transformation that you came up with!!! You are amazing!!!! These will be great gift jdeas for Christmas!!!! Thanks you!!!!
This is such a cute idea! I save pretty much any scrap of paper given to me by anyone, so it’d be great to turn my nieces’ and nephews’ scribbles (and one day, my son’s) into fun art for the walls! Also, I cannot believe Lucy is two already! She’s growing so fast!
xo
Kristina
www.eccentricowl.com
Question, did the printer invert the colors or did she did it herself??
so cute!
xx nikki
www.dream-in-neon.com
I like this! I will probably do these.
Such a gorgeous idea! I love the idea of inverting the colours, great way to make a totally custom and unique print, they’d make lovely gifts too.
http://www.cassandramyee.com/
It’s a set of two from Overstock, and they have other colors too. -Mandi
Great idea. Where did you get that cute pink kid’s chair?
They look lovely! Such a great idea!
www.peonyandpeach.blogspot.com
This is wonderful!!!!
I love this! I’m saving it for when my little lad gets older!
What a wonderful idea and Lucy is adorable! 🙂
Very cute art prints! I love displaying kids’ artwork in our house.
So cool! Pinning this!
Beth at LWC Wonderland
Scribbles = gribouillis in french. Nice isnt’ it?
This does indeed look incredible!
Beautiful idea, I’ll be sharing this on my blog’s FB page this week!
Oh my gosh! That is adorable and actually looks great. I think I may try and get my little sister to do something like this for me.
This is really cool. Good idea!
Haha! This is adorable! Great idea! xo
heartoffnowhere.blogspot.com