Creativity Expressed Featured Article
by Brenda Ellis
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In the art room today the chalk pastels were brought out from the cupboard. Eagerness to try their hands at a new material soon turned to surprise at how the colors stayed on their fingers as easily as it stayed on the paper. These six and seven year-olds were given a goal and a purpose for their art, but beyond that they were free to explore with a fascinating, and for some a disconcertingly messy, new medium. Once encouraged with the knowledge that the color would wash off their hands with soap and water, they eagerly hovered over the 12x 15" piece of brown paper to draw animals that they were familiar with, just as the cave artists had done on the walls of the Lascaux Caves in France.
Ya Mei leaned over the table resting on her legs so that she centered herself over the paper. This is a common need for the shorter ones among us and, on her own, she placed herself in a good position to view the entire sheet of paper. She began to draw careful outlines of an animal or two, followed by lines which to any unknowing adult would have looked like careless scribbles. When students are intently working, exploring, and focused on their art, I do not interrupt the creative process with my own ideas about their work. Ya Mei was about to discover a new possibility for her art. The scribbles became mottled together and she noticed that the colors were blending when the side of her hand rubbed back and forth against the paper. She asked me for a Kleenex and she used it to purposefully blend the colors. Her picture was now softly blended and the animals had disappeared. During the final phase of her creation she redrew the animals on top of the blended area and drew a few careful lines over the blended area to define the edges once again. When finished she had created a picture of two animals beside a waterfall.
This is just one example of creativity expressed. For creativity to flourish, the child needs both a few defined boundaries and freedom to explore. A "draw whatever you want" assignment does not give the child enough visual information to make associations and get the thinking process started. A "copy what I do" assignment will not allow enough freedom to be enjoyable and teaches children to follow instead of initiate. Children also need uninterrupted time so that the creative process begins to flow. Questioning their actions will stop the process. Adults can also stop creative expression by stepping in too soon with their own observations. As long as a child is focused and working, let her be fully in the moment and fully free to follow her instincts while using her own ideas. Children who are dependent on adult input and instruction will have a harder time being creative. They are learning to be followers and as Edward de Bono states, "... forever repeating the same patterns." In the art room today, Ya Mei made her own discoveries about what pastels can do and how she can use them to create something as mysterious and wonderful as a waterfall. Ya Mei and I, her teacher, are very proud of her work of art.
The lesson referred to in this article can be found on page 46, Lesson 18, Art in Caves, from the book, ARTistic Pursuits, Grades K-3 Book One, An Introduction to the Visual Arts. Published by Artistic Pursuits Inc. 2008 Edition. www.artisticpursuits.com.
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Greetings!
I hope you are excited about what your child will create in the new year ahead. One of the most important skills to learn is how to draw from direct observation. We've decided to publish the project on Contour Drawing, first published in Feb. 2010, for those who have joined us this year. It gives the hesitant child a place to start. The act of drawing will lead to wonderful and surprising advances in your child's ability to imagine, develop fine motor skills, and achieve further awareness of the visual world. What will your child create in 2011? We hope you find out in the months ahead!
-Brenda Ellis
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"There is no doubt that creativity is the most important human resource of all. Without creativity, there would be no progress, and we would be forever repeating the same patterns." -Edward deBono
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 | Your Question Answered
How can I teach my son to draw when I can't even draw stick figures? - J.P. Homeschool Mom
In order to draw well we need to be shown what types of information to look at, but we do not need someone to draw for us. When a child is shown how to draw a stick person or a sun without any reference to the real object, then he is learning to make symbols for specific objects. A symbol simplifies an object to its lowest form. In teaching symbols, we are not teaching the child to draw an object as he sees it. Symbols can get in the way of developing skills, because once they are taught, the child cannot easily break free from using them. I know of children who have learned early in their lives to draw stick figures or a sun as a ball with lines protruding from it. They will draw other objects realistically as they learn to observe, but always fall back to the symbol when drawing humans or the sun, which seems to always pop up in the upper corner of the page. Sometimes, having learned a few symbols, a child thinks he cannot draw a type of object unless he's taught a similar simplified code for it as well. Then we hear, "I can't draw that. I can only draw this." A child who learns to observe from real life will believe that he can draw anything because as long as he is able to see the object or a photograph of it, he knows that he has all the tools he needs. We teach children to draw by teaching them to see more, to notice the details, and to focus on the elements of art, the first of which is line. You'll find an example of a drawing lesson for children of all ages below. I hope it is helpful for you as you "show" your child how to draw, without drawing for him.
What kind of animal figures did you use for the contour drawing project? -E.A. Homeschool Mom
I used Schleich brand which are currently being sold at Target as well as other retailers. They also have a web site at www.schleich-s.com where you can see a variety of animal figures. These figures are about 5 inches in height and length, which make them easy to see and are modeled from hard plastic, making them a great object for play. I've also used smaller plastic figures.
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Do you have questions about art or how to teach it? e-mail Brenda at alltheanswers@artisticpursuits.com. View more questions answered.
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Contour Drawing for all Ages
Some children can be quite stumped when asked to draw an object that is sitting before them. Others find their own method for completing the task at hand and do it easily. Any approach to drawing can be improved by teaching children what to look for and giving them a starting point. Learning to draw the contour of an object requires children to focus on the outside edge and can get them past the question of where to begin. Your children can practice this approach often as you find new and interesting things for them to draw.
 | | Tracing the Contour in the Air |
To begin, set up an interesting object in front of each child. Let children know that they are looking for the contour of the object. The contour is the outside edge. Find the contour by placing the pencil point in the air and line it up visually at a specific point on the object. It helps to close one eye. If following the contour of an animal, like in the picture above, a child might start with the animal's front foot and follow the edge up the leg and chest, around the head, down the neck, across the back, around the rump, including the tail and down the back leg and around all the legs until she reaches the place where she started. She has successfully drawn a contour - in the air! Now your child knows what to look for! Yes, I include exclamation marks because we should be excited at this accomplishment. Ask your child to draw the contour on paper in the same way, starting with the front leg. Her eye should follow the contour while the pencil is drawing it on the paper. Remind the child to keep her eye on the edge of the object, glancing at the paper when needed. Lines will go astray. Children may laugh at the results, but don't let anyone be disappointed. Help your child to understand that by making a contour drawing she is training her hand to follow what her eye sees. It is a practice drawing that will strengthen the ability to draw and awareness of edges. The contour drawing below shows the shape of a cow. Details were noticed, that probably would have been overlooked, had the student not been focusing on the outside edge.
 | | Contour Drawing of Schleich Figure |
You may have heard of a blind contour. That is when the eye never leaves the object. Older children can get quite good at making very exact images when they practice in this way. When I work with elementary students I always allow them to look at the paper when they draw and just remind them that the information they need is in the object - so they need to keep looking up at the object. We spend ten minutes doing a variety of contour drawings before each Artistic Pursuits lesson. In future issues I will let you know of various ways to mix it up and keep it fun. Art class should always be fun.
Sincerely,
Brenda Ellis
Artistic Pursuits Inc.
2626 East 109th Ave., Northglenn, Colorado 80233
303-467-0504 alltheanswers@artisticpursuits.com
www.artisticpursuits.com
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