Saturday, May 10, 2014

Copying Drawing Masters

I have three teaching degrees, one being a BFA in Art Education. As a child I loved nothing more than doing coloring books with crayons. It did not stifle my creativity, but instead make me think about color, line and design. I studied how the pictures were drawn and often tried to copy them. So, now with decades of teaching art to my students I never hesitate making masters for them to follow and copy. It allows very young minds to analyze shape, form, structure, space and color. My students are able to reproduce my master at a much higher level of artistic expertise than if they were simply asked to draw a tree with birds in it without a finished work to view first. These children are not yet in kindergarten, yet with the help of a master which I draw at a child's ability level, they are able to create startling finished work.


These drawings were added to their Mother's Day Art Portfolio.
Imagine their mom's delight at these guided drawings!













 

4 comments:

Sharon Dudley said...

Carolyn, thanks for the comment, and for becoming a follower. I was wondering if you could explain to me a little bit more about how you get your kids to draw. Do you start with basic shapes? Or do you do a step-by-step process where they draw along with you? I have to be honest. Being blind, it's very hard for me to draw, but I could have my assistant help them. I do a lot of Play Doh, singing, and dancing as well as all the other subjects.

Have a wonderful Mother's Day!

Sharon Dudley, NBCT
Teaching with Sight

inspiredmontessori said...

Sharon, We start the year with drawing circles and then circles in a variety of ways such as circles with stripes inside, etc. Writing is the basis for good drawing so we do a lot of writing exercises. Then, I draw at a dry erase board and they follow me step by step and we talk about shapes as we draw a variety of things. With that under their belt they can then look at a master and have the skills to see the shapes and have the pencil control to draw the objects. Yes,it is a step by step teaching with an emphasis on pencil control.
Happy Mother's Day!
Carolyn

GC said...

This is wonderful! Thanks

inspiredmontessori said...

Thank you for your interest in my posts!