Children love to draw, especially if their parents have a knack for it.
I believe in fostering kids’ love for drawing, as it is a healthy and fun activity that also encourages creativeness. Let’s see what we as parents, teachers or homeschoolers can do to help kids hone their drawing skills into a more focused talent.
These tips are not limited to children either. Anyone who loves to draw, or who wants to improve on their drawing, can benefit from them.
1. Keep it fun!
It is important for the child to remember that drawing is, in fact, fun. You should help your child to not feel discouraged in thinking that drawing is “hard” or that he or she does not have enough talent to be great at drawing. The more frustrated the child becomes, the harder it will be for him or her to draw and the more likely he or she will be to give up.
2. What the eyes can see…
Encourage the child to draw an object that he or she is able to see. It is much harder to draw based on memory alone, and that can become more frustrating for the child.
3. No need to hurry when you have all the time in world!
When it comes to drawing, remember that it is not a race. Children should take their time and concentrate. This will allow them to do their best.
4. Seeing is believing!
A great way for the child to measure his or her progress is to draw a picture of an object, for example a bicycle. Then, put the picture away. In a few months, try to draw the bicycle again. Now, take out the older picture, compare it to the new picture, and the child can see how much his or her skills have improved!
5. Keep it simple!
It is important to remember that almost any object can be broken down into more basic shapes, like circles, squares, and rectangles. When trying to draw an object, try to draw it as basic shapes first. Then, after you have the structure down, that is when you should focus on filling in the little details and softening your corners.
6. Let your creative juices flow!
When drawing, keep in mind that you can be as creative as you want. Maybe you start out drawing a horse, but then you decide you want it to be a unicorn or a Pegasus, so you add wings or a horn – or both! Don’t feel like you have to draw things realistically all the time – being creative means that you should draw whatever you want to draw. If you want to draw a lamp that wears tennis shoes, then by all means, you should draw a lamp that wears tennis shoes.
7. Practice makes perfect… sense!
The most important thing to remember when trying to be better at drawing is to never give up. Just like writing, you or your child should draw all the time and always keep practicing. Once you have the basics of drawing down, then you can get into the even more advanced fields, like shading, crosshatching, and shadowing. But, just like anything else, it is important to remember that you have to crawl before you can walk, and drawing is certainly not any different in that regard.