Introduction:
Watercolor paints are made of pigments mixed with gum Arabic. Watercolors are known for their luminous transparency, although gouache is considered an opaque watercolor technique. The brushes used to apply watercolors are short handled and are usually made out of natural sable hair but synthetic brushes can also be used. Natural hair will absorb and hold more water than a synthetic brush. Watercolors can come in dry cakes or tubes of paste-like color. Both forms require plenty of watercolor Watercolor artists paint on special paper. Handmade or cotton rag papers, which are the most common, come in various weights (from 90# to 400#) and in various textures (hot press = smooth, cold press = some texture, and rough = very textured). Today we will learn basic watercolor techniques and experiment with different watercolor materials.

Materials:

Directions:
1. Preparation: Wet each piece of watercolor paper in a shallow pan and let it drip dry. Then pat it dry in between 2 towels until it is just damp. Sandwich it between 2 pieces of wax paper and lay it on a cookie sheet. Repeat this procedure with all the watercolor paper and put the cookie sheet in the freezer overnight.
2. Give each child a piece of frozen paper and let them paint on it with the watercolors. Have them paint in patterns, complimentary colors, winter designs etc. The watercolor will partially freeze when it touches the frozen paper but as the paper melts the watercolor will run and create its own interesting pattern. Put the paper aside and go to the postcards.
3. On the postcard draw a snow covered tree with a light pencil. Your tree can be a pine tree (triangular like a Christmas tree), or a tree that has a circular shape etc., but make sure that you draw small enough to get most of the tree on the postcard. Block in the areas where you want snow on the branches or on the ground. Now paint a layer of liquid Miskit on every area you want snow (this includes the background).
4. Paint the trunk of the tree and the leaves or needles whatever colors you want. Also paint the sky behind if you wish. Let the postcard dry completely. When it is thoroughly dry, peel off the Miskit to show the white of the paper underneath. Then send it through the mail with a postcard stamp as a winter hello to someone special!

Artspeech:
Pigments - a finely powdered coloring material used in making paint, printing ink, pastels, and a number of industrial products.
Gum Arabic - a gum obtained from various trees of the genus Acacia in Africa, Asia, and Australia. It is the medium for watercolors,
tempera, and in some ceramics, as well as in a number of confectionery and pharmaceutical products. Transparent - Transmitting light freely through a substance; clear and glasslike.
Gouache - Watercolor that has chalk added to it to make it opaque
Miskit (brand name) - also known as liquid Friskit. Used as a protection/ resist for watercolor washes, it is more easily removed from the paper than rubber cement.
Pattern - a decorative design , usually of a repeated figure or motif
Complimentary Colors - one pair of colors usually considered to be in extreme contrast to each other. Red and green, blue and orange, and yellow and violet are complementary.

Resources:
Kohl, MaryAnn and Jean Potter. Science Arts; Discovering Science Through Art Experiences. Bright Ring Publishing,Washington. 1993.

Mayer, Ralph. The Harper Collins Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques. Harper Collins Publishers, New York. 1991.

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