Sunday, September 25, 2011

Budding Artist


This is a drawing I did of Ninja Girl. She critiqued me the whole time. "I'm not doing that with my arms!" "My hair doesn't do that!" "My dress isn't that color!" She is hilarious. So now you know, it doesn't matter if you can draw or not, your kids will still complain about your attempts. I think because they have this image in their heads, and you just don't interpret it the way they want.

Anyway, I try not to get too frustrated with her, because I know she's learning from me. She watches me draw with utter fascination, and she is already picking stuff up. It's amazing to watch her learn! The girl just loves to color and draw. I remember the first time I put a crayon in her hand at maybe 18 months or so—she held it the right way and she just COLORED. When I did the same with my older son, he ate the crayon.

Actually he ate/destroyed all drawing utensils until he was like 3 or so.

Ninja Girl is three, and the girl will color and draw for solid chunks of time. An hour or more. And it's amazing what she comes up with. Today I thought I'd share:


The two green figures are mermaids, and the others are butterflies. The thing above the squiggly water line is a boat. I just think it's the most adorable mommy baby pair of mermaid in the world. I know, I'm totally bragging, but it's just so amazing to watch a child learn a skill (like watching Dino Boy learn to read—SO rewarding).

I can only hope both my kids will keep at their individual talents. Because seeing them right at the very beginning, it has reminded me just how much work and time goes into all we do.

16 comments:

  1. That's a pretty darn good boat, if you ask me.

    Kids' drawings are always amazing once they tell you what everything means. Sometimes I think art appreciation / interpretation classes are an attempt to recapture that sense of how we drew as kids.

    It's like that scene in The Little Prince with the man who had always drawn an elephant being eaten by a boa constrictor, but adults only saw a top hat. It took a child to understand what he was trying to convey, because children are much more willing to accept the imperfect for the sake of it simply being what it is.

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  2. She's a better drawer than me. I'm still stuck on stick figures! But that is super cute!

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  3. My daughter is 15 and wants to make art her career. My favourite picture of hers, one that is stuck on the wall above my computer, is one of butterflies drawn exactly like your daughter's, I think they're wonderful.

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  4. She's amazing. ;) I was working in a day camp over the summer, and I had this five year old boy who loooooved to color. (We let him, since it was either that or he destroyed the entire room.) He was amazing, he could draw pictures that were understandable for the most part.
    Good luck with your daughter's art, and dislike of yours. ;)

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  5. So cute! Your story reminds me of the Tiny Art Director book; are you familiar? http://tinyartdirector.blogspot.com/

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  6. I'm with Jade; she's much better at drawing than I am! :D

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  7. For a 3 year old, she's extremely precocious! I think girls are more inclined to enjoy "still" activities, like drawing, puzzles, and reading, than boys. My daughter would sit and look over her picture books for hours when she was two. My son, at 5, will only sit still long enough for me to read about 3 pages. I try not to get frustrated :).

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  8. Bethany, actually Dino Boy loves books! He always has. It's one of the few things he'll sit still for. That and video games:)

    Ninja Girl actually doesn't like reading as much. It surprised me at first, because Dino Boy was always so content to let me read to him. Ninja Girl still has a hard time sitting for reading time. So I guess I'm saying it's not just boys who get fidgety with the books.

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  9. That's got amazing detail for a three-year-old. Just the fact that the figures have actual bodies instead of big heads with arms sticking out of them means she's advanced in my opinion.

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  10. I think that's fantastic -- she and my son should get together and draw. :) He's been drawing since age one and I have no idea where he got it -- neither my husband nor I can draw to save our lives. I wish I were you so I could help him more! :) He always wants me to draw something with him but his drawings show mine up.

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  11. Awesome! The 4 year old little girl I used to watch still wasn't able to draw anything but scribble. I think I drew like that when I was like 9 :P

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  14. Oh my gosh, you are so talented! I love this - sweet & innocent yet professional quality. Looks like you've also got an "artist in training" lol Have you ever considered doing illustrations for children's books?

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