Jan. 28, 2009 - FAQ- How did Breezy learn to draw?

I have been getting several emails concerning Breezy's artwork and how she learned to draw and paint, so I thought I would just answer those questions all right here.

Ever since Breezy was old enough to hold a pencil she has been drawing.  Like most children she scribbled and made lots of drawings that were indistinguishable.  But when she was two she drew a mouse on her Magna-Doodle board.  At the time we were having a family get together and we all looked at it and were amused, but didn't think to take a picture of it.

She continued drawing and drawing.  One day when she was going to public school she got in trouble because the teacher wanted everyone to draw braids on an Indian girl a certain way. But Breezy had recently been looking at her own braids and noticed they were different than the teacher's, so she drew them the way she saw them.  It was not a good art day for her.  Her teacher was also rather upset that she frequently doodled on her papers during school.  

When we began homeschooling I made sure that the girls were doing something with their hands while I read to them.  Breezy usually drew.  She had several hours a week from age 7 on to draw while I read.  I would sometimes have the girls illustrate what I was reading or draw something that had to do with the story. 

We used Barry Stebbing's books for awhile, but we never actually finished one. Other than that, we didn't use any set curriculum, however, we did do some artist studies.   We would also do lots of crafts, nature studies and some note-booking.  At age nine she entered and won an art contest on the state level, which was a good and bad experience.  It was encouraging to win, but when you win the first time out you have extra pressure.  I think she was more disappointed in herself  when she didn't win for several years, but we had her keep entering because it helped her to push herself and to work with a deadline. 

When Breezy was 13 she took a few drawing lessons from a friend at church.  Our friend used the book Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards.  (I would use this book with great caution. There are many questionable psychological aspects of drawing used that her teacher wisely cut out of the lessons.) This helped Breezy a great deal, and she grew a great deal during those few lessons.  

A year later she took a more lessons from another friend at church. This was also a growing time for her, as she received weekly lessons; a few on perspective, and then several months with watercolor painting.

Aside from all of this, Breezy has checked out nearly every "decent" art book she could find at the library and many more through inter-library loan.  *Just a note about inter-library loans with art books - look  through them before you leave the library and before you hand them to your child.  Sometimes I have had to give them right back to the librarian and thank them for their trouble. You cannot be too careful.  If an art book looks very helpful, but with only a few undesirable pictures, you can cover them with post-it notes.


She did audit a college art class last year for one semester and will be auditing some more art classes next fall with a professor who is a professional illustrator.



While we have studied the required subjects, we have also allowed our girls to explore subjects that interest them, a beautiful thing about home educating. God has blessed her with a talent that she finds joy in practicing. As she has worked on developing her skills, she has sought to bring glory to God.  She is such a lovely young lady.  You can visit her blog here, www.abowlofmossandpebbles.com
 

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