Drawing for a 6 year old

[~Puddins~]

I was wondering if any one had suggestions for teaching a 1st grader to draw? I am terrible at it and my son loves to draw. He has some Ed Emberley books that are *fun*, but don't really teach the art of drawing. I had an email from Amazon about a new book called 1 2 3 I can Draw by Betty Luxbacher but I can't find much information about it. I checked out "Drawing with Children" from our library, but I have to be honest here...I don't have the time for some thing that in depth. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated! :D

[Canada_Mom]

I agree with you that it's quite in depth. I keep having high hopes of getting further into it with dd6 but that never seems to happen.

For this reason, I've been using the books from the Draw Write Now (http://www.drawyourworld.com/) series. I bought mine from amazon. I usually choose 1 animal per day (3 per week) for her to draw (or let her choose her own) and then she has to write 5 sentences about it. I get two things accomplished in about 1/2 hr to 45min and DD never complains because she thinks it's all in fun. You could do it w/o the writing of course, but I need to include creative writing for the school board so I just figured I'd do it this way. I find this series very versatile as they also have passages for copywork as well as (very minimal) information about each animal.- some topics have extra information on further pages. I've used the drawings & info provided as a springboard for science topics to explore. Overall, good value for your money as there's lots you can use these books for.

She's not a very strong drawer to begin with but I have noticed HUGE improvements in her drawing ability and confidence.

[Lorna]

I really wouldn't teach drawing formally at this age. Simply give him resources and time. It is important that a child learns to 'see' for themselves. It is simple to train a child to draw what is in front of them, and well. Unfortunately, as soon as they learn this they become afraid to draw from their imaginations. You will find most adults are very reluctant to draw for these reasons.
He will need high quality pencils; an easel for painting (so that he can step back from his work); good quality thick paper for poster paints or acrylics; quality watercolours (so that he can get paint on his brush with ease and have good results) and proper watercolour paper/ previously stretched paper; and a variety of materials.

[kalanamak]

I looked for an faq for DWN, no luck. Is DWN secular or neutral? Thanks.

[BusyBee]

At his age, I would just purchase How to Draw books. One of my sons' favorites is How to Draw Dinosaurs.

[abbeyej]

I looked for an faq for DWN, no luck. Is DWN secular or neutral? Thanks.

I certainly don't recall any religious content in DWN at all, and we have at least 5 of the books. My kids like them a lot, though we usually skip the writing because the sentences are rather inane. ;)

[one l michele]

He enjoys the Draw Write Now series (& gets additional handwriting without realizing it) and Thinker Doodles, but wanted more "how to".

I'm also going through the Drawing on the Right Side of Your Brain book myself (very good at teaching how to draw) and teaching him those techniques. This book teaches them how to draw what they want and how to switch your brain to think differently while you draw instead of focusing on drawing the item in front of you.

He also really enjoys combining the How to Draw on the Right Side of Your Brain with grid drawing techniques.

We're about to start a combo of How To Teach Art to Children and Art Adventures at Home to teach more in depth details of color, value, blending, and texture. If they are asking, by all means help them follow their passion IMO.

I also have a variety of supplies (and use quality) for him to freely use. His favorites are water color crayons & pencils, watercolors it trays (he mixes new colors in the lid), quality heavy sulfite paper, sketch books, sketch pencils, prisma color pencils. We have a fully stocked art cabinet in our school room.

[Karin]

My eldest did ps at that age. My second received no formal education at that age. They did well with the advice I got from an artist's spouse to just let them draw, draw, draw. Art is both a passion and a talent for them, and they are now doing The Phonics of Drawing (a tri-level program you could do with a 6 yo at the easiest level, but I'm waiting for my 7 yo) and Stebbing's course. My ds, 7, prefers to be shown how to draw and wouldn't draw on his own before 6, and then only airplanes (he's branched out to a few other things this year--sharks, trucks and dinosaurs, then back to airplanes.) If you're willing to use a Christian program, I think that Barry Stebbings' course does teach the art of drawing in a fun way. I also love The Phonics of Drawing from Masterpiece Art Instruction.

[Sue G in PA]

many are suitable for a 6yo. How to draw Dinosaurs is a favorite around here as well as the simpler "How to Draw People", "How to draw Animals". We also really like Draw, Write, Now. My ds6 likes to draw, too and my ds9 has shown quite a talent w/out any instructions. I'm planning DWC for him, but not sure how to really implement it. Are there any classes at your local craft stores like Michael's or AC Moore or Joanne's?

[Lori D.]

- Big Yellow Drawing Book (Dan O'Neill) -- available at www.rainbowresource.com
- 1-2-3 Draw series (Freddie Levin) -- available at www.amazon.com
- Draw Squad (Mark Kistler) -- available at either of the above

Enjoy! Warm regards, Lori D.

[Sue in St Pete]

"How to Draw People", "How to draw Animals".
I loved these. They helped *me* feel like not so much of a art-challenged person. Perfect for a 6yo.

[~Puddins~]

Thank you all so much for the wonderful ideas, I'm off to do my research now with all of your suggestions.