Process art with very organic beginnings

I observed Little P with his little spray bottle and a nylon bristle that apparently came out of his hard bristle broom for the balcony. He kept using it to scratch (?) , stroke(?) , tickle(?) various surfaces that he said he was cleaning.

I suppose I could reiterate and show him how to clean using a spray bottle and a cleaning cloth or squeegee or whatever you like to use in your family. But I felt his interest lies more in experimenting with the strip of nylon bristle that he found.

I suppose I could let him just continue with his experiments at cleaning, but the way he is doing it is definitely not the way I would like him to clean. So I thought about how I could redirect his interest in the nylon bristle and I came up with painting as the answer.

Process art using a nylon bristle

And thus, here are the art materials: one nylon bristle (on the paper), one drawing paper, water and paint. The spray bottle is for cleaning up afterwards.

The process art materials used in our art session inspired by a nylon fibre. One nylon fibre (on the paper), one drawing paper, water and paint. The spray bottle is for cleaning up afterwards. — The art materials used in our art session inspired by a nylon fibre.

We used green and blue paint because he keeps asking for these two colours. These came out of a set of six washable Crayola finger paint bottles that I got from Amazon.

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Little P had of course never seen a nylon bristle being used as a tool to paint before. Neither had I (lol). But isn’t process art all about the process?

The art is focused on the experience and on exploration of techniques, tools, and materials
How process-focused art experiences support preschoolers

Process art experiment with nylon bristle

So here I go modeling drawing with a nylon bristle to Little P. As usual Little P asked for a car, specifically for me to draw a pickup truck. With experimentation, I found it easier to stamp and make lines with the nylon bristle than draw like a brush or pencil. But round wheels posed quite a bit of problem to stamp!

The final process art painting waiting to dry. — The final nylon fibre painting waiting to dry.

I also stamped grass and a very skeletal swing that he was able to identify without problems!

Round two. Little P asked for a limousine. I was still a bit stumped on the wheels and then it struck me! I had been using the straight end of the nylon bristle for stamping straight lines, but the other end was round and could be used to stamp circles!!

The round end of the nylon fibre being used to stamp circles for our process art. How lucky that it was round! — The round end of the nylon bristle being used to stamp circles. How lucky that it was round!

I drew a long limousine with two wheels without too much difficult. Added rain for effect. :P *Mom feels artistic!*

My artwork was not final. Little P continued to request helper to draw using the nylon strip and this is how our process art ended up. :P — My artwork was not final. Little P continued to request helper to draw using the nylon bristle and this is how it ended up. :P

And this was our process art session, inspired by Little P’s little nylon bristle.

Final note

It was of course mostly the adults doing the painting as Little P was more comfortable to be the observer at this stage. This seems to be the way he likes to operate. I modeled painting with fingers, with brushes for a few months before he felt comfortable drawing painting/drawing by himself.

We model concentration through creation – this is the most genuine way to display to little ones the joy of mindfulness.
@ourmindfulpod

And even now he likes to take turns drawing, rather than doing it wholly by himself.

So this process art is not exactly created by the little one, but it certainly was “an invitation to bond” as he requested for the cars he wanted to see drawn.