Tape Resist Process Art: Creating Animal Patterns

For our first zoo themed art project, I knew I wanted to have Kingston recreate some of the animal prints that he explored the other day using our Animal Texture Board. I wanted to do a tape resist project that focused more on process art than product (although I do like the finished result!) Using cardstock and masking tape, I made my version of a tiger and a zebra pattern.

(Left - Tiger / Right - Zebra)

Before we painted, I read Kingston "Just Like Daddy", and let him touch the texture of the stripes on both the tiger and zebra.

   

I also had him feel the tiger and zebra on our Animal Texture Board. I wanted to familiarize him with the animal print patterns that he would be recreating.

Then it was time to paint! I gave Kingston the tiger paper first. I squirted some orange fingerpaint in between each stripe and Kingston went right for it. I explained to him that he was painting a tiger and that he was using the color orange. Yes, I am aware that tigers are not orange with WHITE stripes, (and also that zebras are not black with white stripes), but the entire point of this art project was the process. My goal was for K to see the difference between the patterns and also the colors that were primarily used to create the pattern. This would be a great project for a toddler or preschooler too. I feel like I could create a lot of different activities based off of this one.

Recently, Kingston has gotten even more skilled with his painting. He used to just slap it all around, but I've noticed over the past couple of months that he has really started to paint with a purpose. He surveys the paper and tries to push the paint into any of the empty spots. My sweet little boy is quite the budding artist!

After he painted his tiger, I took out the zebra paper. I explained to him that he was making a zebra and that a zebra was black and white. Then I pointed both colors out on the paper. 

When he was done, I let the painting dry before pulling off the tape. The result could not accurately be called a tiger OR a zebra, but they are still fun prints and this activity definitely allowed K to explore animal patterns more in depth. 

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