As an elementary art teacher, I am always looking for fun and clever ways to teach young artists. I noticed that students of all ages often use paintbrushes with a heavy hand. To illustrate the idea of painting lightly and keeping a paintbrush on its 'tippy toes', I came up with The Paintbrush Ballerina.
When introducing this idea, I told artists that their brush is 'like a ballerina, always on her tippy toes'. Immediately they were able to recognize if they were holding their paintbrush correctly and with the right amount of pressure. With this and other proper painting concepts in mind, I wrote The Paintbrush Ballerina.
Inside the pages of this 8.5" X 11", 42-page children's book, artists will learn all about using their paintbrush from how to hold it, clean it, load it with paint and know why it might be making scratchy lines. They'll also learn that not knowing all of these things is okay! This is why we keep trying.
The bright and bold illustrations will allow young artists to easily understand and learn.
In this book, I poured all of my paintbrush instruction into a fun rhyming story. As narrated by a paintbrush who claims:
'I was squashed by an artist
Who painted with me today!
And now it seems I'm only fit
For the Bootie Scootie Ballet!'
Note: Legend has it that the Bootie Scootie Ballet is where paintbrushes whose bristles have been smooshed and smashed are left to live out their days. It's a sad state of paintbrush affairs.
Like Larry the Line and Alfred the Ape Knows his Shapes, this book is over 40 full color pages of fun and rhyme that will leave your artists asking you to 'Read It Again!' It's the perfect addition to any elementary classroom.
