Art Supplies

As far as art supplies go, there are so many that never make it to the "toy" shelves but make great kids' entertainment.

I saw one the other day in the Dick Blick catalog (no kidding, that's the name) and it was for some modeling compound that never dries out and always remains pliable.  This is NOT your typical Play Doh.  It was fairly cheap; I think somewhere around $8 for a large gob of it.  It is cheaper than therapy.

The commercial use for it is to create scale models of things, to see how they look and how they could be made to look better before you spend the big bucks. 

Another idea is some stuff that you can find in paint stores.  It is somewhat the same thing and can be used like a modeling compound.  I do think this one dries out though.  This one could be applied to canvas or paper and left to dry to create a more three-dimensional work of art.

As far as watercolors go, there are so many to choose from these days.  There are the cakes which some professional artists even like, the tubes which concentrate the color in an easy-to-use and carry form, and there are the liquids which are easy to blend.  They don't have to cost a fortune and again, make wonderful amusements for kids.  Get watercolor paper though; it does make a difference.

Good brushes are expensive, but there are a range of decent synthetic brushes that can be found in the art department.  The brushes that come with the typical Prang watercolor set just don't give the user a full range of possibilities.  The more fun a child has with something, the longer they stay with it.

Another cheap but fun idea is to use a little salt with watercolors.  When wet, sprinkle just a bit of salt on the painting and see what happens.  Kids will like this.  It is to paper what special effects is to movies.

Speaking of movies, we watched an older one (Rescue Dawn) last night about the true story of Dieter Dengler.  He was an American pilot (born in Germany) shot down in Laos and managed to survive 23 days in the jungle before being rescued.  It gives a very realistic feel for what the jungle must have been like, the heat, the wet, the unrelenting scourge of snakes and bugs (some of which he had to eat).  Apparently, one of the POWs who was housed with Dengler never made it back.  He'd been incarcerated for three years!  He was never heard from again and his family felt the portrayal of him was inaccurate.  Apparently, he had gone out of his way to be kind and generous with other POWs.  So that was one of the reasons why the film probably didn't get its due. 

So that's about it for today.  I think maybe if we can just survive another couple of weeks, we should see a change in the air temperatures.  At least that's what they are saying.  It may be we are surviving the coldest winter ever recorded.  Isn't that something?

Take care.  Stay warm.