It's so fun to see how many pretty shades you can get -- just by adding black!

Maddie drew her butterfly, then divided it into sections to be painted.

We found it best to start with small puddles of pink, and Maddie began with just a couple of drops of black, gradually increasing as she went. She had five colors total.

Maddie now used a popsicle stick to mix the colors. You could even use the other end of the paintbrush.

Time to paint! "Ooooh -- this color is so pretty!" Maddie said, more than once.

We let the butterfly dry, then Maddie cut it out...

...and pasted it onto another (similarly colored) piece of paper. So many beautiful shades!