Basic drawing practice tips to improve your drawing skills

I am a drawing teacher and love to see kids learning and enjoy drawing class. Sometimes teachers want to enhance their own skills in particular area, so there are lots of online sites offering free tutorials to improve at drawing.

These basic drawing tips and tutorials can be adopted in classroom to teach basic drawing process to students.

Tips to help you with practicing drawing:

Prepare the essential drawing tools for drawing which are pencil, eraser and paper. HB pencil is probably the most popular hardness of a pencil, because it is neither too soft nor too hard. It allows you to draw a large variety of pencil drawings and sketches and, is excellent for shading.

Sketchbook, notepads, chalkboards, whiteboards, the backs of receipts, you may use anything to practice drawing.

How to hold the pencil? 

The most common way to hold a pencil is the basic tripod grip. The basic tripod grip is the same as the one you probably use for writing.

This grip allows the pencil to be finely controlled by the fingers, so holding a pencil this way is ideal for drawing fine detail. The upright position of the pencil allows for accurate shading with the tip, rather than side, of the pencil.

There are more ways to hold the pencil. You may notice another way of holding pencil for shading in facing picture.

While practicing drawing, don't be so concerned with how the finished product will look. Instead, be open-minded as to how your drawings may turn out.


The lines we draw are representative of the thoughts we think. And in realizing this connection, it's important to be able to both think and draw creatively.                       

Take on a more 'free-flowing' approach with respect to the lines you put down on paper. Instead of fixed, rigid lines — switch over to quick, wispy, sketchy ones, gradually bringing the desired image into view.

You should have less focus on how your drawings will look when they're finished, and more focus on the process at hand — that of being creative.


Learning and improving at drawing is an ever-changing process, one that always has the potential to yield a number of different results and every drawing will be a learning experience for you.

Treat each new drawing as a stone on the pathway to success and with each new creation, you'll be one step closer to your goal. Draw in the moment!

Free download:

'Learning how to draw' 133 pages of pdf  file (2.27 M)

Download link

*** You may like to use online lessons to learn to draw at 'Draw Space'

YouTube video: Drawing lessons 

Useful links:

* 'Learn to draw' 

* 'Drawing coach'  offers free lessons on drawing techniques.

* 'Easy drawings and sketches' has many tutorials to learn drawing. You may check this site.

Crafts and origami learning with kids

It is fun to teach crafts and origami to kids ( at early years).  I teach easy origami to kids in my Nursery class. I believe that origami helps in development of fine 'motor skills', intellectual abilities and creative abilities. As kids in our Nursery class are from the age group of 4 to 5 plus, even easy origami projects are sometimes difficult to follow, and kids need help at later steps for completing these tasks.

As you can notice from facing picture that I have mixed the drawing and origami together to make an interesting crafts.

As the outcome of this crafts was amazing, we selected it as a folder cover which we hand over to parents at 'Parents teachers meeting' as a record of kids learning.

How this crafts project was created?

1- First I teach them to make a simple house.
2- In second art/crafts class I told them to make a tree.
3- Third stage was to fix both origami projects at art book and finish it by drawing clods, grass, flower etc.
4- We fixed some pencil carving at the roof of the house to make it more attractive and appealing.

How to teach drawing to kids with simple shapes?

Teaching drawing to kids is fun as kids are very enthusiastic in learning and creativity process which is the main process in learning art/drawing. Teachers or parents can make this learning process easier and fun by applying some simple techniques.

Basic geomatrical shapes like circle, square, triangle, and rectangle are easy steps for the creation of simple pictures. Step by step instructions make it easy for kids to create pictures with simple shapes.

This techniques can be applied to teach drawing easier to preschoolers, home schoolers, kinder garteners etc. I start teaching drawing to my nursery class with very simple steps. Kids are promoted to  nursery after 'play' class (which is called reception year in some countries) they learn to draw circle, square, triangle and rectangle in their first year in school.

Most of the children are comfortable with circle which is very easy to draw. I first ask them to draw a circle, then add more circles or few strokes and then ask what is this object? Usually kids are very excited to see transformation of simple circle into cat, flower, clock etc.

Pictire at the left side shows the process of teaching duck with oval shape and curve lines.

- You can make house, train, etc with square shape
- Trianle can be transformed into flag, tree, star, etc
- Rectangle shape: van, truck, train etc


Ask the kids if they can think of any other objects with these shapes?
You would be surprised with the ideas coming from your class children. Encourage them to draw their own pictures.

Useful links:


* How to Teach Kindergarten Drawing


* 'Morning Earth.org' have a very useful post 'Drawing in the Classroom, by Marcia MacEachron.
Link: Basic Drawing in the Classroom

Drawing contest for kids around the world

This drawing contest is announced from "Neuroscience for kids" a site from 'University of Washington' and kids from all over the world are invited to participate in this contest. As the site topic is neuroscience, drawing topic is also related to brain, so kids get ready to submit your drawings for this contest:

How to participate?

Download the entry form from the link of the site.

Entries will be divided into four groups based on age:
If you are in Kindergrarten to Grade 2: Your picture should be about "My brain helps me ________."

If you are in Grade 3 to Grade 5: Your picture should be about "Brain Fitness: I keep my brain healthy by ______."

If you are in Grade 6 to Grade 8: Your picture should be about "My brain is like a _______ because _________."
(Special hint: drawings that compare the brain to a computer, book or robot usually do NOT win.)

If you are in Grade 9 to Grade 12: Your picture should be about "Brain research is important because________."

To enter the drawing contest, mail your completed entry form with your drawing to:

Dr. Eric H. Chudler
Department of Bioengineering; UWEB E/O
Box 355061
1705 NE Pacific St.
University of Washington
Seattle, WA 98195-5061
USA

Do NOT send your entry by email.

- Entries must be received by February 1, 2009, and cannot be returned.
- People from all countries may participate in the contest.
- People and their families associated with the Neuroscience for Kids web site are not eligible to enter the contest.
- Drawings will be judged by the staff of Neuroscience for Kids or by other individuals designated by Dr. Eric H. Chudler. Drawings will be judged on the basis of originality, scientific accuracy and overall design.
- At least one winner from each group will be selected. In past years, each drawing contest has had approximately 50 winners. Winners will be announced by e-mail or regular mail no later than March 1, 2009. The winner agrees to allow Neuroscience for Kids to publish his/her name (first name, last initial only) and artwork on the Neuroscience for Kids web site. Winner addresses and e-mail addresses will be kept confidential and will NOT be published.
- All materials received will become the property of Neuroscience for Kids and will not be returned. Neuroscience for Kids will not be held responsible for entries that are damaged or lost in the mail.
- Winners will be awarded a book, CD-ROM or other prize related to the brain. The specific prizes will be announced later. Prizes will be mailed to the address listed on the winner's entry form.

Questions about this contest should be directed to Dr. Chudler at chudler@u.washington.edu

Link of the site: 2009 Drawing Contest

Learn Doodling to Make You More Creative

Doodles are simple drawings of just a few meaningless lines. You add your own lines -and colour if you like - to create a sketch of anything you like. The point of doodles is not to create art, simply to use your creative vision.




These two picture show you how to do it.

Doodles are a terrific exercise to help you...

- think more creatively

- brainstorm design ideas

- unlock creative mental block

You can use it for:

- General creative exercise
- Getting started on a project when you lack ideas
- Developing into logos

doodles even make a great party game for kids

This is best accomplished by forcing yourself to complete a doodle no matter how inspiring or uninspiring it may be.

Doodles are great creative thinking exercises because they force you to use your creative vision in order to devise a completed picture from a few lines. In addition, they force you to think visually rather than textually as most people do at work. As a result you are thinking in new ways. You are thinking more creatively.

Doodles are also effective brainstorming tools for graphic designers. Designers looking for an image for a project, a logo or a design concept will find that working through a handful of doodles encourages taking a lateral approach to the problem. The result will almost certainly be new ideas and new images.

Art Doodles are more sophisticated doodles with colours and textures. They are especially designed for graphic artists to complete with their favourite graphics programme.

Link: JPB.com

-_Articles about creativity

"Gayle's Preschool Rainbow" - For themes based activities

"Gayle's Preschool Rainbow" is one of the sites where teachers, students and parents can learn a lot. I have searched the site and found a lot of ideas, tips and themes, to keep children busy while learning. Drawing and art teachers can get ideas for their craft projects, and even these topic based ideas can offer us many bulletin board ideas.

Pre school rainbow offers Preschool education activities and early childhood education lesson plans that give preschool children choices. Ideas for pre-k and kindergarten teachers that enrich classroom curriculum are arranged by theme. Plus easy at home fun learning games.

Author of the site says: "Preschool Rainbow is my attempt to celebrate the dedicated teachers that I have worked with and to share a few ideas that I have collected during the past 30 years as an early childhood educator. Because parents often ask teachers to suggest fun things that they can do at home with their young children, I've included lots of easy to do ideas for them in Home Activities."

There are informative early childhood education sites for teachers to visit in the links page. Look closely and you'll also discover a free, just for teachers offer. There's a section for parents in the links page too.

He says:

Years ago early childhood educators were considered babysitters, not any longer. With the recent scientific findings in brain development the value of early childhood education is becoming increasingly apparent.

From the list of themes, you can estimate, how many kind of thems based activities are offered at the site. Now only teachers but parents can get ideas and tips from this section:

Alphabet Theme,
Animal Activities,
Back to School Theme,
Book Themes,
Counting and Number Theme,
Dinosaur Theme,
Easter Theme,
Fall Theme,
Spring Theme,
Summer Theme, Winter Theme,
The Five Senses,
Holiday Craft Activities,
Home Activities,
Indoor Activities,
Toddler Theme ,
Preschool Rhyme

- Brain Growth

Sites points out to other resources: links to other sites for teachers and parents

* Lesson plan ideas for teachers from Scholastic

Art teaching ideas for art teachers

Creating an atmosphnere of creativity for art or drawing classes is important because you have control over what you want to teach to your students. In nursery class, I let my students to do drawing or art at their own way, and soemtimes the results were amazing. Last year a girl draw a sky or cloud like picture. I asked the student 'what you have drawn?'. Her answer was quite interesting, she said: "dream!

These few ideas or tips can help the art teachers to get new ideas for art, or drawing classes.

For example "Drawing emotions" offers these tips:

1) Discuss emotions with the class. What emotions are there?

2) Ask the class what these emotions feel like? Do they feel nice or horrible? What is their favourite emotion?

3) Ask the class to choose one emotion and draw or paint what they think that emotion looks like. Get them to think about what kind of colour that emotion might be.

4) When the children have made their pictures, compare those pictures which portray the same emotion. Do the children's pictures have similarities?

5) Discuss the kinds of colours we associate with emotion (red = anger, green = jealousy, white = peace etc.). Do any of these colours appear in the children's pictures?

- Feelings Flowers - A wonderful way of encouraging children to think about their feelings.

- Drawing Emotions - How can you draw an emotion? What does "happy" or "angry" look like?

- Name Designs - Use this simple procedure to create some fabulous designs, based on your own name.

- Our Lives so Far... - A great Art activity, illustrating key points in the lives of your class.

- Making Personal Flags - Make flags which represent each child in your class in a unique way. An excellent way to decorate your classroom.

- Draw a Story - Draw the events of a story on a storyboard, and get another child to make up the text.

- Observing in Detail - Activities designed to get children to look at things more closely.

- Activity Cards - A set of activity cards to base lessons on or to use as imaginative time filler activities for children who finish their work early.

- Craft Activities Pdf file - A selection of craft activities which can be used as part of work on lots of other concepts.

There are more activities and ideas at the source link page.

- source link

Art and craft activities help children with learning disabilities

Art, crafts or drawing are creative activities which help children in learning disabilies. Being an art/crafts teacher I have noticed that these activities are very helpful in skill development, which helps children in other subjects.

Learning Disabilities and the Arts

The arts are more than a fun, superficial way to keep kids occupied. Art activities can help children with learning disabilities begin to overcome the challenges they face in learning in many different ways. Of course, having a learning disability does not necessarily mean that a person has an exceptional artistic talent. However, music, art, crafts and dance can give students with learning disabilities a chance to express themselves through different media and gain confidence along the way.

Unlocking Confidence
A feeling of self-worth - the knowledge that you can do something - is a critical part of the learning process. Children with learning disabilities often come to think they are incapable of learning because of their ongoing difficulties in school. A paintbrush, a costume, a drum or paper, scissors and glue can be new tools for self-expression that boost confidence while providing opportunities for learning and practice.

Learning Through Art
The arts can open the world of learning to students who have trouble with traditional teaching methods. The arts are intellectual disciplines - requiring complex thinking and problem solving - that offer students the opportunity to construct their own understanding of the world.

* Drawing and painting reinforce motor skills and can also be a way of learning shapes, contrasts, boundaries, spatial relationships, size and other math concepts.

* Music teaches children about rhythm, sound and pitch. Beats can help children learn rhymes and other features of reading such as phonological awareness. Using repetitive songs to learn academic facts (like the alphabet song or multiplication tables) can make the learning experience easier and more fun.

* Dance provides children with a social way to learn about sequencing, rhythm and following directions. While developing coordination and motor control, students can also learn counting and directionality, which can enhance reading and writing concepts - such as understanding the difference between similar looking letters (like p/b/d/q) and telling left from right.

* Performing plays is an opportunity for children to immerse themselves in a theme and learn about it in a profound and personal way. Acting out historical or literary figures and events gives students a sense of ownership about what they've learned, allowing them to acquire a deeper appreciation of the subject matter.

* Crafts offer children the opportunity to express themselves in two- and three-dimensional ways. Students can develop vital problem-solving skills without having to rely on areas of expression that may be more challenging.
Arts as a means of assessment

Timed tests and take-home reports are traditional means of academic assessment that can be especially difficult for individuals with learning disabilities. Creative projects offer these students the freedom to show what they know without the constraints of printed text. Offering students art projects or multi-media presentations as a way to demonstrate an understanding of material they've learned can be an excellent alternative.

Because a person has difficulty learning through hearing alone or seeing alone does not mean they cannot learn. The arts offer individuals with learning disabilities dynamic ways of learning, and just as importantly, a way to fully discover their own self-worth.

Article is courtesy of "National Ceneter for learning disabilities"
- source link

Learn pencil drawing at "Toad Hollow Studio"

I am always fascinated by pencil drawing and sketches. From the very young age I have passion for drawing and still now when I am a teacher, I love to teach simple and easy tips/techniques to my nursery class students. I enjoy the creativity and versatality of my student's art/drawings. From the web, you can find many resources or sites, which can teach you FREE lessons, tips about drawing.

Toad Hollow Studio is run by by Carol Rosinski, who is an artist and basically teaches pencil drawings. She is author of "Drawing Made Easy", but at her site and blog, she is offering a lot of free stuff for drawing learners.

The name of the site is very attractive and Carol says: "Since my artwork is inspired by the life I see around me everyday, I named my art studio "Toad Hollow Studio."

Carol describes the location of her residnece:

"My husband and I moved to our home in Michigan over twenty years ago. We have a small house sitting on three acres. Our property is about one acre wide and three long, and there is a low spot in the middle that collects water during the spring of the year. We have a deep woods on two sides and a large horse pasture on another side. To our delight, we discovered that the deep woods around us and the lay of our land make it a desirable home for many different kinds of wild life. We've seen, to name a few, deer, fox, rabbits, turtles, snakes, dragonflies, butterflies, spiders, frogs, lizards, all sort of birds, and lots and lots of toads.

The busy lives of the animals all around us are inspiring to my husband and me. We study them closely and see that their lives are full of happiness, grief, relief, fear, peacefulness, and great joy. In other words, the lives of the creatures around us are as full and varied as our own. We named our home "Toad Hollow" to reflect the rich and wonderful stories we see unfolding around us. We have a story from "Wind in the Willows" acted out in our own backyard everyday."

Her blog has many useful posts for drawing learners. You can get other blog or site links at her blog roll. And by subscribing to this blog, you can get fresh post news at your inbox.

There are a lot of FREE lessons for drawing learning.
Start learning FREE lessons from this link
* A monthly newsletter with drawing and sketching tips and updates about the new lessons offered at Toad Hollow.
- Sign up for newsletter
* Go to ispiration page for more tips and stories related to her drawings.

* Drawing directory link takes you to another page where you can learn a lot about drawing.
- Drawing directory

Few resources providing FREE tutorials "To learn Drawing "

I am a drawing and art lover and from my childhood I was among few students who were interested in drawing, art and crafts, and their work was always appreciated. Even now I am taking art, crafts and drawing classes at my school. I still search for art and drawing links at the net, and now it's time to share those links with other teachers and students who love to draw. Most of the given links are FREE.

1- Drawing tutorial at "South wind" by "Rebekah Lynn"
Includes:

* Basic drawing steps
* The tools
* Understanding the art of shading

You may subscribe to their newsletter if you want to be informed of new art from SouthWind!

2- Kinder art.com is the largest collection of free art lessons on the internet. It started in 1997, providing an opportunity for parents, educators, artists, students to have fun while exchanging ideas, finding information and learning.

Mission of the site is to make art lessons and educational information accessible to all. They offer printable activity pages, the art kitchen, educational links and articles, early childhood education resources and much more.

JANTJE SAYS:
"Let children try. Let children fail. Let children succeed. Give them the freedom and they will create."

* art lessons
* drawing
* Articles on art education and profiles of young artists. Includes ways to cultivate creativity in children, over 200 things you can do with an art degree, Tips for Teachers and Children & Their Art at: Art speack
* Recipes galore so you can make your own art materials and/or some yummy treats to fuel your creativity: art kitchen
* Tips for teaching ECE: Tips

3- "Artists Helping Children" is a Children's site dedicated to comforting children by empowering artists and others to donate artwork, donated murals, donated art supplies, donated toys and a lot of love to sick and needy children. Artists Helping Children also helps artists by giving them information on how they can help the sick and poor children by volunteering to paint murals and other art for hospitals, shelters, clinics, etc.
We also have filled this site with free coloring pages & coloring printouts for children to color with as well as 1000s of free arts and crafts projects for kids to use when they need some crafts ideas.

4- Drawing curriculum, art lessons

5- Creativity portal provides lot of resources.

6- Drawing coach Learn how to draw and improve your skill in no time with the help of an online coach. Whether you're an art teacher, art student, or just a hobbyist artist you will find the step by step education that will give you the ability to bring those images in your mind into paper reality.
monthly newsletter, Just Draw It. It's delivered at the end of each month and will inform you about new info that has been added to the site. It's a great way to keep up with the latest an greatest drawing tutorials from the coach.
- drawing techniques
- Subscibe to their blog

7- Study sphere

8- draw

9- Free drawing lessons

10- Drawing techniques

12- Drawspace is the largest and fastest growing recreational art education website in the world. The site owner, Brenda Hoddinott, is a world renowned artist and art educator, and is the author of two internationally published books on drawing.Free lessons

13- Back in the mid-1980s, a young man named Mark Kistler took up a cause. He envisioned that every child would be able to expand their imaginations by using art. He believed that the key to understanding art was to teach children how to record their art on paper in a meaningful way, which in his mind meant learning how to draw three dimensional pictures. Mark's teaching methods found their way into the world of public television. His "The Draw Squad" series of 44 video lessons is the highest quality TV production Mark has ever done. It includes Mark's standard 7 Seven Magic Words of Drawing format AND high tech set design with backgrounds and animated characters flying around while he enthusiastically teaches kids how to draw.
Link to the site:
- draw squad

14- It is one of the TV show which features art and craft projects. You may find some drawing techniques from the link below.
-Art attack

15- This is a free site for students who want to learn 'how to look' and teachers who require practical drawing and painting lesson notes. Cowdisley Lessons are currently being used by over 1000 US and international schools, colleges, universities and ateliers by teachers for their classroom lesson plans. We aim for a world of greatly improved visual 'literacy' and begin here with the basics.
- Drawing lessons

Learn drawing from free to offer sites!- Part 1

From my student age I love art, crafts and drawing. Now I am an art teacher for reception year class, and love working with kids, especially teaching them drawing or crafts.
I was really astonished to see that internet has a rich source of really free and quality stuff about art/crafts and drawing.
Before creating this blog, I had many sites links saved at my hard disk and often read those lessons or articles about drawing. Now this blog is providing me an opportunity to share all that stuff with the parents, teachers and of course children.

My readers would be happy to know that there are number of sites, offering free drawing lessons. So hold a pencil and paper and get ready to DRAW:

1- Artists helping children
Artists Helping Children is a Children's site dedicated to comforting children by empowering artists and others to donate artwork, donated murals, donated art supplies, donated toys and a lot of love to sick and needy children. Artists Helping Children also helps artists by giving them information on how they can help the sick and poor children by volunteering to paint murals and other art for hospitals, shelters, clinics, etc.
We also have filled this site with free coloring pages & coloring printouts for children to color with as well as 1000s of free arts and crafts projects for kids to use when they need some crafts ideas.
Link: Artists helping children

2- Learn how to draw and improve your skill in no time with the help of an online coach. Whether you're an art teacher, art student, or just a hobbyist artist you will find the step by step education that will give you the ability to bring those images in your mind into paper reality.
monthly newsletter, Just Draw It. It's delivered at the end of each month and will inform you about new info that has been added to the site. It's a great way to keep up with the latest an greatest drawing tutorials from the coach.

*Drawing techniques
*Drawing blog
subscribe to Blog to get updates.

3- free drawing lessons at Fine art education

4- KinderArt® was developed in 1997, because they think art should be an important part of any home or school curriculum, and if there are easy-to-follow lessons with readily available materials, it makes the lives of artists, teachers and parents much easier.
The goal of KinderArt® has been, to make art lessons and educational information accessible to people around the world.
In addition to the thousands of free art lesson plans, they offer printable activity pages, the art kitchen, educational links and articles, early childhood education resources and much more.
Everyone who visits KinderArt® is encouraged to share their experiences, questions, comments and ideas. The result? A wonderful variety of lesson plans and educational tips complete with an online children's art gallery.

* lot of resources at Kinder Art

* Bulletin board ideas at Kinder Art

* Art from recycled materials

5- For art teachers a must check site: Every day Art
Art Curriculum for Classroom Teachers and Homeschoolers:
On this page classroom teachers and homeschoolers can find resources for teaching art, including classroom art projects for kids and guidelines for class discussion. These children's art lessons are open ended to stimulate creativity, and are flexible enough to work with a wide range of ages and abilities.
Page link: Art Curriculum for Classroom Teachers and Homeschoolers

* What is Art?

I liked the sentence at the bottom of the page, saying "Art makes kids smart" and I took the picture of it.