Why my students paint on paper
I know some children’s art studios have their young artists paint on canvases for each project, and I will sometimes have my students paint on a canvas, but I prefer to have my students painting on paper for a number of reasons.
Paper is smooth. Many children find the texture of a canvas frustrating. It is much harder for them to paint smooth edges and thin lines on a canvas, and this easily leads to them feeling frustrated and that they are not good enough at art. Paper takes this challenge away.
Paper doesn’t feel as precious as a canvas. When given a canvas many people feel intimidated by it, or they feel a pressure to create something ‘wall worthy’, and this can cause creativity to be stifled. Students feel less pressure with a piece of paper.
Paper is easy to store. If students are with me for a while, they very quickly gain a collection of artworks. If all artworks were on a canvas, then there is the challenge at home of running out of wall space to hang all of the artworks. However, if an artwork has been created on paper, then many completed artworks can be easily stored in a display folder which can be brought out at any time and shared with others.
Artworks on paper are easy to display and change. Creating a painting, drawing, collage, etc, on paper doesn’t mean that they can’t be put out on display for all to see. In my classes almost all finished artworks are A4 in size, which means that they can be easily popped into an off-the-shelf, store bought frame and put out on display. And when you are ready to change out that artworks for another one, it is as easy as changing the work in the frame, and popping the previous artwork in the display folder to keep it safe and ready to pull out and share at any time in the future.
Paper is a great stepping stone to painting on a canvas. Paper is easy to access, and it’s affordable, meaning parents can easily find sources of paper for their children to create on without having to get to a speciality art store and paying high prices. And as children gain practice painting on paper, it prepares them to more easily transition to painting on a canvas for special projects as they feel more confident in their creative abilities.
Painting created on heavy weight cartridge paper.