Wednesday
Feb132008
benefits of observational drawing
Wednesday, February 13, 2008 at 07:33AM 
Besides the obvious benefit of learning how to draw, what are some other benefits of observational drawing with children?
• Slowing down, taking our time
• Learning to really see
• Noticing details
• Realizing improvement comes with practice
This is why a sketchbook is essential! Keep sketches together!
• Becoming comfortable with mistakes
• Becoming confident in attempting something new
Tomorrow I'm going to talk a little bit about working with mixed age groups. We have always taught classes with children ranging in age over several years; if you are teaching siblings you are probably doing the same thing. How do you address everyone's needs and make sure no one gets bored? It's not as hard as you think.
Reader Comments (7)
talk about how sometimes we draw whatever we want (free draw) and use our imaginations, but this is a special kind of drawing where we are going to draw something in particular, together.
rather than grab any old thing, choose something compelling for them to draw that you know will interest them and hold their attention. and remember - your goal at first should be ten minutes or so of drawing, not an hour!
in class, we do observational drawing first, and we do free drawing at the end of class. always make sure they have time to free draw, and they will enjoy free drawing with you as much as they enjoy doing observational drawing with you.
make a big deal of giving them a special sketchbook to do observational drawing in - even if you just staple together a stack of copy paper with a cover. make yourself one! then make a routine of getting out your sketchbooks, revealing the thing you're going to draw (and after a few sessions, they can make suggestions), talking before drawing (discussing details), then draw together and continue discussing details as you draw.
after you finish (short times to start, longer as they become experts), pull out the loose paper and free draw - you can get out colored pencils or markers at this time, too.
remember that small children can be so mesmerized by any new materials you bring out that they can't concentrate on the task at hand. if that's the case, give them time to draw whatever they want at the front, then start the activity.
no matter what, make sure that this is a pleasant experience! if they enjoy it, they will definitely want to do it again! play soft music if you like, give them a lot of your undivided attention, sit down together at a clean table, have something interesting to look at and draw (a seashell, something from the yard, a toy, something from the kitchen, something from your desk...), and always give lots of encouraging positive feedback: "i like the way you are drawing so carefully." "you have really put a lot of detail into your drawing!" "wow, i didn't even notice those little lines." and etc. if you make this a really enjoyable experience for all of you, you will all want to do it again!
I'm incorporating this into our summer at-home learning program for a quiet activity while the little guy sleeps.
Laura
laura - that's great - let me know how it goes! :^)
nicely put lori.
i will try to take and post a photo of our 'pencil' drawing from the other day.
if i don't, know you can add one more family to, i am sure, the long list of those you have inspired.
and yes, take a picture! e-mail it to me - i want to see it!