I attended a workshop on how to help children learn to draw. It was led by an artist who volunteers at a local museum. It was a lot of fun and I learned some great techniques for improving my own work, even though I don’t work with children.
“There are three things you can do to improve your kid’s artwork,” she told us. “First, make sure they’re drawing what they see.”
She showed us the first page of an art booklet for young children that included a field guide to birds. The child had drawn a bird inside the cage of a birdcage. “You have to look closely, but it’s actually in there.”
“Second, ask them questions while they’re drawing.” She showed us a picture of two kids having tea. One had put strawberries in her cup and whipped cream on her cake, while the other put blueberries in his cup and ice cream on his cake. “What are they having?” she asked. “Strawberries and whipped cream or blueberries and ice cream?”
“Blueberries and ice cream,” we said.*
“Does anyone think strawberries and whipped cream?”*
We all laughed.”How would you know?” she asked. “They could be very messy eaters!
So, how can you make sure your kids get the most out of their art classes? The secret is to stay positive and provide them with support. Here are some tips for getting the most out of your children’s art classes:
1. Don’t Call Them Artists
2. Answer Questions Promptly
3. Don’t Criticize their Work
4. Provide Constructive Feedback
5. Stay Positive
Teachers, frustrate your students by telling them what not to do. Parents, encourage your children by telling them what to do.
In a study of more than 1,000 fifth-graders’ drawings, researchers at the University of Michigan found that the students’ work improved measurably when their teachers focused on specific problems in the artwork (such as “the faces are too small”) rather than on general areas they wanted to see improvement (“the drawings are too weak”).
The researchers speculate that when teachers provide positive feedback specific to particular aspects of a piece of artwork, students concentrate on addressing those issues. The act of focusing on one or two elements of a drawing might cause other aspects of it to take care of themselves.
A similar principle applies when working with children who struggle to draw or paint. When you look at their work, don’t say “You need to work on your lines” or “This doesn’t look realistic.” Instead zero in on one problem at a time. Say something like “Your lines are fuzzy—can you try making them more crisp?” or “Movement is great—but could you add some shading under his chin?”
I have been amazed by art I have seen around the world. I love seeing the variety of different styles, materials, and techniques. It is fascinating how someone’s creativity can be expressed so differently in such a simple way. There are many ways to improve your child’s artwork, even if they don’t believe they are an artist yet.
I really like this article, because it shows that you should never give up on your dreams; you can always become better at something if you want it bad enough. For example, doodling is not artistic, but if you practice and try to make your doodles look better, then maybe one day you will be able to draw things like people or animals or buildings.
I like how this article gives great advice for both young and old artists. I have seen some people who already think they are artists and are very good at drawing and painting, but they still need some tips from the article to help them improve their work even more. This article is great for all ages!
This article was easy to understand because it uses very simple words and does not use any hard words that most people wouldn’t know about.
What are you supposed to do when your kids bring home a piece of art that’s as pleasing to the eye as a barbed fishhook?
If you’re a parent, it can be hard not to say something…or nothing. But isn’t that a little like being annoyed at a seagull for pooping on your head? Your kids want to please you. They want to make art that will hang in the Louvre. And they want your praise and approval.
Telling them what they did wrong is the fastest way to guarantee that you won’t get any more of their art—or if you do get any more, it will have been executed by somebody else.
The next time your child presents you with a drawing in which everything goes right, just say thank you and hang it on the fridge. You’ll actually see an increase in quality, because he’ll be so happy to please you again. The next time he brings home a masterpiece, help him understand what makes it great and how he can improve his technique further. Art is not about getting things right; it’s about getting things better.*
How do you turn a child into an artist? Imagine that you are a fish.
This is a bit of absurdist advice for art teachers, but it is also a way to get children to paint better.
If you want to understand how to make good art, the first thing you need to do is understand what is going on in the minds of people who are making bad art. This can be harder than it sounds, because so many bad artists think they are good artists. They know how they want their work to look and they are quite sure that they have achieved that effect in their work. But we know that these people are wrong, so we don’t trust our own judgment about their work; we assume there must be something that we don’t understand.
But maybe we should trust our own judgment. The idea that everyone can see whether or not something is a piece of good art seems wrong. If it were really true, why would there be thousands and thousands of art teachers with PhDs in art history? Why bother going to all the trouble and expense of getting a PhD if you know what makes good art? Or if everyone knows what good art looks like, why would there be so many different opinions about which works are the best? And finally,
1. Don’t be afraid to get messy.
2. Remember, there is no “right” or “wrong” way to create art.
3. Be brave and let your imagination run free!
4. Keep at it—even if you don’t see how what you are doing will end up as a finished piece of art.
5. Have fun!
