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What is it?
It’s simple and basic drawing techniques!
Being a freelance illustrator, I have learned to simplify line to create quick drawings. While learning this trade, I found it was easy to combine the principles of fine arts and illustration to teach children to draw, while making it simple to create, the children are kept from feeling frustrated about their ability to draw. |
Why does it work?
It combines illustrative and fine arts principles to teach drawing.
I have been in the classroom-teaching children to draw for many years. At the end of a class they always ask me, “Can you draw a car, a cat or my face?” What they really want to know is HOW to draw these things. They are quite sure I am an expert, but they are unsure of a way to express themselves in a drawing. They are motivated and creative but they lack the skill of visual shape recognition to create a drawing. Just as a child’s first writing attempt is a simple word like Mom, Dad, or their name, a child’s first drawing is an attempt at something familiar, a tree, a person, or a smiley face. Once they are introduced to writing they learn from practice to recognize the manner in which to push or pull the tool to create a letter. |
All You Need to Know In 15 Minutes or Less |
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Exercise
Practice
Shapes
Eye
Hand
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| Some famous artists have been thought to have little or no talent. Why they became great was merely a matter of public opinion or acceptance and because of their own unique style. On a much broader sense, drawing is a benefit to a highly cultured society. Drawing is communication of the life of the times of the artist, and his social environment. Renoir when bored with painting used his toes to create (he was quite arthritic).Not everyone has the gift for selling or promoting their work, nor does everyone have the time to live, breath and eat “art”, Art for art’s sake. |
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3 Shapes for Everything
- Circle - Oval
- Square - Rectangle
- Triangle – Cone
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| Everyone has said – “I can’t draw a straight line with a ruler!” Good news, neither can I! I learned it wasn’t necessary to use a ruler and there was a simple way to make the line look straight enough, there was no need for a true straight line, except in drafting. The first question I like to ask is “Can you write?” then “Do you know what a Circle, Square, and Triangle look like?” If you can answer YES, you can draw! Everyone then gives the excuse – “but I have no talent”, (another misconception) you do not need “inborn talent” to draw. Being taught where to put the lines to make the shape, seeing the shapes, and practice is the key to drawing! Yes, I said practice, believe it or not, if you make the same 3 shapes long enough, you will be able to see them in the objects you wish to draw. |
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Exercise, and Practice
Why is this lesson so important to teach young children? |
They have a fresh clear approach that has not been structured or influenced. I never draw as well as I can in front of the children. I don’t bring examples of my work. I don’t want them to think they must draw like me, or be perfect. I stress over and over to them the need to practice and not be satisfied with the very first thing they produce. Any work can use improvement, but the way they draw is the correct way to draw for them! I give them the means to create on a higher level, but never expect them to draw more than they are capable of drawing. This means children are creating at their own level.
Children can also benefit with this basic step-by-step format in the following: Problem Solving - Space Concepts – Math enhancement – Vocabulary enrichment – Historical Fact Finding – Handwriting – Scientific Discovery |
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Giving Dimensions
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| Adrawing, stated briefly, is simply a man made arrangement of lines and marks, which may convey a meaning. Your ability to draw well or expressively and to make the appropriate marks depends essentially on your ability to visualize, to imagine and make marks on a surface.
Drawing is basic to every other form of artistic expression. Michelangelo said, “The science of design, or line drawing, if you like to use this term, is the source and very essence of painting, sculpture, architecture…Sometimes…it seems to me that…all the works of the human brain and hand are either design itself or a branch of that art.” “It is necessary to keep one’s compass in one’s eyes and not in the hand, for the hands execute but the eye judges.” |
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- All figures and faces have basic shapes
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Applied Shapes – Shapes in writing, shapes in simple form. Draw Generically, do no stress features as clothes, faces hands
Refined Shapes – Define features with details one at a time. Look close up to find how they “line up” or have patterns.
All can be measured by the size of the hand or head.
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Why Do We Draw Trees?
Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
- Horizon
- Perspective
- Vanishing Point
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| Reinforcement of shape drawing helps them produce drawings, which will far exceed limitations of their motor skills. They are excited by verbal instruction that helps them remember this new skill, such as “Why do we draw trees? Why?, because they are Y’s.” They build an encyclopedia of visual memory of objects and apply shape recognition to them. Their proficiency then extends to copying the shapes into many forms. As children practice this technique they also build study skills. Their memory improves and social skills develop.
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Using Space
Finding the Frame
Pleasing to the eye
For an artist drawing not only disciplines his eye and hand to instantaneous coordinated activity, but through constant observation and sketching it enables him to build up a mental encyclopedia of information about forms, shapes, colors and textures which he can recall as he needs to.
Five basic steps to pursue:
Direct Observation
Identification of Relationships
Selection and Rejection
Pictorial Equivalents
Definition through Accent
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Creating Cards, Posters,
Book Reports
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READ FIRST
Answer the Who, What, When, Where and WHY
Title
Author
Who are the Characters
What are the characters like – good/evil young/old
What is the plot – Romance, Mystery or Comedy
When does it take place – time period - Past Present Future
Where does the action take place
Why did you like it? Emotion – Scary?
Ending
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Finishing the project is not being happy with the first try.
Never trash your first tries or practice, they help you put together a finished project.
Your picture is worth something, display it!
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