Here are several resources I have regarding wet-on-wet watercolor painting for your review.

#1.  “Painting with Children” by Brunhild Muller.   48 pages.   The contents include:

Children and Colour

The Moral Effect of Color

Children painting with watercolors

Preparing to Paint – and yes, this does discuss those often-asked questions of how to mix the colors, distribute the colors, water jars, the size of the paper and how to prepare it, and some hints about choosing paintbrushes.

Painting the Colors, including colour stories, painting through the seasons, the background to colour stories, experiencing the colours, moods of nature, painting what you see

Painting with Plant Colours

Poems to Stimulate Painting

This book starts with sections regarding Steiner’s words regarding color and its effect on children, and Goethe’s Theory of Colors, and discusses the way children experience colors in the fairy tales. 

Some considerations:  I have enjoyed using this little book, and it is a quick and easy way to start with lots of color paintings done by children.  The pictures were helpful when I first started out in identifying what a typical four year old’s painting might look like.  Ideas for seasonal themes with verses that are typically Waldorf. Very Lovely to look at.

#2 – “Waldorf-Inspired Watercolor Painting with Children” by Anita Briggs and Nadia Tan; available through Barbara Dewey’s Waldorf Without Walls.  This is a 27-paged spiral bound book with the following contents:

The Changing Consciousness of the Child and Artistic Activity – Colors, Color Moods and Temperaments, Making Colors Come Alive (includes color verses and color experiments)

Painting in the Waldorf School

Getting Started with Wet on Wet Watercolor Painting – Basic approach, Painting Exercises to include single colors, color pairs, many colors, seasonal pictures, silhouettes against an evening sky, animal series, imagination series, and colored landscape patterns

Paintings – 5 pages of paintings in color.

Some considerations:  This booklet has many practical hints regarding wet on wet painting and if you sit down and read it very carefully you will find many tips you can use in your painting.  It would also be useful to paint through the painting exercises list in the last section of the book after the children are in bed and create your own world of color!  You can sometimes find this little booklet on some of the used Waldorf curriculum lists.   (It is only 27-pages long so some families may be happier buying  it used if available).

#3 – Painting in Waldorf Education by Dick Bruin and Attie Lichthart.  This 215-paged book comes with a DVD of painting images and the contents are as follows:

Painting in Education – including Introduction, Colors and their effects on people, the task of the teacher, Goethe’s theory of color, A journey through the color wheel: A concise theory of color for the teacher, painting and the senses, watercolor paints- painting techniques and materials and equipment

Kindergarten and Elementary Grades – including handling the curriculum and the basic exercises for the teacher.

Painting in the kindergarten with two basic exercises for the teacher and a section about “Play and Imitation”.

Painting in the first grade with an exercise for the teacher and a section called “A Journey of discovery through the land of color.”

Painting in the second grade with one teacher exercises and a sections regarding Complementary Colors and Color Mood and Color Movement.

Painting in the third grade with two exercises for teacher and a section entitled,” Drama in Color Experience.”

Painting in the fourth grade (subtitles in this chapter include “from soul-to-nature mood, Earth colors, mythology and landscape, Maps, animals and human figures) (also two exercises for the teacher)

Painting in the fifth grade which includes two exercises for the teacher and notes about experiencing processes, plants and trees, mythology, history and maps, landscape, animals and color perspective, annual festivals.

Painting in the sixth grade which includes “on the path to exact observation”, minerals and the veiling technique, flowers, landscapes and trees, “leaving an open space”, Indigo.

Painting in the seventh grade  which includes “exploring new worlds”, “Heavenly phenomena” and “Voyages of discovery”.

Painting in the eighth grade which includes two teacher exercises and the section entitled “Industrial activities and cultural landscapes.”

Black and white drawing in the sixth, seventh and eighth grades

Perspective and dissections in the seventh and eighth grades

HIGH SCHOOL

Introduction

Painting in the Ninth Grade, including three exercises for teacher and sections on “Durer as a source of inspiration for black and white drawing” and “Drawing and painting in connection with art history.”

Painting in the Tenth Grade, including two exercises for the teacher and the section, “Movement and order in black and white and color.”

Painting in the Eleventh Grade, including painting trees and plants in moods, the impression and the expression – various drawing techniques; shading, drawing plants, animals and people and a basic exercise for teacher.

Painting in the Twelfth Grade, including “The summation – The human: studies of the head.”

ADDITIONAL ASPECTS FOR THE DIDACTICS OF THE PAINTING LESSON

Lesson preparation, post-discussion, temperaments

Curative and pedagogical painting

USE OF COLOR IN OTHER LESSONS AND IN SCHOOL BUILDING–

Drawing, form-drawing, crafts, needlework and drama

Rudolf Steiner’s color advice for the school building

SOURCES

Rudolf Steiner’s color lectures

The School sketches by Rudolf Steiner as described by Fritz Weitmann

AFTERWORD

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF SELECTED TITLES IN ENGLISH

Some considerations: A lot here to keep you busy throughout the grades, but lots of text with no pictures (black and white plates in the front of what is on the CD so those are the only pictures).  This book really deserves and  needs your attention, focus, and sitting down to try these exercises yourself!  Worth your money. 

#4 – “How to Do Wet-on Wet Watercolor Painting and Teach It to Children” by Rauld Russell, xeroxed with color cover and tied with ribbon; 43 pages long, available through Marsha Johnson of Shining Star School in Portland, Oregon through her Yahoo!Group waldorfhomeeducators@yahoogroups.com.  Proceeds from sale of this book go to Shining Star School.

Lesson 1 – Yellow (goes into painting preparation as well)

Lesson 2 – The Rainbow

Lesson 3 – Blue

Lesson 4- Red

Lesson 5 – Green

Lesson 6 – Sunrise

Lesson 7 – Sunset

Lesson 8 – Blue-Violet

Summary

PART TWO

Lesson 9 – The Suffering of Light

Lesson 10- The Deed of Color

Lesson 11- The Color Circle

Lesson 12- The Color Combinations: Yellow and Green,

Lesson 13:  Yellow and Blue

Lesson 14:  Yellow and Violet

Lesson 15:  Vermillion, Crimson and Blue in Green

Lesson 16: Complementary Colors

Summary (gives suggestions for colors for the four seasons, the four elements, the cycle of day and night, landscapes and seascapes, the four temperaments, etc. and themes to choose from to paint).

PART THREE

Teaching Children

Pre-School and Kindergarten

Grade 1

Grade 2

Grade 3

Color Stories

Grade 4-5

Grade 6-7

Grade 8

Summary

LAST WORD

APPENDIX (lists all supplies you will need to complete this course)

Some considerations:  An excellent course for you to start to paint by, ideas for how to prepare, set up, verses, focus for each grade…Worth the price even if it is a xerox copy and such.

I know many of you out there have these resources, please do leave a comment in the comment section as to what you liked and didn’t like about these books as these reviews are only my opinion and may not resonate with everyone!

Thanks, and happy painting!!