I've seen several of you who mention that you enjoy drawing, in addition to writing. My 9 y.o. son enjoys drawing and wants to take lessons. I've looked in my area, and there aren't a lot to choose from. The one I signed him up for was cancelled because there weren't enough students, and the teacher said she'd offer it again in the Spring, which usually brings more interest. So, for those of you who draw, do you have any books or anything that you'd recommend in the meantime for my son to try to learn some drawing technique? Anything you might have found helpful when you were roughly his age?
When I was 9-years old, I was very much into drawing funny animal comics and the like. My favorite book was "How to Draw Cartoon Animals" by Christopher Hart. My mom only paid $15 for it, and it was well worth it and provided lots of fun. These days, I'm more into manga, so I have books on those too.
Look for simple books that explain how to draw something step by step, cartoons are always good for younger children. You can also look for something about anatomy of the human body or drawing techniques, but that's probably too complicated, unless he draws a lot ( think of 3 hours a day or more). I have some nice titles at home. I'll post them once I'm home, that will be later today or tomorrow. Update: Chris(topher) Hart has some good stuff. There's a book on drawing animations by Preston Blair; it also has step by step cartoon drawings. How to draw fantasy art by Mark Bergin. It is step by step, but the drawings are a little more complicated.
If you have a tablet there are some really great drawing apps. Step by step and easy for kids to use. Both anime and realistic. My kids love them.
Thanks, everyone! I'll look into them. He does have an iPad, Trish -- I hadn't thought of a drawing app. I'll look into that, too.
Drawing on an electronic pad is nothing like drawing on paper, no matter what the marketing blurb says. With paper and pencil, you learn to feel and see the characteristics of different pencils and materials, and different paper textures. If your son were a bit older, I would recommend Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. I especially like the author's explanation and focus on negative space. When I was growing up, there were art kits by a television artist, Jon Gnagy. You can still buy the books online. They are a pretty decent starting point, and are child-friendly.
This. I actually prefer drawing on paper to drawing on an IPad. I cannot draw on an IPad to save my life.
My thought: Take your son to the library, look in 741-743 - the 'how to draw' is in that section and let him choose what he finds interesting.
Well, one book I found on amazon was $4.49. The library system has one copy, and indicates it is out, due in 2011. I am third in line on the waitlist.
Our local Goodwill typically has a slew of how to draw books. The thing about going to the library section rather than looking for a specific book, is if the library is large enough, there are usually a variety right there on the shelves your son could choose from. Not always, but in my experience, more often than not.
@Cogito (and @chicagoliz) I agree with you. The apps my kids have do not let them draw ON the tablet, they simply show them - step by step - how to draw thousands of things. Just like drawing books, except you won't bend the pages and you can't trace
May I recommend something other than books? Buy your son a good sketchbook or drawing paper and decent pencils if you haven't done so already. Not the ones they sell for children to scribble with, but actual drawing materials; it's way nicer to work with and it's easier to get good results. How good is your son at drawing? Does he know anything about drawing techniques already or not?
It's hard for me to tell. He doesn't know anything about technique, and hasn't had any sort of formal lessons. He's certainly much better than I am. At this point, I mostly want to give him what's available, so he can see if it's something he wants to pursue more fully. He draws a lot in his free time. I have some drawing pencils and sketchbooks in my amazon cart. We'll see how it progresses. Thanks again, everyone, for all your suggestions!
The Monster Book Of Manga is one i have, and a fantasy one too (cant remember the name) mostly i go online and look at images, drawing inspiration from there. i come from more of a grapics background (having taken it as an exam a few years back) my suggestion also is to get him to copy existing images first to improve his perspective on things (i still do that) and one he is getting things down and understanding them, id also get him some drawing pens, these come in a variety of thicknesses from fine to brush like and should give him another aspect to the art
I was mostly asking the last two questions because you mentioned you were planning to sing him up for lessons. If he's good it is very likely that he will not learn anything during those lessons; most lessons for younger children are based on the average talent, or only a little more difficult... as far as I know anyway. I also don't think they will tell children of that age an awful lot about techniques. I used to draw hours a day too, when I was his age and when I was finally getting good I wanted to take lessons, only to find out that they couldn't teach me anything I didn't know. Of course it was fun to talk to other people who liked drawing as much as I did, but after a while it mostly just got frustrating that I didn't learn anything new while that was the reason I wanted to take lessons in the first place. If you can do so you should inform what exactly they teach before signing him up, so you know they will actually have something to offer him.
can i just say that, my advice is coming from someone who started out with little to no drawing skill, the graphics exam (which i did at school) helped me gain an understanding... if like me he has little to no skill, go for it, if he has some considerable skill (which is what you are hinting at) go for what i do which is get him to copy images out (both in freehand and with tracing paper) and get him building up understanding like that
I really liked the Gnagy books growing up. They started with the basic 3d forms (cube, ball, and cone), shading them and cast shadows, then breaking down real objects into those forms, and progressing to simple scenes. The fact that I remember them that clearly about 50 years later should be some indication.
I don't really consider myself good so take my advice with a chunk of salt. Anyway, I've drawn all my life and have actively tried to improve my skills, so I've made quite a few blunders on my way, but I did have one sort of a lowbrow revelation a couple of years back: While I had attended a few courses (at around 8-10yo), bought books on drawing (got into anatomy at 19), was placed into an art-heavy class (junior high) etc. I noticed I had kind of lost that joy of creation, that soaring feeling I got as a kid when I just sat and drew. It can happen with just about any art / sport / skill when you focus too much on developing this and that area, what equipment you are using etc. so a while ago I kinda went back to basics. I bought a cheap but thick sketch book, a very basic mechancial pencil (not to be gear-focused but I love Pentel's Twist and Erase because of its great eraser), spare erasers for it, and just drew what I enjoy drawing the most. I drew with and without models, I did quick sketches and detailed drawings, whatever as long as it inspired me and was fun. My only rule was that I had to make one drawing per day ("drawing" meaning that it could also be just a quick sketch, just as long as I started and finished something every day). I did that for about a year. Three full sketch books later I noticed my skills had improved. The "weird" (obvious to the more observant) thing was that it was never boring even though I was getting better. Nowadays I apply a similar philosophy to every skill I practice: nobody's paying me to do any of them, so if I don't enjoy practicing them, what's the point? Just my 0,02€.
