I am a fan of Barb’s Sketch Tuesday. It’s so simple, but simple usually works.

Each week she gives a broad topic for a sketch. You send her your scanned (or photographed) sketches, and she compiles them into a slideshow. This week’s theme was something from a first aid kit. (Mine on left; Sprite’s on right.)

There are no grades, no awards, just a gentle nudge in the right direction to keep drawing. Thanks, Barb!

I find that having her assign us a topic really keeps us on track with consistently drawing. So once you’ve done the assignments in Drawing With Children, Sketch Tuesday is a great weekly project. It takes only minutes, and we do it together as a mother daughter activity.

Jesus, the Good Shepherd

Sprite snatched the paints and a drop cloth and disappeared in her room one night with the one remaining canvas. I had no idea what she was creating. I was far too busy getting my Taobao account set up. I’ll be blogging about that later, I’m sure. It’s basically a Chinese Ebay, but I’m getting off topic. Back to art.

I’ve always said that art supplies don’t count. And Sprite knows I’m a total push over for buying brushes, markers, glitter, felt, and so on. It’s true. I feel that a person must have materials for creativity. Without them, how can we express ourselves? Now the last canvas is used up. But no worries. I’ve already located them on Taobao.

She has covered much of her bedroom wall with an outer space themed set of drawings done with oil pastels on canvas. I had them all framed and was quite pleased at the supportive comments I received from the frame shop employees and the customers who saw them. They oohed and ahhed and seemed to understand clearly that I was trying to support my daughter’s creativity by framing and displaying her work.

To be honest, I was surprised at their reaction. In the past when Sprite and I have sketched outdoors, we’ve received open criticism, “Your sketch is terrible.” “She can’t draw at all!” But here were kindly women nodding with approval at my daughter’s art and smiling knowingly at me.

Thank You, God. It is a small but beautiful blessing to be understood. It’s one of the hardest parts about living in another culture — being misunderstood.

Related posts:

1. A New Hobby — Chinese Painting
2. Painting Peonies

Since Sprite received her Draw Squad book, she’s been faithfully working through the exercises, loving it all the while. I thumbed through the book and read the notes to parents and educators, looking to soak up any wisdom Mark Kistler can offer. I was thrilled to see Mona Brookes has written an foreward to the book!  She affirmed that although her methods and Kistler’s are quite different, she is open to his style of learning art! What a breath of fresh air for two different practitioners to agree on one thing — getting kids to draw!

Mona Brookes is the author of Drawing with Children, the book that I’ve used to guide Sprite’s drawing practice. (You can read more about our journey with that book at Drawing with Children.)

In reading Mark Kistler’s ideas for parents, I read something that I totally agree with but had never put into words like he does. Kistler says parents should ” start an art-supplies-don’t-count rule.” After I read this paragraph, I realized that we already have this rule!

“My family had this rule when we were kids, that books didn’t count. What I mean is that books were considered a staple of life just like water and air. Books were always available; one just needed to ask. They didn’t count as gifts (water and air aren’t given as gifts). We always had zillions of them around. After I had converted the storage closet into my art studio, my mother declared a new rule:  art supplies don’t count. They wouldn’t count as gifts. They’d be available to me as books were.”

I totally agree with this philosophy! Sprite has already discovered that mom is a pushover when it comes to books and anything art or craft related. I just have this sense that kids need those things. They aren’t in the same category as toys or DVDs or candy; those are extras. But books and art supplies are essential.

So on a recent visit to an Ikea in China (what a treat!) I found this artist manikin for less than $4. “What a neat thing for my artist daughter,” I thought. “She needs this.” And so I bought two. Yes, two. I guess I thought she needed a pair for setting up dancing scenes or something.

I wasn’t sure what her reaction would be, but she loved them and thanked me profusely. I reminded her that this was an art supply, so it didn’t count! Without any prodding from me, she started sketching Jethro and Katie, her two artist manikins. Here are some examples.

With some of her sketches, she went on to add facial features and clothing. Starting with a sketch of the wooden figure gives the correct proportions that makes her art realistic. I am very pleased with my small investment into her artistic development.

So what do you think? Should art supplies count? Do they count in your home? Or do you put other worthwhile things in the “doesn’t count” category? I’m curious to know your thoughts.

Related posts:

1. Cassatt Artist Study

Recently I discovered Planet Perplex. This is an intriguing site full of visual trickery — ambiguous images, optical illusions, impossible images, and more. (WARNING: there are some yucky images that may offend you or a sensitive child, so be careful!! There is a skull on the index page. This site is not for kids. But with wise selection, you can browse it with your child.)

My daughter Sprite loved the images on the website! Some kids read in bed. Well, Sprite often draws in bed. That night she was inspired to make her own upside down face.

I took her drawing and scanned it twice. Then I put the two perspectives side by side so you can see the two faces. The one on the left is smiling, and the one on the right is a snooty sneer. But it’s the identical drawing!!

If you can’t “see” it, click on the image to go to Flickr where I added notes to the image to explain the parts. I am so proud of her! WOW!