Finger Painting Isn’t Just For Kids Anymore
Robert Fulghum published a best-selling book in 1986 entitled All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. There’s some truth in that title, especially for professional finger painters.
Of course, when I attempted finger painting in kindergarten, it looked liked I had gotten into a fight with the paper, and the paper won. But who knows? Had I stuck with it, perhaps I could have produced something worthy of being called art.
Who am I kidding?
The world’s best-known finger painter is Iris Scott, who serendipitously rediscovered finger painting when she was in her mid-20s. From her Brooklyn, NY studio, Iris creates large-scale finger paintings that are displayed and sold in galleries across the country. They don’t look like anything I made in kindergarten.
Iris Scott believes strongly in making her work affordable and accessible. She put together an instructional book and video to help aspiring artists learn her finger painting technique.
As with any visual art, finger painting can take on many forms. It’s interesting to see how other finger painters approach their work. For example, this artist in Mexico produces smaller scale finger paintings in just two minutes:
This street artist in Spain who paints on glass is even faster:
