Media & Techniques

Tube Watercolors for the Classroom: Plus a Giveaway!

{This giveaway is closed to entries- Congrats to Keri who is the winner of this giveaway!}

Tube watercolors remain one of my favorite art supplies to create my own art with, but I hadn’t considered adding them into the classroom until I found the  Fantasia® Watercolors from Sakura. I don’t know how we get these ideas in our head that some art supplies are for adults and others only for children, but the truth of the matter is, kids can have success (and sometimes even more success) with advanced materials. Getting out of our own habits can be a really good thing.

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First, I like the idea of tube watercolors for students because it’s less messy. The paint stays put, and students can learn to either create their own intensity of color by adding more paint to the water in the palette, or you can even pre-mix the colors with water at the intensity you choose and store them in cups.

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Many of my art projects actually LIMIT student color choices, especially at the younger grades. For example, when doing Chinese Vase Paintings, I only allow students to use blue. I spent countless prep periods popping blue water colors out of their palette to separate them from the rest of the colors to avoid brown mud. I found watered town tempera to be just way to gunky and messy. With the tube watercolors you don’t have to! Just pick the color to dispense and you’re done!

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The idea of a homemade “Paint with Water Pages” is attainable using a product like this. The colors can dry up over time on a plastic paint palette and become instantly re-invigorated with the addition of water. For you, this means less waste. I also find the small size of the tubes are great for storing and a little truly goes a long way.

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A very common problem of many art teachers is their water color palettes aren’t bright enough on the paper. Although some brands are better than others in this regard, I think the solution may lie in using an entirely different product to get the job done.

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Lucky for all of you, the fabulous people at Sakura are giving an entire class pack (over a $100 value) of Fantasia tube watercolors to one lucky reader.

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To Enter:
Comment on this post – What type of watercolors do you use in your classroom?  Tell us your watercolor ideas/struggles. How might tube watercolors benefit you?

Be sure to include your email address when you fill out the comment form so we have a way to contact you if you are the lucky winner. This giveaway will be closed on Friday, May 31st at Midnight. The winner will be chosen by random.org.

Good Luck! 

Magazine articles and podcasts are opinions of professional education contributors and do not necessarily represent the position of the Art of Education University (AOEU) or its academic offerings. Contributors use terms in the way they are most often talked about in the scope of their educational experiences.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jessica Balsley

Jessica Balsley is AOEU’s Founder and a former AOEU Writer and elementary art educator. She is passionate about helping art teachers enhance their lives and careers through relevant professional development.

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