Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion The Ultimate Art Thread

hi MumOfThree! i just use Postimage (google "free image hosting" and you'll see it) because i, too, am WAY too lazy to set up accounts!

Ametrine - inventions are awesome! Pandors Clonkacoris with all its gauges is fantastic - and i love how much style your DS' handwriting already has - love the curly tails on the a/l/d/etc…

and ultramarina, that's kind of you to mention - like a lot of us, i'm in this bubble where i don't really know what to expect at which age! although... DD did start cursive this week and it's going weirdly well, so yeah, maybe you're right and it's not just the math that's coming through here? i'm still so naive about this stuff - very grateful to you all, as usual!

No, definitely not just the math, although that clearly helps. Very strong drafting skills, and also obviously a long attention span and attention to detail and precision. Does she have amazing handwriting?

I've spent a fair bit of time thinking about what makes a child artistically talented and what artistic talent in a child is. There is an eye for good design. I saw this in preschool with DD. All the kids would do the same project--gluing precut circles on construction paper, for instance, and I would walk up to hers and admire it because it was the coolest-looking, without knowing it was hers (name on the back). There is drafting skill and patience. DD is quite good at this, but not EXTREMELY good--some kids are incredible. We also notice that she does not have nearly the ability with 3-D forms as with pencil and paper, whereas some children are more able to "make it happen" in 3 dimensions. Then there is the creative spark, which is surely the one that is the hardest (perhaps impossible) to teach. DD definitely has this, although at times I worry brecause I see her stuff being more derivative due to peer influence. But you know...time, and all that.

Here is some of DS's art. He did all these when he was four.

http://postimg.org/image/3xdwu7f0d/

http://postimg.org/image/dgj09xd4t/

http://postimg.org/image/4wzmc64sd/

When he first started drawing gauges, it never occurred to us we may have an inventor on our hands...that is until he started asking about the little "R" in a circle (registered trademark), around four years old. He moved on from there to asking about copyright. Since then, we regularly share stories with him about inventions/inventors.

Thanks on his handwriting. It's been his biggest improvement since September. We're thinking perhaps the vision therapy is affecting that; as well as lots 'o practice!

Those are gorgeous works. I love the moon, especially. I can see a montage of his works set to Debussy and posted to YouTube.

Painting in watercolor has never been easy for me.

Thanks Ametrine. That is a wonderful idea.

The moon is my favorite too.

Recently he has started being very much the little business man about his art. He wants to gather it all together and sell it door to door. When I told him I like them and want to keep them he replied "Of course you can keep my art, Mom. Just make sure you are the highest bidder and it is yours!"

Emily painted this watercolor when she was 5. I enrolled her in a four hour art class (one hour a day for four days) and had no real idea what type of class it was. They taught her how to mark her canvas into quadrants and draw free hand from a picture of a fish that she selected from a magazine. Afterwards, she painted her fish in watercolor and I am not sure if you can see or not, but they used salt to make the sea water bubble. Best class ever! The lady moved, so we couldn't take another class from her, but Emily has always loved to draw and paint since she was very young. She is 9 now and still does amazing artwork, but this is the only one I have ever taken a picture of because I wanted to show it to my sister (who is an artist) to get her opinion.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v398/kellyandemily/17344_1326335992070_5610917_n.jpg

Everyone's work is amazing! If their teacher(s) cannot tell that they are on a very different developmental path from most children then they are as blind as a bat.

DD is still refusing to do much art due to perfectionism but one of these days, I'll scan some of her maps.


KJP, have you read this book with your DS?

http://www.amazon.com/Thank-You-Fal...461&sr=8-1&keywords=thank+you+mr.+falker

His drawings remind me of her work.

We have some beautifully soulful young artists, it seems! Thank you everyone for sharing these lovely works. It's a treat to have a view into your children's worlds.

Thanks for the book recommendation, Mana. DS6 is a recently diagnosed dyslexic so I think he'll enjoy it.