I bum out watching my daughter draw a self-portrait, or even a dog, stop midway, then scribble all over the entire thing in frustration because her picture doesn’t look “perfect.”
Maybe that’s why I am particularly fond of these new artist-created stencil kits that are more about being creative, and not so much about what the piece is “supposed to” look like.
Although the end results are pretty cool too.
{don’t miss a great art supply giveaway after the jump!}
After running a bunch of popular creative workshops featuring nature-inspired stencils, LA artist Karen Kimmel decided to make them available to everyone on her site, Kimmel Kids. Her first set, though lovely, were US-made of high quality plastic and just too expensive for most families to grab for their kids. So now she’s created more affordable set of art stencils which make a fantastic birthday gift, rainy-day project or just another set of craft supplies to add to your collection.
Using cost-effective paper-laminated chipboard for the stencils themselves, her first KimmelColors stencil sets are inspired by shapes found in the ocean. I love the coral and seashell inspired shapes, though I’m sure my kids could use them to make trees, flowers or whatever else they see in the shapes.
Or, as Karen might say, they should just draw without an end result in mind and see what happens. With such a beautiful, open-minded view of art, I foresee less scribbled-out pictures in our future. -Christina
Take a look at KimmelColors marine set of stencils, along with pencil cases, colored pencils and drawing books, at Kimmel Kids.
Thanks to everyone who entered this contest, and congratulations to Amanda N. — she won a marine-inspired stencil set from KimmelColors.
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