Each year we introduce the children to observational drawing. But why? Beyond the obvious benefit of learning how to draw, observational drawing helps the children to:
– slow down
– really see and notice detail
– realize that improvement comes with practice
– use another language with which to express themselves
As we have been cooking with pumpkins, we decided to start with them for our first drawings. We brought three pumpkins with very different characteristics for them to draw. We have also read the book “Ish” by Peter Reynolds. Our intention was to give children the freedom and confidence to draw without worrying about perfection.
Language from the children certainly indicates they’re looking closer.
“There are lines on a circle. The stem is brown.”
“I see prickles. That is the stem, these are the prickles.”
“I need orange and there’s a little gray.”
“It has lines down, that’s why I’m making lines like that.”
“Yellow, black I noticed. I noticed green. I already drawed the stem. Yellow and it has a little bit of
green.”
“The stem has none color. It’s a little bit green on the side.”
“I wonder where these pumpkins came from. Maybe from Halloween. Maybe from Halloween last
year and they didn’t give them to us for a long time.”
“It’s dark. I think this (pencil) is the dark green.”
“There are this many lines.”
“Does that (color) match?”
