Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments Teaching art

I had a really hard time figuring out which section to put this in, it's not really about "environments" but there isn't a section labelled "learning/teaching methods." And it's kinda sorta about homeschooling, since I envision many, but not all of it to be about teaching as a parent. Anyway.

Simple question: What are the best ways to teach art?

But nothing's ever actually simle, so...
a) how can you guess which methods are best for individual kids
b) what changes with age
c) what changes because of the parents' relationship to art
d) what changes with mediums

Part of the reason I'm asking is that I have a wierd situation with DS. He is actually pretty artistically tallented, he has a very good eye, definitely better than average, and can frame photographs in a very surprisingly sophisticated way. But. He's darned clumsy with his hands, and a perfectionist. Which is to say he takes after both his parents! The result of this is that he uses us as scribes--for ART. (he may someday get into vector drawing, which is, at the end of the day my medium, because really, I'm not that good with brushes and pencils either, but I don't think he's ready juuuust yet.)

I'm not really ok with that. It just seems to defeat the whole darned purpose, thanks.

So recently I started him on an extemporaneous, but very consious "learn to draw" programme. About once a day, when he's interested, I do a little "lesson..." "start with an oval" type stuff. I'm conflicted about this because in my own history, this was a stultifying approach. But it struck me that it was what he needed, I was entirely capable of teaching this way, and so I tried. His dad has come to me with several drawings (not coached) that he did by himself, voluntarily, in the past week... so I gotta say, I think it's working. The ones he did by himself are completely unlike the ones I coached him on, so I guess it's not limiting his creativity... but like I said, I'm a little conflicted.

Now, giving him those awesome twisty crayons helped too, because that good eye of his hates poor quality materials, and these have much better colour (range and quality), are smoother in texture, AND are sharper.

Uh... now I'm just rambling. And I'm supposed to be sewing... ok, shutting up now...

How old is DS?

I've just started using the InkPad app on my iPad to avoid further inflaming the tendons in my wrist (I'm a Macromedia Freehand and two-button mouse refugee). InkPad is a fairly intuitive and simple vector program. Also, quite inexpensive (once you buy the iPad, of course). There are free graphics apps, but this one is less than $10.

I think that there are different purposes in art education (my thoughts here)
1) learning to be creative through material use, problem-solving, out of the box thinking, story-telling, abstraction, etc.
2) learning to be playful, messy, to tolerate ambiguity, to be spontaneous at times and grossly detailed and planned at other times.
3) learning to express oneself visually, to make emotions concrete, to render ambiguity and complexity, and to more deeply tap into oneself.
4) learning to create a visually appealing product using technique and the basic principles of design.

By a certain age, most kids (and adults) get tripped up on the last goal...attempting to make the perfect product - and often miss the real gem of art in the process. I would be sure to include lessons that emphasize the creative experience and not just the product. Most of us won't need to render perfect perspective in our work: but tolerating chaos, expressing ourselves succinctly, thinking outside the box, self-insight, and taking on a new perspective on something is valued for sure.

There are so many mediums other than drawing or painting, if those cause frustration. Why not photography, if he's good at it? Collage? Gluing objects together to make sculpture? Clay?

I absolutely would not be scribe, though.

Ahhhh... but I'm not worried about frustration, he doesn't get frustrated about his. Actually, I'm not worried about anything. I'm just thinking about ways to teach art.

He asks us to scribe in any medium, including telling me how to frame, and then asking me to push the button. It's just a thing with him. Actually, he asks me to do EVERYTHING for him. It's just a thing.

I've done a lot of teaching/learning in art, from kids to college students (though not a lot of any one group in there ;)). I've usually been able to impose my own ideas of correct teaching, but my son is teaching me that that sometimes is not the right thing And another thread on here made me think of it.

I ALWAYS come off as worried. Sheesh. I gotta work on that. They spent years telling me "cite examples" and now I... get in trouble with it!!! well, that's part of it, I think, anyway...

I should have mentioned that I was spinning off another thread, though.

I think that Evemomma is quite succinct and correct in the various purposes that art serves.

And really, in most cases, the last of those is ultimately the least important one to explore fully. Item number 3 on her list:


This seems to be the single most important reason for all people to be educated in a hands-on way about the arts. Otherwise, art appreciation would be fine for everyone, right?

The point is to understand the purpose that art can serve for us as individuals. For some people, that will include #4-- eventually, anyway, as they work as artists.

For the rest of us, that third item is critical as a means of coping with a sometimes overwhelming/bewildering world. I'd argue that those not fully in step with that world have the greatest need for artistic expression of some kind for just that reason, in fact.

All that to say why I think that ultramarina's correct in noting that scribing is NOT a way to do this. I think that, if anything, it tends to reinforce the underlying internal messages driving perfectionism, which in turn emphasizes item 4, which is mostly not compatible with art's purpose in numbers 1, 2, and 3.

Someone else mentioned the idea of "letting go of the editor" in the other art thread, and this really resonated with me because that is exactly the advice that I've heard over and over again from: a) friends who teach art professionally, b) professional artists in a variety of media, and c) from mentors in my learning as a writer.

It's the trick to tolerating imperfection long enough to master ANY medium. Including the performing arts, truly.

I noticed that if I 'scribed' for DD (which I did only briefly when she was quite little), I actually dampened her own willingness to do things herself-- because she was then comparing her ability with mine and noting that MY output was closer to her "vision" than her own... or that she was assuming that it was "better" because I seemed less critical/conflicted about it or something.

Teaching kids a framework of "seeing" and teaching the technical aspects of how to CONTROL the medium, though-- those things are fine. I've had better luck with DD since making suggestions which relate to those two things and only mentioning how much I 'enjoy' various technical points, or her expression of ideas, in final products.

She, too, gravitates toward media where her imperfections are less evident to herself, I think-- photography and cake decorating are both fun for her, and she enjoys cross-stitching. (Less ambiguous, I think.) She also really likes to draw with a simple tablet and inexpensive computer software-- I think because she can instantly wipe away 'mistakes' and it's as though they never existed.

Scribing for one another, however, can be a healthy thing, I think.

What I mean by this is to use it as a game or activity where one person verbally describes and the other person 'interprets' with a drawing.

As long as you have a child who is willing to play along, I mean. Mine only very occasionally was.

Yes--this is why I would never scribe.

Whiteboards can be really good if you want something even cheaper and easier than computer stuff.

Michaela, we found with our DS (2E AS) that he was unwilling to draw, ever, until he was taught.

We worked him through various kid drawing books as well as this series: http://www.exodusbooks.com/category.aspx?id=3539 It starts with simple shapes and gets very complex by the third book.

Now that he knows how to draw, he's plenty creative, and he cartoons regularly (and amusingly). But as in many areas with this kid, he had to know he could before he could.

DeeDee

Yes, that is precisely what our experience with DD was like. She's like that, too-- has to know how to do something before she's willing to try it out and see if she likes it. LOL.