How to encourage a budding artist
August 31, 2016 5:36 AM Subscribe
My 7-year-old loves to draw, and I am, of course, slightly biased, but I think she is pretty good at it. What's the best way to encourage her? If you're an artist, how did your parents help you or encourage you?
She went to art camp over the summer, just our in-city rec program, and she loved it. She gets art once a week at school. She draws/sketches/doodles whenever she has some free time. She has a bunch of sketchpads and we have tons of pencils, crayons, etc. that she uses. Neither my husband nor I are very artistic, though, and tbh she probably better at drawing than both of us.
Do I sign her up for private lessons? What about how-to books? (I was looking at this on Amazon). I'm not looking to make her into some kind of art prodigy; just to encourage a young girl who's showing a little bit of talent. So I'd love advice from fellow parents, from any art teachers and/or adult artists who had encouraging parents.
She went to art camp over the summer, just our in-city rec program, and she loved it. She gets art once a week at school. She draws/sketches/doodles whenever she has some free time. She has a bunch of sketchpads and we have tons of pencils, crayons, etc. that she uses. Neither my husband nor I are very artistic, though, and tbh she probably better at drawing than both of us.
Do I sign her up for private lessons? What about how-to books? (I was looking at this on Amazon). I'm not looking to make her into some kind of art prodigy; just to encourage a young girl who's showing a little bit of talent. So I'd love advice from fellow parents, from any art teachers and/or adult artists who had encouraging parents.
I was just thinking about this. Why is it totally common that we give young children structured systematic sequential lessons in other art forms like music and dance but don't generally do this for the visual arts? I have no answer. A neighbor is the education director for out local museum and I asked him about this, he didn't have an answer either.
I have a good friend who is 11. She draws and paints really well. A few years ago she had a few lessons from an elderly artist friend of mine. She did learn some stuff and they enjoyed each other's company.
posted by mareli at 5:53 AM on August 31, 2016 [3 favorites]
I have a good friend who is 11. She draws and paints really well. A few years ago she had a few lessons from an elderly artist friend of mine. She did learn some stuff and they enjoyed each other's company.
posted by mareli at 5:53 AM on August 31, 2016 [3 favorites]
Best answer: Find out how serious she is before pushing her into formal instruction. Sometimes that can kill a child's interest in art (sadly) as it takes the "fun" out. Creating drawing exercises for her is a great idea! Theme-based challenges that require her to go outside her comfort zone, like drawing buildings if she doesn't already, or going to a museum and getting her to sketch art (My friend's son was into that at seven), creating a still life for her to draw (use a favorite toy if she has one), asking her to draw flowers or plants she sees locally, etc.
But also, I think adults drawing with her, even if you think you "aren't very good" would go a long way. It's nice to draw with other people and children rarely see adults doing art which can label it emotionally as a childish thing to do. All those art supplies she doesn't use? Use them yourself when you draw with her! Neither of my parents considered themselves artistic but I expanded my use of color by watching my mother shade in her doodles with my colored pencils. There are great drawing books all over the place. I'm partial to the ones that use traditional cartooning techniques as this teaches expression, movement and line.
posted by palindromeisnotapalindrome at 6:17 AM on August 31, 2016 [4 favorites]
But also, I think adults drawing with her, even if you think you "aren't very good" would go a long way. It's nice to draw with other people and children rarely see adults doing art which can label it emotionally as a childish thing to do. All those art supplies she doesn't use? Use them yourself when you draw with her! Neither of my parents considered themselves artistic but I expanded my use of color by watching my mother shade in her doodles with my colored pencils. There are great drawing books all over the place. I'm partial to the ones that use traditional cartooning techniques as this teaches expression, movement and line.
posted by palindromeisnotapalindrome at 6:17 AM on August 31, 2016 [4 favorites]
Best answer: My kid (also really good at art) took to finding youtube videos of tutorials on how to draw specific things and then followed them. He did this all on his own, mind you. We didn't suggest it. They were great because he could pause the video while he did the step, taking as long as he needed, and he could back up and listen to the instructions again if he didn't follow.
posted by PuppetMcSockerson at 6:24 AM on August 31, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by PuppetMcSockerson at 6:24 AM on August 31, 2016 [4 favorites]
Best answer: My advice is sort of the opposite: let it be unstructured. Classes and books are good, but not everything. Art can be an intensely personal, individual, self-directed pursuit. I was a quiet kid who drew a ton, and my parents did occasionally enroll me in art classes, but for the most part they bought me art supplies and let me hole up in my room for hours on end drawing and painting and making messes, and it was great. If they'd given me "challenges", it would have felt like homework and I would have resented it. Sometimes I didn't even want to show them what I'd been working on, because a lot of the time I was essentially transferring my private imagination onto paper.
But kids are different, so follow her lead. If she already likes drawing things for you, she'll probably like taking requests; if she draws things for herself, she probably won't.
posted by Metroid Baby at 6:29 AM on August 31, 2016 [3 favorites]
But kids are different, so follow her lead. If she already likes drawing things for you, she'll probably like taking requests; if she draws things for herself, she probably won't.
posted by Metroid Baby at 6:29 AM on August 31, 2016 [3 favorites]
I'm no longer as artistically inclined, but I was your daughter at your age.
I strongly encourage signing up for art classes outside of school. I'm sure her current art teacher has recommendations. There are so many choices -- she'll have a great time picking out if she wants to go to a basic drawing one vs. water color vs. figure drawing. The classes don't have to be 1:1... I think I took several where it was a small # of students for 1 teacher.
Alternatively, search around for video instruction... at that age, I was obsessed with Mark Kistler's program on PBS. Every Sunday, I'd wake up early, grab my pack of supplies, and sit down and doodle along his drawing program. From a quick search, looks like he still produces videos on YouTube, and would recommend this book.
I'd also bring her to a book store / craft store / library, and have her pick out what type of "art instruction" books she'd be interested in. I stumbled across many many wonderful wonderful books that provide inspiration and instruction.
Also, consider giving her an allowance specifically for art supplies. Nice art supplies are expensive, but so so so much better than the mass market options you find in the office supply aisle at your big box retailer. Also, encourage her to explore the digital art realm too. This wasn't as big when I was at her age, but loved exploring PhotoShop/Illustrator when I was older. There's also TONS of great tutorials on the interwebs these days too.
I think the key to all of this is to let her decide and choose what she wants to do, while letting her know that you would be supportive of lessons / art supplies / whatever. You'll find that YOU as a parent don't need to know squat -- you're just the money and chauffeur and internet monitor ;). In fact, she'll learn / explore on her own and decide for herself what she wants to do -- i.e., does she want the Prismacolor pencils or the Verithin pencils for the type of colored pencil drawing she wants to do.
posted by ellerhodes at 6:32 AM on August 31, 2016 [1 favorite]
I strongly encourage signing up for art classes outside of school. I'm sure her current art teacher has recommendations. There are so many choices -- she'll have a great time picking out if she wants to go to a basic drawing one vs. water color vs. figure drawing. The classes don't have to be 1:1... I think I took several where it was a small # of students for 1 teacher.
Alternatively, search around for video instruction... at that age, I was obsessed with Mark Kistler's program on PBS. Every Sunday, I'd wake up early, grab my pack of supplies, and sit down and doodle along his drawing program. From a quick search, looks like he still produces videos on YouTube, and would recommend this book.
I'd also bring her to a book store / craft store / library, and have her pick out what type of "art instruction" books she'd be interested in. I stumbled across many many wonderful wonderful books that provide inspiration and instruction.
Also, consider giving her an allowance specifically for art supplies. Nice art supplies are expensive, but so so so much better than the mass market options you find in the office supply aisle at your big box retailer. Also, encourage her to explore the digital art realm too. This wasn't as big when I was at her age, but loved exploring PhotoShop/Illustrator when I was older. There's also TONS of great tutorials on the interwebs these days too.
I think the key to all of this is to let her decide and choose what she wants to do, while letting her know that you would be supportive of lessons / art supplies / whatever. You'll find that YOU as a parent don't need to know squat -- you're just the money and chauffeur and internet monitor ;). In fact, she'll learn / explore on her own and decide for herself what she wants to do -- i.e., does she want the Prismacolor pencils or the Verithin pencils for the type of colored pencil drawing she wants to do.
posted by ellerhodes at 6:32 AM on August 31, 2016 [1 favorite]
Best answer: It's such a gift to enjoy doing art! It's like loving to read; she'll never be bored. One thing that helps a lot, if you can swing it, is to have a dedicated place for art supplies and ongoing projects, so she doesn't have to take the stuff out every time. For one of my friends' kids, it's been a corner of the kitchen.
I love the idea of doing stuff with her. There are one-off art opportunities where I live, e.g. sketching in the botanic garden. Something like that might be a good parent-daughter thing, or museum visits. It doesn't have to be doing art every time; it could be viewing art or just being out in nature. Being a family that's artistic would be awesome. (I come from a family of artists and craftspeople; only some of them professional but everyone did something artistic and it is a wonderful thing to share.)
Books about how to draw certain things, like the one you link to, can be fun; I use them for kids group activities if she really enjoys drawing she is probably past that kind of technique except for an occasional lark. The more adult, academic books about drawing would be a bit much in my view. I'd be more inclined to get her something like a book of drawing prompts or Wreck this Journal or one of its spinoffs. There's a American Girl version of Wreck this Journal called Tear Up This Book. There are also a lot of things called "doodle books" that are great fun.
posted by BibiRose at 6:34 AM on August 31, 2016
I love the idea of doing stuff with her. There are one-off art opportunities where I live, e.g. sketching in the botanic garden. Something like that might be a good parent-daughter thing, or museum visits. It doesn't have to be doing art every time; it could be viewing art or just being out in nature. Being a family that's artistic would be awesome. (I come from a family of artists and craftspeople; only some of them professional but everyone did something artistic and it is a wonderful thing to share.)
Books about how to draw certain things, like the one you link to, can be fun; I use them for kids group activities if she really enjoys drawing she is probably past that kind of technique except for an occasional lark. The more adult, academic books about drawing would be a bit much in my view. I'd be more inclined to get her something like a book of drawing prompts or Wreck this Journal or one of its spinoffs. There's a American Girl version of Wreck this Journal called Tear Up This Book. There are also a lot of things called "doodle books" that are great fun.
posted by BibiRose at 6:34 AM on August 31, 2016
Seconding BibiRose -- so important to give her a dedicated space for art supplies. If she needs to work on something that will take multiple sessions, she'll need a way to have her art out to dry, etc. (And if she has siblings, make sure that no one messes with her stuff!)
posted by ellerhodes at 6:44 AM on August 31, 2016
posted by ellerhodes at 6:44 AM on August 31, 2016
This is more aimed at adults but this is a basic instructional book along with exercises that will help with a shift to realistic drawing that normally occurs at 10 and frequently causes kids to up. It tends to be the course syllabus for classes teaching adults who don't know hot to draw to draw later. It might also help you parent understand enough to help her if she gets stuck. https://www.amazon.com/Drawing-Right-Side-Brain-Definitive-ebook/dp/B005GSYXU4/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1472652139&sr=1-1&keywords=drawing+on+the+right+side+of+the+brain#nav-subnav
posted by edbles at 7:05 AM on August 31, 2016
posted by edbles at 7:05 AM on August 31, 2016
Starting at about 8, my mom enrolled me in oil painting lessons. It was a great way to learn in a very traditional medium that helped me understand composition and colors and stuff. We lived in nigh rural Georgia, but she found a lady named Cricket who offered classes out of an attic for something like $10 a pop. It was an amazing experience (even if everyone's paintings kinda looked liked Crickets!) It really gave me a foundation of confidence when it came time to develop my own style. Plus, I was a weird quite kid and I found it extraordinarily soothing to be quite and contemplative and smelling like turpentine. At least for an hour or two a week.
posted by stormygrey at 7:31 AM on August 31, 2016
posted by stormygrey at 7:31 AM on August 31, 2016
Best answer: I'm an artist now. When I was a kid, what I loved most was technical instruction. I think kids are really into knowing how to draw things that "look real," so every time I gained a skill pushing me in that direction (shadowing, facial proportions, body proportions...), it was like magic.
Also foundational, but something I mostly came to later, was learning how to draw from life. Just plain keeping a sketchbook and using it frequently for observational drawing is great practice. Plus, maybe there are life drawing sessions for kids, with clothed models, that she could attend?
And yeah, let her have the good art supplies from a real art supply store. Buying art supplies—just wandering around the store!—was (and is) the biggest treat for me.
Also, for what it's worth: in my experience, artistic skill comes from practice, not talent. I think any opportunity you give her, whatever it is, will be the right one.
posted by the_blizz at 8:12 AM on August 31, 2016 [7 favorites]
Also foundational, but something I mostly came to later, was learning how to draw from life. Just plain keeping a sketchbook and using it frequently for observational drawing is great practice. Plus, maybe there are life drawing sessions for kids, with clothed models, that she could attend?
And yeah, let her have the good art supplies from a real art supply store. Buying art supplies—just wandering around the store!—was (and is) the biggest treat for me.
Also, for what it's worth: in my experience, artistic skill comes from practice, not talent. I think any opportunity you give her, whatever it is, will be the right one.
posted by the_blizz at 8:12 AM on August 31, 2016 [7 favorites]
Best answer: I'm also an artist & my parents were and are very encouraging. That mostly took the form of listening to my ideas and getting on board: I needed help building a faux living room inside a gallery? They were there. I wanted to move back home for a year & trade house/yard work for free studio space? They happy to help.
So from my perspective, engage her in conversation about her art and ideas, then facilitate as best as you can.
And to help her ideas blossom, take her to whatever art you can find, that she might be interested in. This can include things you and she may not understand, like installation art and performances. Often they're are materials or docents around to help you grasp the work. But, even when art is confusing, it can spark searching conversations and new ideas.
I started taking my 4 year old niece to standard exhibitions (paintings), and to more challenging installation pieces. I just took her lead in the conversations, and she ended up being absolutely captivated by the installations! She was just making mental leaps and connections all over the place - it's been really cool!
So, expose her to all kinds of art, then be ready to help her implement her ideas!
posted by jenmakes at 9:27 AM on August 31, 2016 [1 favorite]
So from my perspective, engage her in conversation about her art and ideas, then facilitate as best as you can.
And to help her ideas blossom, take her to whatever art you can find, that she might be interested in. This can include things you and she may not understand, like installation art and performances. Often they're are materials or docents around to help you grasp the work. But, even when art is confusing, it can spark searching conversations and new ideas.
I started taking my 4 year old niece to standard exhibitions (paintings), and to more challenging installation pieces. I just took her lead in the conversations, and she ended up being absolutely captivated by the installations! She was just making mental leaps and connections all over the place - it's been really cool!
So, expose her to all kinds of art, then be ready to help her implement her ideas!
posted by jenmakes at 9:27 AM on August 31, 2016 [1 favorite]
Things I loved that my parents did:
- Art shows. I loved both museum shows and art festivals.
- Real art supply stores. Real supplies make a huge difference.
- Classes, especially different classes. Different instructors will teach you different stuff, so especially when kids are young it is good to mix it up so they will get a variety of perspectives and get to try lots of different media.
- Hanging my favorite stuff up around the house and sometimes framing things.
Something I didn't like that my parents did:
Always telling me that my work was great. Every time. Telling me this without asking me what I thought of what I was working on. Telling me it was great even if it was half-finished and not even supposed to look good yet. Then telling me after it was finished "Oh wow, that looks much better! I thought it was looking terrible before but I didn't want to tell you that!" (!?)
I can understand where they were coming from because they just wanted be encouraging. But then you also want to let kids know that what they think matters by asking how they feel about what they are doing, and also that it's ok if they aren't that happy with some of the work they produce. Self-consciousness is the enemy for an artist. You want them to feel free to explore and not always have things looking perfect.
posted by insoluble uncertainty at 10:08 AM on August 31, 2016 [2 favorites]
- Art shows. I loved both museum shows and art festivals.
- Real art supply stores. Real supplies make a huge difference.
- Classes, especially different classes. Different instructors will teach you different stuff, so especially when kids are young it is good to mix it up so they will get a variety of perspectives and get to try lots of different media.
- Hanging my favorite stuff up around the house and sometimes framing things.
Something I didn't like that my parents did:
Always telling me that my work was great. Every time. Telling me this without asking me what I thought of what I was working on. Telling me it was great even if it was half-finished and not even supposed to look good yet. Then telling me after it was finished "Oh wow, that looks much better! I thought it was looking terrible before but I didn't want to tell you that!" (!?)
I can understand where they were coming from because they just wanted be encouraging. But then you also want to let kids know that what they think matters by asking how they feel about what they are doing, and also that it's ok if they aren't that happy with some of the work they produce. Self-consciousness is the enemy for an artist. You want them to feel free to explore and not always have things looking perfect.
posted by insoluble uncertainty at 10:08 AM on August 31, 2016 [2 favorites]
I'd suggest at least taking a look at the Loomis book, "Fun with a Pencil," over what you linked. Loomis is sort of a god among a lot of artists for his instructional books -- they may look a little dated to the modern eye, but he was a rock solid draftsmen and a great teacher. (This book is available online as a pdf, if you want to just grab that and print out some pages to see if she likes it.)
posted by Bron at 12:28 PM on August 31, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Bron at 12:28 PM on August 31, 2016 [1 favorite]
I loved making art as long as I was in classes. Once I learned a technique in class, I'd apply it all over the place, to everything. It gave me direction and focus, and opened up a whole world beyond what I ever thought imaginable.
I lost interest when I was left to just figure it out on my own. I totally agree that, like music and dance, just giving the kid supplies and free time and general encouragement is unlikely to help much. Making art is complex, and having passionate teachers, other students, and specific assignments are incredibly inspiring. Although some people might feel stifled by this, I think most are hungry for instruction and being part of an artistic community.
I also learned a lot when essentially force to make art. I had one pottery teacher who periodically made students sit at the wheel and throw ten pots, then destroy them all, then throw ten more, and destroy those. It looks, from the outside, like it would take the fun out of pottery, but what it did instead was teach us how essential it is to have underlying skills, and that it takes practice to hone those skills -- like playing scales, or all the ballet work at the barre.
Requiring your child to make art, or practice a skill, or brush her teeth ... whatever ... is a way of communicating that you think it has value and that it's an important part of her life. Being totally hands off is a way of saying you think it's a dalliance, a doily on her life, not worthy of focus.
posted by Capri at 1:44 PM on August 31, 2016 [1 favorite]
I lost interest when I was left to just figure it out on my own. I totally agree that, like music and dance, just giving the kid supplies and free time and general encouragement is unlikely to help much. Making art is complex, and having passionate teachers, other students, and specific assignments are incredibly inspiring. Although some people might feel stifled by this, I think most are hungry for instruction and being part of an artistic community.
I also learned a lot when essentially force to make art. I had one pottery teacher who periodically made students sit at the wheel and throw ten pots, then destroy them all, then throw ten more, and destroy those. It looks, from the outside, like it would take the fun out of pottery, but what it did instead was teach us how essential it is to have underlying skills, and that it takes practice to hone those skills -- like playing scales, or all the ballet work at the barre.
Requiring your child to make art, or practice a skill, or brush her teeth ... whatever ... is a way of communicating that you think it has value and that it's an important part of her life. Being totally hands off is a way of saying you think it's a dalliance, a doily on her life, not worthy of focus.
posted by Capri at 1:44 PM on August 31, 2016 [1 favorite]
I'm working through the book Let's Make Some Great Art with the children at my local library and it's amazing. It's an accessible workbook that explicitly names some well-known artists and their techniques. The activities are short and encouraging and varied and the children love it!
posted by eisforcool at 3:23 PM on August 31, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by eisforcool at 3:23 PM on August 31, 2016 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Pin everything up on the wall. Let her pick out her own supplies! Real charcoal, colored pencils, nice textured paper, the good high grade stuff. Take her on sketching field trips -- you draw, too. Praise persistence, not "talent." Buy cool art books. Take time to appreciate the thoughtful details she builds in, color and line thickness and subject matter. Ask open-ended questions... "What does sadness look like? What if a bird was also a plane?" Bolster her imagination. Tour museums, gallery nights, artist studios. Look at web and video art! Can she draw on a phone or iPad? Make sculptures using crap around the house?
The real tricky stage is when she hits 12 or so, because young artists hit a developmental stage in drawing when they start shooting for realism. That's when kids — who have been great at drawing for years! — become self-conscious, hypercritical and quit. Formal art classes here, teach her how to look at things and draw what she sees.
posted by fritillary at 5:29 PM on August 31, 2016 [1 favorite]
The real tricky stage is when she hits 12 or so, because young artists hit a developmental stage in drawing when they start shooting for realism. That's when kids — who have been great at drawing for years! — become self-conscious, hypercritical and quit. Formal art classes here, teach her how to look at things and draw what she sees.
posted by fritillary at 5:29 PM on August 31, 2016 [1 favorite]
"There are one-off art opportunities where I live, e.g. sketching in the botanic garden. Something like that might be a good parent-daughter thing, or museum visits. It doesn't have to be doing art every time; it could be viewing art or just being out in nature. Being a family that's artistic would be awesome. "
"Take her on sketching field trips -- you draw, too."
I was coming to suggest essentially this -- put together a little plein air sketching kit, and go hiking ... with your kit in your backpack. Hit local museums (not just art, but also history, science -- they all have cool things to sketch) and take your kit. Do a garden tour, and take your kit. You can sketch too, or maybe take up nature photography or something else that will keep you occupied while she sketches, and they can be special outings for the two of you where you go somewhere enjoyable and hike/see an exhibit/take a tour, and also do some art, and it'll be a special parent-child thing that'll help make doing the art special and fun and encourage her engagement with it without being overbearing. You can put together the resulting sketches from the outings over a year into a scrap book, or scan them and have a book printed at lulu or somewhere, so you can flip through and recall all the places you went.
I live in a small city of 120,000 and we have three artist studio/gallery places where we can go visit and watch artists at work and chat with them, and they have one-off kid studio days and so on where they can go do an art project or take a single-session lesson or drop in and mess with different types of media. If you look there are a lot of these sorts of resources even in small cities.
Pinterest has a lot of ideas on how to display kids' (large quantities of) art, that might be a good place to look for "home gallery" ideas.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 7:21 PM on August 31, 2016
"Take her on sketching field trips -- you draw, too."
I was coming to suggest essentially this -- put together a little plein air sketching kit, and go hiking ... with your kit in your backpack. Hit local museums (not just art, but also history, science -- they all have cool things to sketch) and take your kit. Do a garden tour, and take your kit. You can sketch too, or maybe take up nature photography or something else that will keep you occupied while she sketches, and they can be special outings for the two of you where you go somewhere enjoyable and hike/see an exhibit/take a tour, and also do some art, and it'll be a special parent-child thing that'll help make doing the art special and fun and encourage her engagement with it without being overbearing. You can put together the resulting sketches from the outings over a year into a scrap book, or scan them and have a book printed at lulu or somewhere, so you can flip through and recall all the places you went.
I live in a small city of 120,000 and we have three artist studio/gallery places where we can go visit and watch artists at work and chat with them, and they have one-off kid studio days and so on where they can go do an art project or take a single-session lesson or drop in and mess with different types of media. If you look there are a lot of these sorts of resources even in small cities.
Pinterest has a lot of ideas on how to display kids' (large quantities of) art, that might be a good place to look for "home gallery" ideas.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 7:21 PM on August 31, 2016
I'm not an artist, but loved it as a kid. I'd say drawing is nice, but let her have access to other mediums as well. Modeling clay, watercolors, construction paper and glitter, etc. Art isn't just "sit here and draw something that looks real". I also didn't like the few formal classes I took, or art class at school. . I was too busy feeling self-conscious and comparing my work to the other kids' work or what the example of the assignment was supposed to look like to actually enjoy it. I much preferred sitting in my room alone and being able to create whatever I felt like.
posted by Green Eyed Monster at 7:39 PM on August 31, 2016
posted by Green Eyed Monster at 7:39 PM on August 31, 2016
Best answer: I was a very artistic young child and then...nothing. Well, not true, I had a lot of 3D creative hobbies. But I went from 'talented!' to 'even bad at stick figures.' The biggest answer I can come up with for why I was so artistic as a kid was that it was a default, normal activity in my house. Everywhere we lived, the kitchen pantry cupboard was never used for food; it was "the art cupboard," and it did not lack for supplies. Essentials were replaced as reliably as the rest of the stuff in the kitchen; you never ran out of tape or had to try to revive dead markers. I didn't know anybody else with an "art cupboard." It definitely makes life easier when there are playdates...
Can you give her a budget and let her choose from "Learn to Draw X" books -- the ones here that have seen the most mileage deal either with basics (people, animals, houses) or with cartoon characters we already like (I got a lot of Garfield drawings for a while) -- and take her to a proper art supply store and let her go a bit nuts?
The year before last's Xmas present, at 7, was mostly "good" art supplies. This threw the interest level way up -- yes, I know, you are too old for crayons; check out pastels! Different kinds of pencils! Pencil crayons in a bazillion colours that turn to paint if you want to put water on a brush over them! Regular markers are chucked together in a drawer but the Staedtler Triplus Fineliners are neatly displayed in their case on the desk.
Some organization and ease of access helps -- we have this 10-drawer wheeled cart which makes things easy; one drawer is ink and rubber stamps, one drawer is stencils, one drawer is pencil crayons, one is part Fimo and part Perler beads, etc, etc, so you can just pull out the relevant drawers and get to work. (I would not spend $82 on it; we found ours on clearance for C$17 -- shop around.)
We also have a "homeschooling cupboard," a cheap kitchen pantry type cupboard, that is full of little kits and books and so on. Bored? Whatever, time to visit the cupboard... I mention this because our collection of Klutz Books is in there, and they migrate towards the art cart. Normally I'm not a big fan of kit stuff, but the Klutz stuff is generally very well-done, and you keep the skill after you are done with the kit -- we had one years ago about making mini books, and we still make mini books. This is great if there's an interest in fashion.
Over the years I've also gone through a lot of mini packs of pencil crayons and mini sketchbooks and presented this as The Thing to Do in boring times. (It just dawned on me that there is a purse pocket exclusively used for this...) On long boat rides when she got tired of paddling she'd sketch the scenery -- because there was nothing else to do. (I'm big into sneaky you-didn't-even-notice-I-got-you-to-do-that parenting.)
Wait, my 9yo just walked in, and I asked her...
"Take her to a few arts and craft stores, and set up a place in the house for her to do her arts and crafts, and store them... Get her some learn-to-draw books... Is the 7yo into Barbies? If she is, check out the YouTube channel "myfroggystuff," because it shows you how to do a whole bunch of doll crafts. They can be re-sized for other dolls."
(What's been particularly useful to you around here...?)
"I like stuff that's not really arts and crafts supplies but can be used for it, like coffee stirrers... And good glues, good glue is important. And cardboard! Cardboard can be used for many crafts. I do like pastels. I prefer big sketchbooks compared to little ones; I think it's better, you have more room if you want to draw a really big thing."
Now I am going to spend the rest of the evening feeling rather small about all the times I have said "Don't make a mess!" instead of "Create!" Buy a cheap area rug for the crafting area, teach her how to use a vacuum cleaner, avoid glitter at all costs, try not to complain about the mess, make it easy to clean up and if the art area is the dinner area, don't fuss about eating next to projects that are still drying...
posted by kmennie at 8:59 PM on August 31, 2016
Can you give her a budget and let her choose from "Learn to Draw X" books -- the ones here that have seen the most mileage deal either with basics (people, animals, houses) or with cartoon characters we already like (I got a lot of Garfield drawings for a while) -- and take her to a proper art supply store and let her go a bit nuts?
The year before last's Xmas present, at 7, was mostly "good" art supplies. This threw the interest level way up -- yes, I know, you are too old for crayons; check out pastels! Different kinds of pencils! Pencil crayons in a bazillion colours that turn to paint if you want to put water on a brush over them! Regular markers are chucked together in a drawer but the Staedtler Triplus Fineliners are neatly displayed in their case on the desk.
Some organization and ease of access helps -- we have this 10-drawer wheeled cart which makes things easy; one drawer is ink and rubber stamps, one drawer is stencils, one drawer is pencil crayons, one is part Fimo and part Perler beads, etc, etc, so you can just pull out the relevant drawers and get to work. (I would not spend $82 on it; we found ours on clearance for C$17 -- shop around.)
We also have a "homeschooling cupboard," a cheap kitchen pantry type cupboard, that is full of little kits and books and so on. Bored? Whatever, time to visit the cupboard... I mention this because our collection of Klutz Books is in there, and they migrate towards the art cart. Normally I'm not a big fan of kit stuff, but the Klutz stuff is generally very well-done, and you keep the skill after you are done with the kit -- we had one years ago about making mini books, and we still make mini books. This is great if there's an interest in fashion.
Over the years I've also gone through a lot of mini packs of pencil crayons and mini sketchbooks and presented this as The Thing to Do in boring times. (It just dawned on me that there is a purse pocket exclusively used for this...) On long boat rides when she got tired of paddling she'd sketch the scenery -- because there was nothing else to do. (I'm big into sneaky you-didn't-even-notice-I-got-you-to-do-that parenting.)
Wait, my 9yo just walked in, and I asked her...
"Take her to a few arts and craft stores, and set up a place in the house for her to do her arts and crafts, and store them... Get her some learn-to-draw books... Is the 7yo into Barbies? If she is, check out the YouTube channel "myfroggystuff," because it shows you how to do a whole bunch of doll crafts. They can be re-sized for other dolls."
(What's been particularly useful to you around here...?)
"I like stuff that's not really arts and crafts supplies but can be used for it, like coffee stirrers... And good glues, good glue is important. And cardboard! Cardboard can be used for many crafts. I do like pastels. I prefer big sketchbooks compared to little ones; I think it's better, you have more room if you want to draw a really big thing."
Now I am going to spend the rest of the evening feeling rather small about all the times I have said "Don't make a mess!" instead of "Create!" Buy a cheap area rug for the crafting area, teach her how to use a vacuum cleaner, avoid glitter at all costs, try not to complain about the mess, make it easy to clean up and if the art area is the dinner area, don't fuss about eating next to projects that are still drying...
posted by kmennie at 8:59 PM on August 31, 2016
You know what I would have liked? For my parents to give me "challenges" or ideas for drawing: like to ask me to focus on drawing something specific for them.... So ask her for a picture of your favorite thing! Or your house! Or a flower! Or an illustration from an art book.
That's a great idea, but I think the "flower" suggestion is much better than the "house" or "illustration" suggestion. If you ask her to draw your house, she'll probably draw a pretty generic, iconic house. That's OK — kids do that all the time. But so much of learning to draw is about drawing what you really see, instead of what you expect to see. If you show her a specific flower and ask her to draw it, she'll be more able to capture its actual details. So use a small object. My mom did this kind of thing with me when I was a kid — she had me draw one kernel of popcorn.
posted by John Cohen at 10:51 AM on September 1, 2016 [1 favorite]
That's a great idea, but I think the "flower" suggestion is much better than the "house" or "illustration" suggestion. If you ask her to draw your house, she'll probably draw a pretty generic, iconic house. That's OK — kids do that all the time. But so much of learning to draw is about drawing what you really see, instead of what you expect to see. If you show her a specific flower and ask her to draw it, she'll be more able to capture its actual details. So use a small object. My mom did this kind of thing with me when I was a kid — she had me draw one kernel of popcorn.
posted by John Cohen at 10:51 AM on September 1, 2016 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: I wanted to check back in here after using some of the suggestions listed here.
I did buy her a few of those books I bought on Amazon and she really likes them. They are a little outdated (the "businessman" looks like Uncle Pennybags from Monopoly!) but they are very easy to follow along with.
A few of you suggested I sit down with her and draw too - I have been doing that and we are having a lot of fun together with it. I googled "how to draw" some of our favorite cartoon characters and that has been a hit too. She really liked seeing how I drew Rainbow Dash and tried doing a bit of it herself, too. (Um, note: Don't let your kid Google this herself because there's a lot of brony stuff out there).
We have also made our own play-doh, have done a few of the craft kits you can buy at Michael's and other stuff like that. She packs her sketch book in her back pack and doodles in it when she's waiting in line for the bus or when she has a little extra time after finishing her morning work.
The advice in this thread helped a lot - not just in practical terms but in how to think about it, as well. I want her to have fun and in no way want to pressure her to be An Artist so I appreciate all the perspectives. Thanks, Ask MeFi!
posted by sutel at 10:26 AM on October 4, 2016
I did buy her a few of those books I bought on Amazon and she really likes them. They are a little outdated (the "businessman" looks like Uncle Pennybags from Monopoly!) but they are very easy to follow along with.
A few of you suggested I sit down with her and draw too - I have been doing that and we are having a lot of fun together with it. I googled "how to draw" some of our favorite cartoon characters and that has been a hit too. She really liked seeing how I drew Rainbow Dash and tried doing a bit of it herself, too. (Um, note: Don't let your kid Google this herself because there's a lot of brony stuff out there).
We have also made our own play-doh, have done a few of the craft kits you can buy at Michael's and other stuff like that. She packs her sketch book in her back pack and doodles in it when she's waiting in line for the bus or when she has a little extra time after finishing her morning work.
The advice in this thread helped a lot - not just in practical terms but in how to think about it, as well. I want her to have fun and in no way want to pressure her to be An Artist so I appreciate all the perspectives. Thanks, Ask MeFi!
posted by sutel at 10:26 AM on October 4, 2016
This thread is closed to new comments.
You know what I would have liked? For my parents to give me "challenges" or ideas for drawing: like to ask me to focus on drawing something specific for them. They always liked what I drew, but I know the value of being asked to try something new, and then the reward of having tried.
So ask her for a picture of your favorite thing! Or your house! Or a flower! Or an illustration from an art book. If you're wondering what to suggest, ask her what she likes to draw, and maybe go from there.
Also - I ravenously poured over art books. I would take her to the library, bring her to the art section, and let her imagination run wild. Enjoy!!
posted by Dressed to Kill at 5:42 AM on August 31, 2016 [3 favorites]