Growing up there were many artists in my family. My uncle is a sculptor, my grandma paints watercolors, her father made oil paintings, and my mom’s three cousins are all painters as well! In our immediate family, while both my brother and I were exposed to art, my brother really took off as the artist. He did anything from sketches to ceramics and my childhood home is filled with his amazing work. Being the older sibling, he’d often critique my little doodles and sketches. As I grew older, I continued to enjoy art, but developed the “I’m not very good at art” mentality. This same mentality was something I saw in my classroom. Some students were very adverse to drawing and writing. They immediately would say “I can’t” and become overwhelmed and frustrated. During the Deepening Project Work training series last year, Judy Harris Helm shared techniques on how to help students overcome the fear of putting a pen to paper. One technique she mentioned that we often see in project work is Observational Drawings.
Often times many drawings are memory drawings. For example, a student draws a picture of their favorite toy at home from memory without seeing it in that moment. Memory is a skill, and if a child is not able to remember all the details of what an object looks like, it can be a lot more frustrating and stressful to draw. During an observational drawing, students have the object in front of them. This creates a space that encourages students to see, touch and fully explore the object they are drawing. Students can use their memory, but do not need to rely on it to recall the object. This alone can help lessen the stress around drawing. During observational drawings, students can be further motivated through dialogue with the teacher about the object. Talking about its use, the shapes you see, or helping a student focus on a smaller object first can also break down barriers. For example, if the student is hesitant to draw a bike, the teacher can help them by guiding them to start with just focusing on the wheel and its shape.
Below is an example from one of our past Early Childhood Connections participants, Martina Nynefle Cummings. Her student did a drawing before and after seeing a postal truck.
The detail and vocabulary increases after the child has seen a postal truck up close. In addition, the child’s confidence grew as they could visibly see their skill improve.