Teaching A 10 Year Old To Draw ... Any Recommendations Of Books And Sites Etc To Help Me?

joko | 23:07 Sun 17th Sep 2017 | Society & Culture

5 Answers

My 10 yr old niece is showing 'some' aptitude for drawing - shes not a 'natural' but she wants to learn some skills and techniques etc.

My problem is, i was always a complete natural at art and drawing, so didnt really do any lessons - i didn't really need them.
(until i went to art college and they were more technical skills like perspective, colour theory and mixing etc anyway - by that point you can already draw etc)

so my problem is, how can i think back to being 10 and having limited ability and express things to her?
i have had experience before with helping in a class of kids and it was a bit odd for me because some kids just really dont 'see' it the way i do, if you get me?
Even when you explain and demonstrate etc, they just dont - its just how some kids are, some people are arty, some aren't, they were probably just more into other things.

so I was wondering if anyone could recomment any books, websites, lesson plans etc - that i can use to guide me?
im not even sure where to start really :/

thanks :)

First Dates At 70 Y.o. Dutch Hopefuls

Wittgenstein And God

Answers

1 to 5 of 5

Best Answer

No best answer has yet been selected by joko. Once a best answer has been selected, it will be shown here.

For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.

Old_Geezer

When I was a kid I just used to go to the library and take out books on how to draw xxx

Buenchico

People who find that 'it all comes naturally' are probably the worst teachers of a subject!

For example, I did well at maths at school (by asking lots of questions) until I encountered an A-level teacher who (while gifted at the subject himself) simply couldn't understand how somebody couldn't see things the way he did. However, having to struggle through A-level maths myself almost certainly helped me to teach it in later years, as I could understand the dificulties that my pupils were experiencing.

I also know that there are some people (most definitely including me!) who simply can't capture a picture in their heads. For example, if I looked at my mother and then turned away from her I couldn't see a picture of her in my mind at all. Unless I'd deliberately made mental notes about her height, build and, say, the colour of her eyes, I wouldn't have been able to tell you whether she was short, tall, fat or thin, yet alone anything about her face.

So I can understand both your own difficulties and, possibly also, those of your niece.

However I do know that the BBC website has lots of useful pages (including videos) about learning to draw. A web search for 'BBC learn to draw' seems to find lots, with 'BBC drawing' finding further helpful pages. Perhaps similar web searches might help you?

(You could also try searching on Youtube for suitable tutorials).

Cloverjo

I don't think it can be taught. If you're good, possibly you can be shown techniques to make your work slightly better.

I used to look at friends' artworks and say 'how can you do that?' They'd just say 'I just draw it, it's easy, anyone can draw.'

Yes, just like anyone can run really fast or swim or paint or do maths or whatever.

joko

Question Author

thanks all - so you see my problem!
my sis is so keen for her to learn, but i dont think she realises there is only so much you can teach with something like art - you are either artistic or you're not.
Artists just 'see' things differently, is its not something you can teach.

I can usually tell when looking at a drawing whether the person is a natural or has learnt techniques etc - i can see 'faults' where others can't (dont like to use the word 'fault' but i mean places that need work and are 'wrong', things i could not leave as they are)

i guess i will just have to draw with her and 'correct' things and explain why and show her some techniques etc - she is still very young so without that basic ability, im not sure what else i can do.

at the moment i'm not sure if she has a good eye, but just doesnt know how to transfer what she sees to paper.
i guess time will tell!

i was hoping to get some stuff i could give her -worksheets, guides, courses, etc etc - for her to work through, practice etc when i'm not there ... for her to focus on rather than just 'playing' with the materials.

Buenchico

1 to 5 of 5

Do you know the answer?