What do you see in an inkblot and what artistic creations could you make with one? I found Inkblot: Drip, Splat and Squish Your Way to Creativity to be very helpful in inspiring me and leading me to know just what to do! With lots of inkblot examples throughout and several ways to use inkblots with any age, it proved to be a one stop resource for my homeschool art program, not a boring dull book to read, but one full of life and imagination. It was a book to delight child and parent!
I used it for several of my art classes and since it was a library book, I had to keep checking it out because I just wasn’t done with it yet! It is certainly a book that is worth the purchase if you spend any time at all on art in your homeschool or classroom.
It is a great living book addition to any homeschool art shelf where children could gleam new inspiration year after year.
What you will find inside Inkblot by Margaret Peot.
Inside the pages of this very complete book you’ll find a materials lists, ways to use inkblot art, tracing techniques, how to color and draw into inkblots and the various techniques for making different types of inkblots to include:
- single-fold inkblots
- colored inkblots
- circular inkblots
- long and thin inkblots
- multi-fold inkblots- two and four
- landscapes
- pouring ink and blown-ink techniques
Here my son uses the blown-ink technique to make an ink blot. Do you see a frog?
I was also very impressed because this book would certainly fit into the living book category, because all through her discussion of inkblots she weaves in a little history, culture, and science through the lives, quotes and contributions of interesting people as they relate to inkblots. She mentions people such as: Leonardo da Vinci, Hermann Rorchach (creator of inkblot test in psychoanalysis), Victor Hugo, Stefan G. Bucher (www.dailymoster.com), Justinus Kerner (inkblot poet), and Cecil Henland (children’s book author). You could also weave in a math lesson on symmetry!
How Inkblot by Margaret Peot aided me in teaching my homeschool art classes.
I used Margaret Peot’s book to teach a Leonardo da Vinci lesson. Yes, you heard that right. I just loved the quote from him in the front of the book. It got me thinking about how inventive our minds are. I wanted to draw the correlation for my son and the other students between da Vinci’s inventions and art, and the idea of seeing things in these inkblots. The chapter from the book on How to Look, How to See was especially helpful. Then I challenged them to “invent” their own inkblot art.
I’d like to show you the work my students created:
My son’s “dragons”.
Student’s Inkblot Crab
Where to buy Inkblot by Margaret Peot
You can purchase the inkblot book by Margaret Peot on Amazon or through Barnes and Noble for 17.95.
~ By Stephanie, Harrington Harmonies
Stephanie was a military spouse for 20 years and has homeschooled for more than 20 years. She and her husband of 25 years retired from the military and settled back home to their native state of Iowa where they continue to homeschool their youngest child. Her homeschool style is eclectic with Charlotte Mason and classical influences. When she isn't teaching, writing or moving she enjoys sightseeing, gardening, and cooking.
I loved this lesson, and what I love more is that my kids loved it. Its an art piece that hangs still above our desk.
Wonderful! You know it’s something good when THEY love it!
Hi Stephanie! Thanks so much for this–what a nice review of the book! I love the artwork the kids made–I DO see the frog, love the dragons, and my son and I especially like the pig. And that fierce lion/raccoon creature is wonderful. It all made me want to make inkblots, and I have been making them for more than four decades–thanks for the inspiration.
You are welcome! Thank you for inspiring me! My son and all my art students loved making the inkblots. Your book made it so very easy to start creating. So glad you found the review, I thought you might ;).