Car Canvas

I love the fact that my toddler has started to show a real interest in drawing objects rather then just scribbling. This outdoor car canvas painting was a novel way of feeding his new found passion as well as his love of cars.

The completed car canvas painting.

What you need:

- easel (not totally necessary but my toddler loved feeling like a 'professional painter')

- canvas

- selection of acrylic paints

- selection of brushes

- pots of water

- your car

How it works:

My son is obsessed with telling the whole world and its dog that we have a 'dark blue Jeep Cherokee'. He has also recently learnt how to draw cars. Combine his love of our Jeep and his newly found drawing skills and we have a brilliant activity for a sunny day.

We parked up our Jeep and set up my son's easel, canvas, paints, water and brushes on his activity table a little distance back from the car. He was so excited when he realised he was going to be painting the Jeep on a canvas. He had never painted on a big canvas with an easel before so this was also very exciting. First off I asked my son to fill his paint palette with the colours he could see on the Jeep and in the background.

Choosing his paints.

Next we got set up in front of the canvas and talked about what we could see. At first all my son could see was the details of the Jeep. He did a great job describing the car but then I asked what else could he see. He went on to talk about the background trees. 

He started his painting by adding a few of the background trees. I tried not to give much direction at all as I really wanted it to be his painting and this paid off as he loved the independence and did a great job studying the scene and adding the details.

Adding the initial details to his canvas.

We talked a little about the shape of the car but he was very confident doing this part by himself.

Artist at work.

Once the basic car shape was there he studied the car and added the details such as wheels and lights. He was very careful to choose the right colours from his palette.

Studying the details on the wheels.

Painting the wheels.

Adding the detail to his wheels.

Once my son was happy that he had added all of the details to his painting he finished off by adding a little more background scenery.

Putting the finishing touches to his painting.

He was so proud of his finished masterpiece. It was a lovely process watching him study the Jeep and work so hard to transfer his vision onto the canvas. He isn't always one for sticking with a task so it was particularly nice to see him wanting to finish this and create a painting that was completely his own work.

Proud artist.

'Jeep' by W.A.B., aged 3yrs 10 months.

This was such a nice project for a sunny day and certainly one we will do again. Perhaps his beloved bike will be the subject next time.