ARTistic Pursuits Logoyoung boy drawing a wooden bear figure
In the Art Room
FREE tips, ideas, and projects to enhance your child's artistic expression 
DECEMBER 2011,  Issue 18
In This Issue
Watercolor Tips for the Young
Your Question Answered
Article Headline
The Detail Oriented Child
Featured Article
by Brenda Ellis

 In my sculpture class this year we find it particularly hard to get the job done in the amount of class time allotted to us. So as I write a book on sculpture I am faced with how people will use it in classrooms as well as at home. The students who have the greatest difficulty finishing a project are those that are detail oriented. Now, there is nothing wrong with this type of focus, unless one finds that they can never finish any project. Too much unfinished work can lead to disappointment, which is the opposite of feeling successful. If you have a child that gets lost in the details, here are some practices I've picked up that may help refocus the child's viewpoint.

Tell the child that the goal is to concentrate on the larger relationships. Those should be formed or put onto the paper first, followed by lesser relationships, and then details.

1. Draw with a material that is not as easily controlled. You might use a large charcoal stick or do an ink drawing with a twig, rather than the fine nib normally used.

2. Squinting the eyes helps the details to drop out of the picture so that we can identify the values more clearly. Simplifying a drawing to it's most obvious values, exposes the form more clearly.

3. In sculpture have the student use Play Doh first to shape the object. Have the student simplify a complex form, such as a horse, into a limited number of parts. Form the head and neck in one piece, the torso and front legs in another piece, and the thigh and back leg for each side in two other pieces. This helps the student to see the big parts.

Once students are able to form or draw the large relationships they can get the important part down quickly. They will no longer be caught up in details that distract them from completing the project. Details can be added after the larger relationships have been established. I hope this helps your detailed child be more successful in their art. It takes time and practice, but the effort they extend will be well worth it in their future art endeavors.   

 
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Greetings!
They say time flies faster as you get older. I truly hope that I haven't aged according to how fast this first half of the school year has gone. Here we are in December. I've enjoyed putting together a Christmas newsletter and even included a question many people ask around the holidays which involves those nice looking art sets that come in wooden boxes and appear on shelves this time of the year. Check out our two-day sale at the bottom of this newsletter if you need to stock up on ARTistic Pursuits books. May you enjoy your month as much as your children will. Have a blessed, blessed time with friends and family.     

- Brenda Ellis

"The world is but a canvas to the imagination."
                                                                        -
David Thoreau

Your Question Answered

Hello. I have been using your preschool and K-3 curriculum and we LOVE it. My oldest child has always been very interested in art and that excitement has been passed on to my younger two. They see art sets and ask for them for birthdays or Christmas. These sets are in a box or case that has pencils, crayons, paint, markers, etc. Can you recommend a brand of an art set to purchase? I do not want to spend the money on a poorly made set.  Thanks for your time and any help you can give me would greatly help with our Christmas shopping!! - J.B.


Dear J.B.,

It is hard to tell people that those beautiful sets contain the poorest art materials made. Your money is all going to the wooden box. The colored pencils, oil pastels, and paints have so much filler that they hardly produce any color. The issue is cost. If manufacturers put good art supplies in those wooden boxes, the price would be so high that they would sell very few. I hope this has been informative, even though it is very disappointing news. Since I teach I have witnessed many youngsters who've been thrilled to received these sets and then not been very happy with the results, especially after having used the good quality art supplies we suggest in Artistic Pursuits. When it comes to art supplies, good color equals higher costs.

If I were to put together a Box for my child I'd include:

Wooden box: sold at art supply stores to hold tube paints in. They are even unfinished so your child could paint a picture on the outside or you could finish and seal it in any creative way you choose.

One LARGE set of CRAY PAS oil pastels (because they aren't expensive, but are good quality, so you can get more colors)

One PRANG watercolor set (basic red, blue, green, yellow, black, etc., not washable)

One set of 12 Prismacolor Pencils (These are worth the higher price, so get a small set if cost is an issue.)

Pentel or other brand of colored Markers.

One eraser, pencil sharpener and a few Ebony pencils

One good nylon brush, round (The brush in the Prang set is badly made)

Some appropriate paper pads, which aren't in the wooden box sets.

The box set may not look as tidy, but your kids will have FUN using good materials! Merry Christmas!

                                                                          - Brenda Ellis

Do you have questions about art or how to teach it? e-mail Brenda at [email protected] 

  



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