25 Days of Art: Thumbprint Art

I've gone on at length about my love of Ed Emberley's drawing books before. They are the greatest. But whenever I mention them in story time, or read Go Away Big Green Monster, the parents all remember him from his tumbprint art books; books that I had never really sat down and used before now.Part of the goal for 25 Days of Art is to highlight different parts of the collection- art and craft books that can be checked out, biographies of artists, even fiction that relates to the theme of the day. So for today's project, I brought down the tumbprint books from the 730s, laid out some ink pads and markers and let the kids go crazy. it's incredible how different and unique pictures can be when they spring from the same basic smudge.

Supplies:
-Ed Emberley's Great Thumbprint Drawing Book (optional)
-ink pads
or
-washable markers
-paper
-markers (sharpies or fine tip work best, but fat washable ones will do in a pinch)

Prep:
NONE

Process:
Using the ink pad or the washable marker, get ink all over your thumb (or other finger) and press it down on the piece of paper. You can usually get about 3 good prints from each ink application. After you've got enough prints to start, pick up a marker and start turning those thumbprints into something beautiful. The Emberley book has some great suggestions and you can always come up with your own. Make a mish-mash scene like I did above, or a coherent scene like below.

Miss Lucy's Example:

Kid Art: 

Bibliography:

-Ed Emberley's Great Thumbprint Drawing Book by Ed Emberley