Connetix Construction Kit Review
Time has not been allowing me to create content for Artful Kids recently – a frustrating state of affairs since I have lots of new project ideas I would like to add, although one that I hope will not last too long. In spite of this I decided to try and make time to review this product when it was offered to me, because it appealed to me so much. Construction toys of various kinds are available in multiple shapes and sizes, but this one seemed to offer such a lot, and when it arrived I wasn’t disappointed. The box it arrived in was satisfyingly sturdy, and contained a colourful…
Pendulum Art Kit Review
Once again it’s been far too long since I last updated this blog, so when I was offered a product to review which I thought readers (and myself) might enjoy, I thought it offered an excellent excuse to create some new content. It’s not that I’m short of ideas for this, but simply the time to carry them out these days. You may have seen pendulum art before – there are lots of videos online showing it, and the concept is extremely simple. It’s also a fantastic fun and educational STEAM project for kids, since it combines both art and science. There is no doubt that if you are so…
European Artists Scratch Off Map Review
It’s a while since I last did a product review here, but when I was offered this one, I thought it was something that readers might be interested in – particularly people looking for art inspired Christmas gifts which are reasonably priced, educational, good to look at, and offer some lasting value. Scratch off posters and maps have become a popular product in recent years, but this one is a little different in that it can also operate as an educational game as well as a piece of wall art. I’ve not had experiencing of using anything other than standard promotional scratch-cards before, but there is undoubtedly something eminently satisfying…
Neon Body Paint Review
Using our own body as a canvas for artwork must be one of the oldest forms of art in existence. Whether it be for ritual, cultural, cosmetic, or purely aesthetic purposes, using paint or tattoos on the body is millennia old and has never really lost its popularity. Summer is the perfect time to experiment with it, and having purchased some body paint for a forthcoming event recently, I thought the recent spell of good weather would be an opportune time to try it out. The paints which I purchased were a set of dayglo paints, which also glow under UV light, and this gives them an added dimension which…
Review – You Will be Able to Draw ….
It’s been a while since I last did a book review, so when I was given the opportunity to review You Will be Able to Draw by the End of This Book by Jake Spicer, I thought it would be interesting to take a look. I should make it clear here that this book is not aimed at children, but with guidance could be used with older children. Drawing is one of the fundamental foundation skills of art – this is partly I think because the very act of drawing teaches us to observe, and to analyse what we see. However many people who want to draw and paint…
Drawing Projects for Children
There are no shortage of practical books about art out there for children, but speaking as someone whose first love in art is drawing, I was curious to review Drawing Projects for Children by Paula Briggs, (published by Black Dog) as there are not so many which focus on the act of drawing itself. This is not a book about ‘how to draw’ in the traditional sense, and is, I personally thought, all the better for it. Instead it is a truly creative book – the projects are aimed at encouraging children to explore different aspects of drawing for themselves – inviting them to think and create in different ways. Well-structured,…
The Little Factory of Illustration
It seems like reviews are a bit like buses on here at the moment – none for months and months, then 3 turn up at once. This was another case of an unusual and attractive product that seemed entirely appropriate for Artful Adventures to review. However I promise that the next post will not be a review of any kind, as I am now getting creativity withdrawal symptoms and am desperate to make the time for another project! The Little Factory of Illustration is described as a ‘Picture and Activity Book’ and is published by Tate Publishing. The book was written by Florie Saint-Val, and translated from the original french…
Snappets
A few of you may have seen these around the internet recently, as the inventor, Zachary Opaskar has been trying to raise funds via a Kickstarter project, to put them into full production, so apologies to those of you to whom these are not new. There are some fabulous creative projects on Kickstarter and the other crowd-funding platforms out there, but the secret to success on them – i.e raising the funding required (in addition of course to having a good project which appeals to people) seems to be about letting enough people know about what you’ve got. I’ve seen numerous worthwhile and/or creative projects fail to get the necessary…
Book Review – Origami For All
The whole recent trend for origami has been passing me by somewhat. I became interested in it as a child when it was popular back in the 1970’s (yes I am THAT old) but struggled somewhat to do most of the projects by myself – perhaps I wasn’t old enough, or more likely, as I usually do, tried to tackle the most complicated projects in the book. I’ve dabbled here and there since, but not being the neatest or most precise person in the world, often ended up with indifferent results which didn’t encourage me to do more. So when I was invited to review ‘Origami for All’ by Ioana…
Book Review: Fill in the Blank
I don’t often do reviews on Artful Adventures, in fact I think it’s been about a year since I last did one, at least in response to a direct invitation. This is partly because I don’t seek such invitations, and partly because those products which I am offered for review are rarely either relevant to my subject matter, or of any interest to me. However this one was different. I am a particular fan of books which encourage creativity, and I especially like the genre of Doodle books which invite you to add to them in some way. It’s not that I don’t like colouring books, which I think have…
Happy Accidents
‘By looking attentively at old and smeared walls, or stones and veined marble of various colours, you may fancy that you see in them several compositions, landscapes, battles, figures in quick motion, strange countenances, and dresses, with an infinity of other objects. By these confused lines, the inventive genius is excited to new exertions’. These are the words of Leonardo da Vinci – from his ‘Treatise on Painting’. As this quote proves, the use of the accidental or incidental to spark imagination is nothing new and has been used by artists for centuries. If it was good enough to help Leonardo spark his creativity, then it’s good enough for me.…
Make a World
I recently came across this book while browsing around the web. Apparently, although I’d never come across it before, it’s something of a classic, and was first published in 1972. It is one of a whole series of similar style books by the author Ed Emberley, all with different themes. It seems that this book in particular was quite influential, and helped shaped the visual culture of an entire generation of artists and designers. The book covers a vast amount of subject matter in its 32 pages, and 400 illustrations, and the completely visual instructions are well suited to children whose reading skills may not yet be that strong. The…
