Painting with the Rain

Many people call July’s full moon the Buck Moon because that’s the name that the Farmers’ Almanac has chosen, but the names found among sources (both Native American and European) are all over the place. Of course, there are different things happening in nature depending on where you live. Still, a theme can be found among many July moon names, and it’s all about the berries: Berry Moon from the Anishinaabe, Moon When the Chokecherries Are Ripe Moon from the Lakota and Arapaho, Red Berries Moon from the Assiniboine, and Blackberry Moon from the Shawnee tribe. Several other names reference the heat of midsummer. 

For me though, July often brings a period of intense summer thunderstorms, so that is why Thunder Moon is the name I prefer. “Thunder Moon” comes from the Western Abenaki language. Summer thunderstorms are one of the best parts of the season, drenching the parched earth and making all of those berries possible!! One of our favorite ways to celebrate the Thunder Moon is to make rain paintings.

Rain Paintings

This is a project that you can do with any age group from littles to adults. When working with younger kids, make sure you emphasize that the rain is doing the painting not them. If they spend a lot of time making a very particular drawing and then the rain makes it blurry that can lead to upset. When they understand that they are just preparing the canvas and the rain is doing the painting it becomes an exciting collaboration. Rain painting is a simple for of process art, or art in which the process of making it is as important or more important than the final product. It is both seen in early childhood classrooms and contemporary art galleries.

Materials:

• thicker paper (like watercolor paper)
• washable markers
• watercolor (optional)
• watercolor sticks (optional)
• bleeding tissue (optional)
• a good thunderstorm

Method:

Rain painting is quite simple as the rain does most of the work! First cut your paper in a circle (trace a plate to make it easier.) You can also leave it rectangular but we liked the idea of making full moon shapes. Watercolor paper is ideal for the project, but I have used printer paper in a pinch. You just can’t leave it out very long because it starts to tear quickly.

Draw all over your paper with washable marker. You are NOT drawing a picture, just laying down areas of color. It doesn’t have to be very neat. I find washable marker to be the easiest and best result, but you can also try watercolor paint for a different effect (just let it dry before putting it outside.) You can also use watercolor sticks which eliminates the drying step.

Now put your prepared paper outside in the rain, somewhere that you can keep an eye on it. The rain will start to make the colors bleed and create crater like marks on your paper as it hits the surface. How long you leave your paper outside depends entirely on your preference and the severity of the storm– a light rain can take quite awhile to bleed and mix the colors while a downpour may only need a few minutes. Once you like how your painting looks carefully bring it indoors and allow to dry.

A fourth option is use plain white paper and bleeding tissue. Arrange the tissue on the paper and place outside as before. The color in the tissue will bleed all over the paper as it gets wet.