Sticks Around

We had so much fun with our last Family Street Art project, we just had to do it again!  However, the kids didn't want to simply repeat everything exactly as before.  So instead of painting rocks again, this time we mixed things up by using sticks.  The interesting shapes inherent in the sticks turned out to be great imagination boosters!

I collected sticks washed up along the beach and painted them with 4 different solid base colors.  We used acrylics this time, and hopefully they'll last longer.  I don't even know what kind of paint we had last time around - but whatever it was didn't hold up well.  Any rocks that didn't get immediately snatched up were pretty sad looking weeks later after a few rainfalls.

Isaac (age 13) painted on the blue ones, Gracie (age 11) painted the orange ones, Lily (age 8) painted the pinks, and I painted the yellows.  We each had 8 sticks to work with.  The kids really stepped it up this time too - painting very carefully and adding lots of little details and clothes and patterns.  (I think they were encouraged by all the attention that first post got!)

Here are some closeup shots:






After a few days of painting, we hit the town and scattered our colorful friends around.  It was really hard to part with them this time!  But we smiled while thinking of the folks who will see them as they pass by, and we know lots of them are bound to get picked up and find new homes.

We hope you enjoy them as well!  Here are photos of some of them out in the wild:


























 
** Check out ROUND ONE **
** Check out ROUND THREE **

Buzz!

 

Lego Wasp
by Isaac

Boo

Little Creepy Monsters
by Elijah

Nuts!

Squirrel Attack
by Lily

Steampunk

Metal Monster
by Isaac

Isaac recently discovered the world of Steampunk and was inspired to draw this.  I'm not sure what that contraption is exactly... but it sure looks cool!

"Ferocious" by Isaac

"Ferocious" for Illustration Friday
by Isaac, age 13

It's Smaug from The Hobbit!

"Ferocious" for Illustration Friday

 
We recently read "The Book of Three" by Lloyd Alexander together as a family.  Afterward, the kids drew pictures of what they thought the Horned King would look like.  Ferocious!


by Lily, age 8


by Isaac, age 13


by Gracie, age 11

"Mesmerizing" by Lily

"Mesmerizing" for Illustration Friday
by Lily, age 8

It can be hard for people to pull away from the TV...

"Mesmerizing" by Gracie

"Mesmerizing" for Illustration Friday
by Gracie, age 11

The girl is so mesmerized by the flying unicorn, she doesn't notice what's happening behind her...

Snoopy & Woodstock

I love the site 5 Minute Marvels where dad Tim spends 5 minutes drawing with his kids -- and encourages other parents to give it a shot too.  So we did!  Gracie, Elijah, Evie, and I spent 5 minutes drawing Snoopy and Woodstock together (Gracie is a big Snoopy fan), and we were honored to be featured on 5MM's 400th post.

Medieval

Warrior Girl and Griffin
by Gracie

for dessert

Carrot Cake
by Elijah

I do declare, that's the cutest piece of carrot cake I ever did see.

5 Year Celebration!

The month of August marks 5 years of sharing the Z-Kids' art on Chicken Nugget Lemon Tooty!  I estimate there are over 650 pictures here by now.  I love watching the kids' work grow and change over the years -- the creativity never ceases to amaze me.

Two years ago we celebrated the site's 3 year anniversary with an open call for visitors to create a piece of "Fan Art" based on the pictures from the archives.  The *Result!* was amazing, fun, and such an honor.  Since the 5 year mark is now upon us, I thought folks might enjoy another celebration.

If you would like to play along, it's easy:  
1. Dip into the blog's archives,  
2. Find a favorite picture,  
3. Use it as a starting place for your own riff.  Then you can email me the image or send me a link to where I can find it on your own site. (zenzart at hotmail dot com)  I'll keep taking submissions as long as people keep sending them.

You could view all this as material for a little morning warm-up sketch, or as fodder for a portfolio update, or as a creative challenge like "Illustration Friday."  Whatever the motivation, I hope you have lots of fun and find yourself as inspired by the kids as I am :)

Let the game begin!



8/10/06 -- by Gracie at age 6:

by Jarrett Krosoczka:



1/20/07 -- by Isaac at age 8:

by Doug Jones:



12/17/07 -- by Gracie at age 7:

by Sarah Countiss:



5/18/08 -- by Lily at age 5:

by E.A. Womack:



5/25/08 -- by Gracie at age 7:

by April Silva:



6/24/08 -- by Gracie at age 7:

by Stacy Gray:



6/22/08 -- by Isaac at age 9:

by 12 year old Cooper:



4/23/09 -- by Isaac at age 10:

by 12 year old Aedan:



9/6/09 -- by Gracie at age 9:

by Emiliano Salmon:



11/7/09 -- by Elijah:

by E.A. Womack:



11/27/09 -- by Isaac at age 11:

by Kerry Stewart:



11/30/09 -- by Isaac at age 11:

by Nina Crittenden:



12/4/09 -- by Isaac at age 11:

by Dad:



3/8/10 -- by Elijah at age 4:

#1 by Deborah Freedman:

#2 by Eric Barclay:



4/30/10 -- by Elijah at age 4:

#1 by Gala Amber:

#2 by Kim Hui:



7/9/10 -- by Lily:

by Dad:



7/22/10 -- by Elijah at age 4:

by Charise Harper:



7/25/10 -- by Elijah at age 4:

by Dad:



10/13/10 -- by Lily at age 7:

#1 by Nigel Bell:

#2 by Kim Hui:



10/13/10 -- by Gracie at age 10:

by Dad:



10/24/10 -- by Elijah at age 5:

by Kerry Stewart:



10/25/10 -- by Gracie at age 10:

by Josh Alves:



11/18/10 -- by Isaac at age 12:

by Juan Manuel Pedraza:



1/10/11 -- by Lily at age 7:

by Rossichka:



2/12/11 -- by Lily at age 7:

by Kerry Stewart:



2/18/11 -- by Gracie at age 10:

#1 by J.C. Phillipps:

#2 by Melinda Beavers:

#3 by Sharon Wagner:



2/24/11 -- by Elijah at age 5:

by Peter Guckes:



2/24/11 -- by Elijah at age 5:

by Rossichka:



2/24/11 -- by Elijah at age 5:

by Lorraine Rocha:



3/15/11 -- by Gracie at age 10:

by Valerie Lorimer:



3/25/11 -- by Lily at age 8:

by Juan Manuel Pedraza:



5/13/11 -- by Gracie at age 10:

by Grace (age 8) and Tim Miner:



6/7/11 -- by Gracie at age 10:

by Chris Kennett:



6/7/11 -- by Elijah at age 5:

by Juan Manuel Pedraza:



6/27/11 -- by Gracie:

by Kerry Stewart:



6/27/11 -- by Lily:

by Scott Spinks:



7/6/11 -- by Gracie at age 10:

#1 by Juan Manuel Pedraza:

#2 by Asyera Sidauruk:



7/11/11 -- by Isaac at age 12:

by Joost Haakman:



7/25/11 -- by Evie at age 3:

by Dad: