Line Drawing Tutorial My Top Tips Teaching Kids To Draw
Not all children are equally drawn to one line drawing. Some love and draw since their childhood, while others abandon the pencil and feel “bad at drawing” … And yet, learning to draw develops so many skills, that it should be offered to all children! In this article, I’ll give you my best advice on how to teach your children how to draw, and develop with them a sense of observation, curiosity, and dexterity!
The drawing is very vast… What are we talking about?
Learning to draw is to seek to acquire a technique, to achieve a goal. For example, I would like to know how to draw a recognizable animal. Or, I would like to know how to draw a city to make a decoration for my toys. Or learn to master colors to make a line drawing that brings light to a landscape.
Children who want to learn to draw have already been able to explore the joys of line, movement, and color in free-form cool drawings. Only now they have grown up and want to go further. Some children will not ask to learn to draw, because they train themselves, and reproduce pictures, drawings, or photographs. They sometimes find an original technique, a way of doing things that suits them: they are completely self-taught.
But most children who are interested in a line drawing or plastic arts in general, ask at some point to be taught to draw. Yes, but here it is, this is not a skill that is developed at school! How can you teach your children to draw if you are not an artist yourself? We are going to see the basics of this activity, and what you can set up easily, and almost without material!
Teaching children to draw: when should you offer this activity to them?
The easiest way to know when to suggest a line drawing activity to your child is to listen to them. If he asks you, it’s the right time!
You can also observe him: does he draw often? Does he like to tinker? Or is he interested in images in books, in works by well-known or lesser-known artists… Is he sensitive to illustrations in albums, gives his opinion on those he likes and the ones he likes less?
And then, you also have to listen to yourself … Would you like to know how to draw? Would you like to learn with your child, or teach him what you can do with pencils? Line drawing is a great activity to do together, a moment of sharing and complicity between parents and children that is worth experiencing!
How do I teach my child to draw?
Several options are possible, depending on what you know how to do, and what you want to convey. You can use 3d drawing easy with your loves home improvement.
The observation drawing
If you know how to draw, that you have taken lessons yourself, that you have mastered a few techniques, then you will be a perfect guide for your child. The ideal is then to suggest to him to make an observational line drawing.
In the home or garden, settle down with a sheet of paper and stiff backing, or a sketchbook. Also, take pencils: HB pencils, possibly a fatter (2B) and a drier (2H), and colored pencils according to your desires.
Choose an element that you want to draw: a fruit, a book, a tree leaf, the neighbors’ house, flowers from your border… Choose an object preferably well defined (to start, drawing a tree is sometimes difficult.), and still. It is possible to draw the cat when he sleeps, but not when he goes hunting!
it will take a little practice in line drawing before arriving at this result …
Finally, try to draw it as you see it, respecting the proportions. First establish the outline, the outline. And little by little, add details, textures, shadows. You can add touches of color here again by trying to stay as faithful as possible to what your eye sees!
Drawing following a model
The observational line drawing exercise is very educational, but not for everyone. Quite simply because it cannot be learned at school: very few adults have already tried it, and manage to do it enjoying it. This is why the line drawing solution following a model might be better for you.
There are many books on the market for teaching children to draw. They detail each step to make a line drawing, which the child can then color. Learning to draw by following these models can be a good start: the child then learns to locate himself on his sheet, to reproduce shapes that can be complex, to associate them harmoniously.
A small downside, however, the explanations are sometimes succinct, and the steps often require erasing the first lines. Suddenly, we follow the steps but we must have an eraser at hand to modify, arrange what has already been traced. Or, you have to think from the beginning to draw with a very light pencil stroke, to go back at the end on the contours that you keep …
A great way to learn to draw: Celestial Notebooks
We hear the cry of the owl, we learn more about the colors of the argus butterfly, about the way of life of the wild boar… A beautiful application of what we call “transversal learning”!
After the video, it’s up to you: try to draw step by step by following its summary sheet, or simply let yourself be carried away by the coloring, or use the cutout to familiarize yourself with the shape… Anything is possible. The step by step, coloring and cutting cards are downloadable and printable. In addition, for each cool drawing idea, a sheet with documentation on the animal or plant is available!
cute, “too classy” according to my daughters, and worth a try, right?
When my child draws, what does he learn?
Whichever way you learn to draw you choose, your child is going to learn things, a lot!
First of all, cool drawing ideas promote hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, and it is essential in the work of writing.