I used to dread arts. When I was a kid and we have an assignment that involved drawing, I do everything in my power to dodge that. I'd do a classmate's assignment for them in exchange for them making my drawing task. Or I'll have a cousin draw it for me. Now that I am homeschooling my child, I needed to face my fears.
I was chatting with my bestfriend about our little ones. She told me she used to hate Math. Now, she still hates Math but she strives to understand it. All because she wants to be ready for when her daughter seeks her help with Math processes she used to dodge during our younger years. I can relate to that because right now, I don't see art (drawing and painting) as a dreadful subject anymore. I now see it as a cool and fun subject.
My daughter enjoys drawing and painting for our arts class and nature study when we do it alongside each other. I guess that's how I also started to fall in love with drawing and painting. I surprised myself with how I faced my fear and conquered it. My daughter, on the other hand, was finding it hard to find the fun at first. She kept on comparing her work with mine. All because she is competitive like that.
I take it as an opportunity to teach her that her only competition is herself. This very same thing I tell her again and again so that she'll remember. She used to feel uninspired when she couldn't do it at the same level as the art we are trying to copy. Slowly but surely, she is now starting to see improvements in her brush strokes, in her outlines and drafts.
It helps that we discovered an exercise that helps improve her motor skills. I remember an artist say that drawing is a skill that can be acquired as long as we put in the pencil hours. So that's literally what we are doing right now. Every day, my daughter practices arts. She copies artworks, she trains her eyes to see the beauty of art through art appreciation and artist study, she trains her hand and finger muscles through doodle arts, she develops the habit of patience and trusting the process when making an artwork.
Before we do any artwork, we start our art study with line practices. She makes these doodles, random lines, circles, curves, and patterns. She was amazed when we studied Giotto's life. Giotto sent the King a picture of a circle when the King was looking for the best artists in the land. Giotto was able to impress the King with that simple drawing of a circle because it was drawn perfectly and beautifully. She was inspired so now, she continues to practice.
These doodles helped her gain more control with her pencil. She used to have just one way of drawing lines - thick and heavy. Her outlines are drawn all too heavily from the start so when she is finalizing her drawing, she couldn't erase the outline completely. Now, after so many practice, she learned to draw light and thin lines at the beginning of her drawing session. It is true that when an instruction makes sense to the child, it is easier for them to follow. At first, we would argue because she wouldn't listen. But now that she understands the language of arts, she now automatically corrects herself because she knows that her drawing won't be as what she expects if she does not follow the instructions.
And I can see so much improvement with her motor skills. Her work speaks for itself. We are using 2 ebooks that guide us what to draw and how to draw them, and we are also studying the life of several artists. We've thoroughly gone through Van Gogh's life, we're almost done Giotto, next year, we'll be moving on to the next one.
These resources helped me as a total noob when it comes to drawing, in teaching my daughter. It is true that a mother indeed is equipped with everything that her child needs when it comes to educating them.
Her progress is truly impressive. I'm not just talking about her output, but also her attitude towards our arts studies. She used to always rush her work. She used to be very impatient and wants to see results right away. When she sees that her work is a bit wonky, she would just give up. Now, she learned to be graceful and correct herself.
