Online Lessons on How to Draw For Kids

Are you a parent interested in helping your child build on their drawing talent? You may have even been surfing the net looking for step-by-step projects they will enjoy. Once you find a project, then what? How do you present that information for your child to draw?

YouTube offers many great drawing ideas with step-by-step instructions. Once you have found an artist that offers an instructional drawing video that you find fun and easy, do the project first yourself. Once you have your head around the basic principles, then you can prepare to pass this lesson on to your children.

Show the children the completed project first. Next, take your students through each step of the lesson. You draw each element of shape, or line, first and have the children copy what you do. Take your time to ensure every child has completed each instruction before moving on. With very young children you may need to take them through each step with dot-to-dot. This way they will not feel discouraged at not meeting the level of the older students work.

When undertaking faces aim to teach one feature at a time; the following tip may prove useful. For example, you are learning how to draw eyes, sketch out the facial outline and other features, leaving the eye area blank; make photocopies of this facial sketch, one for each child. With this basic template the students can draw in their own eyes following your instructions. Then they have a completed work which they can color and decorate. The next lesson you can work on another feature, such as the nose.

Simple cartooning is great fun for kids of all ages and a great start. Just be mindful not to select too well-known or favorite characters as this can prove discouraging should the outcome not meet their expectations. Manga characters are quite simple, are basically recognizable but also leave much for individual interpretation.

Keep in mind that the level of difficulty of the subject is appropriate for their age and their skill level. This can be difficult when you are working with a number of children of differing ages or when you're working with your own children and they are of multiple skill levels.

Please remember never to use competitive words such as 'wrong', 'right' 'best' and ensure you praise, praise, praise. Even when drawing the same subject, each child's interpretation will ensure a unique piece of artwork every time. After all, how can they be compared, just as De Vinci can't be compared to Monet?

If you notice that your child is taking a real interest in art and drawing you may want to get them enrolled in classes so that they can enhance their skills and embrace that aspect of their world.

Children who are also experiencing difficulty mastering fine motor skills or displaying poor concentration skills will greatly benefit from these drawing lessons, just be patient. Providing they are not too distracting for the other students and are enjoying their drawing, keep encouraging them and praising them. In the end this will reap wonderful rewards both for the child and the teacher.

JoAnn Clarke is an author and artist based in Hervey Bay, Queensland, Australia.

Go to the Useful Links on her website http://www.australianartists.org for some of JoAnn's favourite step-by-step online drawing videos. Have fun!

This site has been designed to provide artists' a web interface to showcase their work and collectors an online shop to purchase.