What is the best way to teach toddlers/little kids how to draw?
>>2316453
Give them them drawing materials and let them develop a taste for doing it.
Let them have fun with it
Actually learning perspective, anatomy, etc will take basic geometry knowledge and life experience I don't think someone younger than 12 can possibly have, when dealing with small kids the best thing to do is give them a pencil and let them have fun while drawing, they will benefit greatly from this.
i dont get why every drawing book for kids teaches them to symboldraw
it just fucks em up for life and they have to overcome it by hardcore grinding like we do at some point if they become interested in art
>>2316482
Symbol drawing has little to do with watch you teach. It's more about how we parse information. Humans are simply very effective pattern recognition machines.
>>2316486
but teachimg them stuff like this is just wrong
https://www.google.com/search#tbm=isch&q=drawing+for+kids+step+by+step
>>2316489
I can only imagine that art classes for kids will teach more about "being creative" and "expressing yourself" than actual art, small kids didn't even develop the motor skill necessary for learning Loomis.
loomis
>>2316489
>art classes
dont expect the ones for kids be any different from this
>>2316489
>>2316491
The most important factor when teaching a hobby to kid is for them to have fun. You just want them to let them taste the water and find out what the fuck they want to do with their life.
Autistic loomis grinding makes sense for you as an adult but I wouldn't recommend anything of the sort to a child unless I was literally intending to put him off art. If he happens to rediscover art later in life it would be completely by chance and not because of the unfun torture I put him through.
>>2316506
they wouldnt need to grind anything if you teach them to draw what they see from the beginning
>>2316453
Pretty much this >>2316459
Started an art class for kids months ago and even made a similar thread asking opinions. Maybe you can find it in the archives.
Through practice, I found that the best way to teach them art is to make it an interactive experience. Make it a two way conversation as you teach. Relate to things that they encounter everyday, or to things that they love (pokemon, minecraft, and minions in my experience).
One week I tried teaching them some LOOMIS (actually, Betty Edwards and using the viewfinder, or as I called it, MAGIC WINDOW). Guided them to trace drawings and draw things around them. The kids were pretty passive and quiet throughout the session, which I thought was bad.
The next week I tried teaching them about expressions and how to draw them. I warm them up by showing a slide full of exaggerated faces and they were pretty responsive. Even asked them to mimic those faces, or ask them to draw what they think constitute to 'angry, or really angry'. It got them pumped up to learn, and their parents responded that their kids loved it, even going so far as to pay more to make personal classes specially for their kids.
>>2316521
what ages? itd be really interesting to see what they can draw before / after the classes
>>2316510
You can't teach toddlers and little children anything of that complexity. They will always draw in symbols because that is how a young brain naturally develops. Skipping the fun, effortless symbol drawing phase would severely cripple the creative development of a child.
>>2316500
in the thumbnail it looks like a crowd of minions, in the full picture is the same
>>2316521
May I ask what is Loomis?
>>2316530
baby dont hurt me
>>2316500
that is horrifying
normies are despicable
>>2316528
you mean to tell me that you can not make any kid Kieron Williamson with the right guidance?
>>2316532
Don't hurt me
>>2316525
The age group was around 9-11. It was a short session, for around a class per week for 6 weeks just to test the waters (just something to do after graduating). I'm not actually aiming for the kids to be able to draw crazy good, or able to copy photos. I drafted my class syllabus around teaching the kids about design language, drawing through construction, and things like that. More about understanding things around them. Slip it in in a fun way.
The picture was taken during the Betty Edwards exercise, and they look pretty bummed out. I didn't take a lot of pictures of them though, sadly. Maybe next semester.
>>2316530
Lurk moar
>>2316544
I rarely go to this board
>>2316547
It's a meme here pretty much. It's based on Andrew Loomis, an old illustrator in the mid 20th century that has published a collection of educational art books such as 'Successful Drawing', 'Fun with a Pencil', 'Creative Illustration', 'Figure Drawing for All It's Worth', etc. Basically the pure fundamentals of art and pretty much required reading for d/ic/ks.
Just replace LOOMIS with UNDERSTAND YOUR DRAWING FUNDAMENTALS. Great books in my opinion.
>>2316544
wouldnt it be better if they used something like charcoal or that graphite smugde rug vilppu mentions (no idea whats it actually called)
drawing with values is much more natural and liberating, lines are actually really abstract thing, since they dont exist
Honestly, I wish I learned about Hampton, Loomis, Hogarth, etc so much earlier.
I only started getting gud around Mid-sophomore Early-junior year in high school.
I think the best time to start getting good is Freshman Year in HS. Because that's the time that you can usually fudge your way through all of the required classes and you have so much free time to draw. Then you can spend the last two years to do Adv. art or even begin making your college portfolio. And by that time, you'll be good enough to get very nice scholarships and acceptances from different schools. Probably could enter and easily win a bunch of local competitions that move onto the national level (Scholastic Competition)
On a related note, though...
Elementary -> Middle school
If the kid is definitely interested in art then I would begin pushing for it. DESU, I would get my kid into Bargue Plate copies very early...even if it's just the contour line. Or if they want to render...then let them trace the shadowshapes and such, then build up from there. Another route is to spam Loomis/Hampton SUPER early. Perspective is important too!
Basically let them have fun until hs. then if they feel good about the whole thing, start drilling them with information and exercises from everywhere.
Don't draw anything for them.
My son got completely discouraged from drawing cause I used to draw things for him (I drew him superheroes and he would play with them like action figures)
He doesn't like drawing as much as me and it makes me sad.
>>2316556
You could argue that visually, lines are actually strips of values from form shadows on the edges of the form, but that's another topic. It is a good idea, but sadly we don't have those in our art shops around where I live.
Anyway, most of the classes I taught them using mainly pencils, so I'm not sure how charcoals would turn out. Probably need to make them change out of their school uniform before I do that. Even I use pencils for most of my traditional drawings, so maybe I need to practice using charcoals and such first.
>>2316576
you can just grind up some charcoal and dip a napkin / soft cloth in in and use that to draw, its super easy to block out values like this, then when you need to add more value / define edges take the charcoal itself and for highlights use the soft eraser.
im sure it deffers from person to person, but this is the most natural way to draw for me (that doesent mean i use it all the time - i dont, its just really easy to get into an understand)
>>2316576
>we don't have those in our art shops around where I live
Really? they are pretty basic.
>>2316617
For you, maybe. There's a chance that you can find them near colleges or universities with art courses, but other than that, it's pretty hard to find. People here don't appreciate art, only money.
>>2316576
you cant buy charcoal anywhere near you?
>>2316500
I don't get it. How could they keep pouring the wine long enough for them to get the painting finished before the bottle runs out? And were they all looking at the same glowing red flame? Um, I don't understand what I'm looking at?
>>2317363
they were probably looking at a shutterstock photo
mark kistler's stuff seems pretty good
Let them have fun. Really young kids have a limited ability to learn any theory. Their most valuable asset is their passion and imagination, nurture it.
Rather than criticising and correcting what they do, just praise what they did well and tell them why it's good. If you see something they need to work on, just bring that up as a new lesson as if it's not connected, just another cool new thing to learn.
Draw stuff for them to impress them and get them excited, but keep it within their wheelhouse so they feel like they can actually approach it, and keep it focused on things you can teach them.
Also avoid teaching them exercises without really allowing them to understand the purpose of it.
Man, I still remember this negative space exercise I had to do as a kid, and there was absolutely no context given for it and no purpose other than to make things pointlessly hard. Years later, I kept coming back to that thinking "but what was the POINT?!"
Then eventually (after I got over how sour school made me to art) once I took up painting it was instantly "it's aaaall about negative space, baby!" because it actually fucking applied to the situation and learning it actually made life easier.
