Parents at home: How to guide children to draw

1. Every child can be taught, and every parent can teach

There was a "piano craze" a few years ago. Some parents did not care whether their children had musical talents or not. I saved my money and bought a piano, hired a teacher, pushed my children, and urged them day and night, but in the end it was all in vain. Indeed, learning music, dancing, and physical education all seem to require some talent. If you have no talent, it’s best not to waste your efforts. My personal experience is that learning to draw does not require any "talent". Almost every child has a spontaneous "graffiti" stage around the age of two or three. Therefore, as long as any child has normal eyesight, parents will catch him. , can learn to draw. Even if they cannot become professional painters, they can still become art lovers.

Having an art hobby is not only an additional skill, it is also helpful for developing the potential of the right brain, enhancing image thinking ability and spatial imagination ability, and is of great benefit to every subject and even to any industry. of. Therefore, "aesthetic education" ranks alongside moral education, intellectual education, and physical education, and has become an indispensable basic quality for "modern people".

In short, I think every child can learn to draw, and every parent can provide guidance. Learning to draw is of great benefit to every child.

In art classes, teachers provide guidance. I am mainly talking about how parents should provide guidance at home.

2. The process of children learning to draw

1. Enlightenment period. From the time when a child first starts scribbling on paper with a pen to when he draws his first thing that can be called a "painting", although this period cannot be considered as starting to learn to draw, for parents, this is a very important period. It is important to grasp the critical period of early intellectual development, which will be discussed specifically later.

2. Early days. Children use free "graffiti" as the main content, and improve themselves by copying and memorizing children's illustrated magazines. During this period, in addition to hiring teachers, they basically rely on their parents at home.

3. Mid-term. On the basis of improvement, you can freely combine and create more meaningful paintings. At this stage, you still mainly rely on parental guidance, and you can also ask the teacher for some guidance.

4. Late stage. Under the guidance of the teacher, create some relatively complete proposition paintings, which is the period of children's painting creation. With the right approach, many children can enter this period as early as preschool.

Of course, everyone’s situation is different, but this is just the general rule.

3. Characteristics of children’s painting learning

Children’s painting learning has three characteristics:

1. Interesting. Children learn painting mostly out of interest. Fun, born from the nature of loving beauty, I regard painting as a game. He is very happy when he can depict the world in his heart with vivid artistic images. Therefore, parents should never use "tasks" and "homework" to force their children to learn painting and turn fun into boring. Instead, they should arouse and maintain children's interest.

2. Imitation. When children learn to draw for the first time, they mostly imitate from children's picture books or TV cartoons, rather than sketching from life like adults.

3. Creativity, imitation is only a means, creation is the main content and main feature of children's paintings, which is completely different from children learning music. Children are the most imaginative, and only by creating can they give full play to their genius.

4. Don’t teach painting like a violin

Some parents do not understand the characteristics of children learning painting, and think that it should be like learning the violin or piano, starting from the first step. Follow strict and formal tutorials and rely entirely on the teacher to learn basic skills lesson by lesson. In fact, the two are completely different. If learning the violin is not strict and formal at the beginning, it will be very difficult to correct the wrong fingering and bowing techniques later. This formal practice method is very difficult and boring for children. So sometimes forced training may be necessary. Painting, on the other hand, is an unfettered creation from the first step, rather than a rigid "etude". This kind of creation where imagination can run freely is a natural and interesting thing for children. This is the stage of "children's painting". Real basic skills training such as still life or plaster sketching generally have to be carried out after they become teenagers. If formal training starts from an early age, it will ruin children's nature of learning to paint.

What is "children's painting"? Why can children's painting exist independently from other types of painting? It is because it comes from uncarved innocence, from unfettered nature, and has the uniqueness of children's painting It's childish and cute, just like the "child body" in calligraphy, and its taste cannot be imitated by adults.

Therefore, the characteristics of children learning painting stipulate that the method of learning painting is different from learning piano. It cannot be forced but must comply with the child's natural nature. It does not rely mainly on teachers but mainly on parents. It is not a task but a game. It is not a teaching but a game. Guidance is stimulation, using one's nature to cultivate interests and form hobbies. That’s why I say that every parent can teach. To be honest, when the child is still too young, even if a teacher is hired, the teacher cannot teach him lesson by lesson. He might end up teaching him like a “little old man”. It would be more natural and effective for parents who are with their children day and night to teach them.

Some parents will ask, how can we tutor if we don’t know how to draw?

5. Start catching at an early age

It is best to start catching a child when he is more than two years old. At this time, the child is lively and active, and is beginning to be ignorant. Everything around him is novel to him. world. Give him a pen and a piece of paper, and he will scribble on it excitedly. Don't be afraid of wasting paper or trouble, just let it happen naturally. After a few months, he became more familiar with the grasp pen and could be given some guidance. The parents taught him to draw a circle and add simple eyes and mouth to make a doll's head. My eldest child drew his first "work" without any guidance when he was just three years old. He screamed with joy. With a little guidance, my little girl drew her first picture at the age of two and a half.

Why should we emphasize starting from the age of two or three? I think most children have a natural desire to paint during this period. This is a rare art development period. As long as you grasp it, Any child can develop a love for art. Primitive people can be said to be the childhood of human beings. Before there was writing, they had already produced the simple art of painting. This is exactly the result of human beings' natural need for painting. No one in the family of one of my relatives is interested in art. Perhaps he was influenced by me. After a little effort and a little encouragement to his children, the children all fell in love with art.

Why is it not as good to start catching when you are older than now? This has to do with the balance between creativity and appreciation.

6. Creativity and appreciation should be developed simultaneously and harmoniously

We often hear people say that "the eye is high but the hand is low". The "eye" is appreciation, and the "hand" is creation. The ability to appreciate art can be continuously improved with the enrichment of experience and the improvement of cultural literacy. However, if you don’t do it, your creative ability will not increase with age. Over time, there will be no connection between the two. Balance, I don't like the paintings I draw, and if I can't improve for a while, it will affect my interest. This is the so-called "high vision but low hand".

When a child is more than two years old, his appreciation is almost zero. At this time, as long as he can draw a picture, even if it is very unsightly, he will find it beautiful, thus he will have a strong interest in it and enjoy it endlessly. Be tired and maintain the simultaneous and coordinated development of appreciation and creativity. If you miss this period before starting to teach painting, children may lose interest because they look down on their first work.

Of course, this does not mean that children cannot learn to draw when they are older, but parents should pay more attention and teach them some basic drawing techniques step by step. They can also ask teachers for help so that they can improve in a short period of time and reach the level of painting. A balance between creativity and appreciation.

When children go to school, it is easier to maintain their interest, because there are formal art classes in the school, and the child’s preschool hobbies are higher than those of his classmates, which prompts him to become more interested. Art, in addition, organizing art groups in classes or schools, organizing posters and other activities are naturally indispensable for these children, which is further training.

It can be seen that the key is to focus on the preschool stage, especially the period of two or three years old. With the foundation, it will be much easier in the future.

7. How to stimulate and maintain children’s interest in drawing

From the above, we can see that the main motivation for children to draw is interest, and the main task of parents is to stimulate and maintain their interest. interest. Interest comes from daily progress. The specific methods are as follows:

1. When children draw new paintings, parents should be happy and encourage them. When they encounter successful works, especially innovative ones, they should be praised. They can be posted on the wall and introduced. To the guests, of course, you should also point out the shortcomings and help make corrections to prevent complacency.

2. When a child asks for paper to draw, don’t just tear up a piece of paper. It’s better to cut some white paper and make it into a notebook. Children have completely different attitudes toward notebooks and pieces of paper. You need to be much more serious about painting, and you will improve quickly this way. But be careful not to make the book too thick, so that you can change it frequently, and each time you change it, you can reawaken the child's sense of freshness.

In addition, the book is easy to save. Parents can review their learning process with their children and generate new interests from the progress.

3. Buy more children’s illustrated magazines, especially those based on cartoon characters (such as Donald Duck, etc.). Children’s early teachers are actually these illustrated magazines rather than parents. "These children should be gradually provided with painting tools in the early, middle and late stages, from pencils, crayons to watercolor pens to watercolor paints, drawing paper, etc."

4. If you have the conditions and time, it is best for parents to draw a few pictures with their children. If parents can draw well, it is naturally a model. If parents draw poorly, it can also encourage their children. Look, my parents and I have almost finished the painting. What’s more important is that parents’ participation makes the children happier, just like playing games together, which is more full of family warmth and competition excitement. Of course, if parents really have difficulties, there is no need to force it.

5. When the child is able to create, he should be encouraged to contribute to children's illustrated magazines or create for children's art exhibitions. At this time, you can also ask a teacher for guidance. Of course, it would be better if you can participate in art classes. When a child starts to create formally, he will become very serious and even enter a "competitive state" if he puts on regular drawing paper and painting tools. When my eldest child once created, he "worked day and night" for a whole half month, even eating. There was no time to eat. This was not because the desire to "must be selected" spurred him. In fact, because he painted a painting that he had never imagined for the first time, he was strongly attracted by the beauty in the work and determined to "perfect it". He is so meticulous in his writing that even I didn't expect that he could suddenly draw so well. At this time, the level of painting will take a leap, and the interest will of course become more intense.

6. Children should not let adults overtake them in their creations, otherwise haste makes waste. Under the care of adults, they may be able to "draw" very good works, but after the works are selected, they will not be able to draw the best works on their own. If he cannot draw works of the same level as before, he will feel "regressed" and become discouraged and lose interest. Therefore, it doesn’t matter whether parents can draw or not. The key is whether they can teach and guide.

7. Frequently take your children to art exhibitions (especially children's art exhibitions) and other exhibitions to stimulate their interest. Not only can they learn a lot of things, but the important thing is that the adult's company itself is a good way to stimulate their interest. The most powerful support for children.

8. If parents have a certain level of art appreciation, they can often comment on their children's works, mainly pointing out which paintings are innovative, interesting, and progressive at which points. More encouragement, less criticism. When criticizing, be careful not to criticize the innocence and cuteness in children's paintings as shortcomings.

8. Appropriate counseling on the basis of guidance

The task of parents is to guide rather than teach. Can we think that parents do not need to counsel their children and are completely "governing by doing nothing"? ?No, when a child hits a threshold, he still needs to lift it up to get over it.

For example, when children draw a baby face, they often draw the eyes at the top of the head and disperse the facial features throughout the face. This is because the facial features are the most vivid objects of activity, far larger than those that are large but inactive. The forehead attracts children's attention more. At this time, parents should refer to the children's picture book and teach him to draw the eyes below the horizontal midline of the entire head, gather the facial features, and then draw hair on the forehead.

For example, drawing a garden circle is the basis for drawing a doll's head, drawing the sun, etc. It is difficult for a child to draw a circle at first. Parents can draw one for him and let him add other things by himself. After he becomes interested, he can gradually teach him how to draw a garden.

A common threshold that children encounter is drawing a human face from the side. This is much more difficult than drawing a frontal face. Parents must pay attention to help them step over. Even if the parents cannot draw it, at least they can see it. If it looks like or not, you can refer to the picture album to help him master it.

Also, at the beginning, let the child draw the things he is most interested in, living things, such as dolls, birds, little white rabbits, Donald Duck, Doraemon, etc. Do not draw still life, such as Things that he is not interested in, such as cups and fruits, can be painted after he has a basic foundation.

Sometimes it is difficult for children to copy slightly complex images. Parents can simplify and draw the shapes first to make it easier for children to copy. This requires parents to pay attention to improving their artistic accomplishments and hobbies. It does not matter if they have no foundation, as long as they are interested. If parents have no interest in art and do not learn or make progress themselves, it will be difficult to cultivate their children well.

You don’t need to buy formal art technique books for teaching materials, such as sketching, still life sketching, human body sketching, etc. You only need to buy some children’s art teaching materials. You must fully realize that the children at this time have not officially started learning. Painting is just making some necessary preparations, cultivating interest, observation and creativity. He should freely use his creative imagination and should not be restricted by teaching materials.

What you should pay attention to when tutoring is that you must correctly distinguish between technical deficiencies and the most precious innocence and naivety in children's paintings. Don't tutor children's paintings into serious "old man paintings". People drawn by children often have big heads and small bodies. This does not need to be corrected, as long as there is charm. The same is true in terms of composition. For example, my eldest child once drew a fully automatic machine with electric switches and conveyor belts, but the function of the machine was to crush all the good bricks into broken bricks! Another example is My little girl once drew a group of birds flying in the sky. Each bird laid eggs while flying, one after another, like a plane dropping bombs. This kind of unreasonableness beyond common sense is the real interest of children's paintings. It is something that adults can't even dream of. If this point is "counseled" and lost, the painting will be ruined. If it is given to children at this time, Pointing out his "common sense mistakes" suppresses his romantic imagination and makes him unable to draw such cute "mistakes". Without these interesting things, can it be called children's drawings? Never mind what the machine is used for. Yes, if you can imagine such a complicated machine, you should be encouraged first. Later, I learned that the original purpose of "producing" broken bricks is to use the broken bricks as paintbrushes to draw on the ground. You see, children have their own ideas in their hearts. Another world.

If parents want to see what is "childlike" in children's paintings, in addition to improving their artistic standards, more importantly, they must have a "childlike heart" full of understanding and humor. Children are friends rather than teachers. This is precisely what is lacking in the ancient Chinese culture with Confucianism as its core.

9. Copy less, create more, and sketch more

In the early stages, children can be allowed to master some basic things through copying, but they must not get stuck in copying. Girls prefer copying and are less creative, so they need to pay more attention to guidance. When a child can initially copy, he should be guided to freely combine the figures he has learned through copying and give full play to his imagination. He should be encouraged to enrich the content of the picture and be reminded to add birds, flowers, puppies, etc.

When the child enters the creative stage, you should start to encourage him to draw and sketch. It may be difficult at first. You can draw some simple still lifes, and then you can guide him to draw figures and sketches. At the beginning, you can let him draw for his parents. If he draws for others, the child will be embarrassed, and he is afraid that the drawing will not be good and make others laugh. The first portrait a child gives to his parents may be extremely ugly, but the "ugliness" often contains the child's innocence and unique and accurate observations, and may even include a vivid portrayal. In the early days, my children drew me eating steamed buns (a kind of fried pasta in the northwest). Although the structural proportions of the character were very inconsistent, the curved hooked steamed buns and my greedy eating appearance were really outstanding. , I really praised him, and he often took the initiative to take portraits of me from now on.

10. What else should you pay attention to?

1. Don’t overdo it to avoid boredom. Only a rich life and a wide range of hobbies can keep painting fresh. When a child does not want to draw, parents do not need to worry, do not force, and do not need to stipulate how many pictures must be drawn a day. The growth of interest may come and go, and sometimes the child may be cool for a while due to long-term overexcitement. At this time, parents should give the child A cooling-off period to take a breather. As long as the parent always uses guidance, not pressure, but attraction, then after this period of time, he will naturally regain interest. In this way, he will feel that painting is happy, free, relaxed, and a kind of game. What child can't like games? Even if a child plays the same game every day, he still needs to take a break, let alone painting?

If the child's interest cannot be restored for a while, parents should check whether their methods are too rigid, too impatient, or compulsive. On the one hand, they should improve the methods, and on the other hand, use some external stimulation and induction tricks. For example, go to an art exhibition, watch other children draw, or parents themselves draw a few paintings seriously, etc.

2. Educate children not to doodle on walls, books, or homework books. In fact, as long as sufficient drawing books are provided to satisfy his desires, he will stop doodles.

3. Encourage or take your child to participate in various activities, parties, travels, performances, etc. to enrich his life and material.

My eldest child once observed the Uighur fellows weighing the cantaloupes at the "Bazaar" in southern Xinjiang. They directly hooked the cantaloupes with scale hooks and used stones as weights. The scene was incorporated into his creations, which is very full of local characteristics. , published by "Children" magazine. Even I, a professional artist who sketches and collects materials every day, didn't notice this detail. It shows that children's powers of observation are sometimes very keen.

4. After the child goes to school, he should be taught to be restrained in drawing and to draw after completing his homework. He should also be reminded to complete his art homework seriously and with high quality.

The article is taken from the Internet