Drawing With Children by Mona Brookes
This lens will help you gather the supplies needed to use this book with your children. I will also share some easy to use lessons to go along with the book that will help you and your children practice your skills in your nature journal.
Even if you are not going to use the lessons for your nature journal, you will find lots of great ideas and videos to get you started drawing anything you want with this book's help.
Drawing With Children
I highly recommend this book to help your child learn to draw by seeing the elements of shape that Mona Brookes outlines in this classic "learn to draw" book for children.
She not only gives you the steps needed to help your child learn to draw more realistically, she will give you solid reasons to not believe the many myths most of us believe about learning to draw. I read this book every year to remind myself that we can all learn to draw.
Here's the Book You Need to Get Started
Drawing With Children by Mona Brookes.
Drawing with Children
Amazon Price: $12.21 (as of 10/10/2008)
This book helps parents teach their children using simple step by step processes how to draw in a way that is gentle and easy.
Drawing Supplies on Amazon.com
Basic drawing supplies to use with Drawing with Children
Here are some ideas for you art box. You can purchase these basic tools at any office supply store.
Using this Book with Your Nature Journal
I have put together drawing lessons using this book that will help you with your nature journal.
Drawing with Children Lessons 1-4
Lessons for using this book with your nature journal
- Lesson 1-Getting Started
- I would complete "Choosing Your Starting Level", pages 40-52 without any changes.
Here's what I came up with for Lesson 1, pages 55-79.
Work through the lesson as outlined with the following adjustments:
1. As you learn the "5 Basic Elements of Shape", make sure to have some objects from your recent nature walk to look at. Use those objects to find the elements of shape.
2. Play the "Visual Games" from page 64 while on your next nature walk.
3. Draw the bird as outlined on pages 75-79. Finish the bird drawing by sketching an actual tree branch that you have seen on your nature walk.
4. Before you move on to lesson two, practice drawing different birds you have observed by using a field guide or a bird photo. Use the basic bird drawing technique and adapt it to birds you have seen on a nature walk or at your birdfeeder - Lesson 2-Drawing From Graphics
- Lesson 2, pages 80-115 Drawing from Graphics
Work through the lesson as outlined in the book. Make sure to use the proper level for your child.
Application for using in your nature journals:
1. Page 90 in the "Where to start" section: Make sure to point out that when you draw flowers you will normally start at the center, with plants start with the stem, and when drawing a living creature start drawing with the eyes.
2. Using Figure 2-10 on page 91, practice drawing leaves with your thick and thin markers. Make sure to follow the suggestions in the paragraph titled, "Using thick and thin line".
3. After working through the appropriate level in this lesson, go on to the section titled, "Choosing Other Projects" on page 112. Pay particular attention to the drawing sequence on page 114. Look for ideas for practicing the skills you learned in this lesson on your nature walk. If you can take a photograph of a scene or subject and then look at it on your computer or print it out, you will have a custom project to add to your nature journal. You could also use calendars, magazines, or field guides to help you with your project.
sketch 1
Challenge yourself to draw one object in each of the following categories:
1. Tree
2. Flower
3. Animal
4. Insect
5. Bird
Look through the colored illustrations in the middle of the book for some ideas of what other children have done for each of these categories. - Lesson 3-Still Life
- Lesson 3, pages 116-140 "Drawing from a Still Life"
Lesson 3 is really great for applying to your nature journal. I suggest working through the lesson as outlined to learn the concepts of drawing a still life. There are so many good points in this lesson that I want to emphasize the ideas that I really appreciated and hope that you can apply with your children.
* "Remember, as an artist you might not like many of the finished products, but they all serve as growing experiences toward the ones that give you a rush of satisfaction and appreciation." Page 139
* "Now you have a formula for choosing projects from graphics and inanimate objects and rendering them into realistic drawings. You have learned how to use a drawing process that involves training your eyes to see the edges of everything and to duplicate their shape on paper. You are now well on your way to handling any subject that you wish." Page 139
How to adapt this lesson to your nature journal
1. After working through the lesson, use the "Building Still Life Arrangements" section on pages 135-140 to arrange objects from your nature study for sketching into your nature journal.
Pay particular attention to page 137 where there is a list of possible items to include in your own custom still life. Many of these items are things that you could look for on your nature walks. Keep your eyes open to interesting textures and shapes and bring them home to arrange for your own drawing.
One additional suggestion I have is to place the still life in a spot where you can keep it up for a period of time. We sometimes work several different days on a single still life. Another idea is to have the still life in the middle of the table and then to draw it from different angles or sides of the table. - Lesson 4-Volume
- How to apply to your nature journal.
Page 150 has a subheading for outdoor drawing and using natural lighting. She suggests sitting in such a way that the sun is over the back of either one of your shoulders. This gives your subject consistent lighting. Practice sketching and drawing outside.
Page 158 Choosing Other Projects
Follow the suggestions to use photographs or paintings as inspiration. You can take your own photographs or those out of magazines and have your children work them into their nature journals. Find subjects to draw that you have seen in real life. Have your children adapt the photos to match those conditions they have experienced. Mona Brookes also suggest working with your own three-dimensional environment for endless drawing possibilities.
I love the quote on the sixth page of color images int he middle of the book with the title "Environments".
"As students draw the creatures in our environment, they can also learn about the places they come from, draw maps and study geography, be involved in science lessons, and exposure to environmental awareness."
Plant yourself in this chapter for as long as you need to feel comfortable before moving on to Lesson 5. Lesson 5 widens our choices of mediums: conte crayon, chalk pastels, drawing pencils, colored pencils, oil pastels, and watercolors. This is exciting and intimidating. I think I will take each new medium and give it a separate blog entry. Some of these materials are not my favorite but I will do my best to present the way to get started with them.
Still Life With Watercolors
Drawing With Children-Other Art Supplies
When the basics are just not enough, here are some suggestions to add to your art supply stash.
Drawing With Children Lesson 5
Different lessons for each kind of medium
- Lesson 5 Conte Crayons
Now we are getting down to the real meat of this book. The basics have been covered and now we are given some instruction and direction on what to try after we have tired of markers.
The first medium mentioned is Conte Crayon....this I admit is not my favorite way to draw. It is messy and I don't have much control. I have done some work with the conte crayons and to me, they are as messy as charcoal. You smudge and smear and then when you are finished, the end product, even if you have used a fixative, needs to be stored carefully or they make a big mess. Now I know there must be artists that enjoy these crayons but I gave them a try and I have moved on.
If you use the kneaded eraser that they suggest, you will want to keep it for using exclusively with the conte crayons otherwise you will make a smudgy mess on your next pencil project.....yes, I am speaking from experience.
I would not use these crayons with little ones. They break easily and they will probably not like the results. I would save these for at least middle school age children, if not high school....or better yet, college. :)
I would not recommend conte crayons for your nature journal. About the only thing I like to use conte crayons or charcoal for is to make "gesture drawings". Drawing with Children talks a little bit about gesture drawing on pages 180-181. Basically it means a quick kind of drawing that you look quickly back and forth between the model and your drawing.- Lesson 5 Chalk Pastels
Drawing With Children by Mona Brookes talks about chalk pastels in chapter five. She suggests that you try these after conte crayons but in my last Drawing With Children blog entry you read my experiences with that medium and you skipped right to chalk pastels.....or at least you probably did.
The good news is that although these are just as messy as the conte crayons, your children will probably enjoy them more. They are colorful and you get lots of bright bold colors on your page. They are not as smooth on the page as an oil pastel but they give you more color than a watercolor pencil.
We have always enjoyed the way you can overlap the colors and you can see them blend on your page but they will break if you apply too much pressure.
You will need good paper, a kneaded eraser, and a fixative in order to use these in your nature drawings. I am still not convinced I would use them directly into my nature journal or carry chalk pastels in my backpack but if you are around the house and can use them on separate sheets of paper and then insert them into your journal, they are a nice change from colored pencils.
You can see how the leaf looks great but there is a mess on the page and the pastels broke when I was using them. You can still use them even when they get quite small though so just be prepared that your nice new box of pastels will soon be broken and messy.
I also tried the Pastels Pencils (Conte brand) and they were a little easier to use than the crayon sticks. They still have the same texture so they were a little scratchy on the paper and still made a little mess. If I had to choose, I would use the pencils but not in my nature notebook. The pencils were much easier to control and you could sharpen them to a point to get a nice sharp line.- Lesson 5 Drawing Pencils
Pencils are easy to find and easy to use. They are small enough to fit in any backpack along with a nature journal. I always carry drawing pencils with me when we take our hikes and they are the "staple" of my nature drawing kit.
I have two ways of carrying them. If I am carrying my big backpack and have room to fit it in, I carry my Art Bin filled with various kinds of drawing pencils, a good metal sharpener, a few erasers, and a drawing tortillion.
If I am traveling light, I put a few pencils, my black ink pen, and a few old crayons in a Ziploc bag and carry them that way. Don't laugh, it works.
Here is a photo of what I am describing. I actually pulled these out of my backpack so they are just as if I were ready to take off for a hike. I must admit that I rarely just take along pencils. I almost always end up throwing in some colored pencils or watercolor pencils. I couldn't find a single example from my nature journal where I only used a drawing pencil. I use them to sketch things out roughly on the page and then put on a little color.
So what kind of pencils do you want to try? Most homeschoolers have a ready supply of the good old stand-by #2 pencils. This will do fine to start but for a variety of line you might want to try a different pencil that is harder or softer than the #2.
Mona Brookes suggests:
one #H (hard lead gives lighter line)
one #2B (the "B" is the softness)
one #5B or #6B
She also recommends starting a sketch with the #H, adding in some shading and detail with the #2B, and then going back and putting on the darkest shadings with the #5B or #6B.
Personally, I love to use the #4B and the #6B. When I am really into a sketch, I love to really make the darks dark and it is much easier to do with the #6B. If you really want to splurge, try a woodless pencil...it feels so good in your hand.
Pencils are relatively inexpensive so you can pick up a variety and add them into your art box. If you are on a budget and want to work on your drawing skills, then try just using pencil and eraser and you can get beautiful results.- Lesson 5 Colored Pencils
- Have I told you how much I love colored pencils? Until I started buying good quality colored pencils, I didn't realize their potential for making a really good drawing. Colored pencils come in different hardnesses just like drawing pencils. Harder pencils are more difficult to get a lot of color from and they don't blend very well. I prefer to use a softer lead. I know most of us start off with colored pencils from Crayola or some other popular reasonably priced company and that is okay. Just remember when you are moving up in the school years that your children might be ready to handle and get better results from a better quality colored pencil.
My favorite brand of colored pencils for older students is Prismacolor. My favorite brand of colored pencils for younger hands is Lyra.
I know these pencils are a little pricey but you can find smaller sets at art supply stores or places like Michael's or Hobby Lobby. I always use a 50% off coupon when I am purchasing them at Michael's. I also found them locally at the college bookstore and they had them at a *serious* discount. You just need to plan ahead and keep alert to sales.
Once you see how much color you get from these fantastic colored pencils, you will wonder why you wasted time with others. These are still the favorite colored pencils with my boys and they are 12 and 14.
So how do I use colored pencils in my nature journal? I try to carry a set with me when I have room in my backpack. I remove them from the cardboard container and put them in a more sturdy plastic tub. I also have a tin filled with watercolor colored pencils from Prismacolor. If you are going to splurge on an art supply for yourself, these are worth the price. You use them just like regular colored pencils but then you can use a brush and water to make the drawing into a painting.
To begin a sketch in your nature journal using colored pencils, I suggest first sketching the scene or item out with your favorite drawing pencil and then you can go back and use your colored pencils. - Lesson 5 Oil Pastels
- The blending ability of oil pastels makes them an easy alternative to oil paints with far less mess.
You can use oil pastels in your nature journal but you need to be aware that if you don't apply a fixative, you will have a smudgy mess on facing pages. I don't mind the smudges but just make sure to always put them in the journal where they are not facing another entry.
From Drawing with Children, by Mona Brookes, page 166-167:
"Form the undersketch with a very light color and then build on top of it. Use the tips of your fingers to blend the shadings."
My boys have really enjoyed using oil pastels over the years and I highly recommend you give them a try with your children.
View the videos that go along with this lesson here on this Squidoo page. - Lesson 5 Watercolors
- This is the long awaited final blog entry in the series on Drawing with Children-Nature Journal Style.
Watercoloring is the medium that I will share with you this time and show you how we use it in our personal nature journals. I know there are lots of ways to incorporate watercolors into your nature study but I will focus on how to do so in your journals while you are out and about.
Please note: Nature journals take many forms. What my journal looks like is different than what yours will look like. The idea of offering this series of Drawing with Children entries for nature journals has been to offer different ideas and ways to go about keeping a record for your personal enjoyment. I have shared before that we don't always make an entry with every hike or outing. I make lots of entries and my boys make a few entries.
So if you are reading Drawing with Children by Mona Brookes, you can follow along with her lessons for watercolors on pages 167-169. Here she gives you step by step instructions for offering watercolors to your children. I would suggest following the lesson and then letting your children practice on watercolor paper. After you feel comfortable with the medium, try using it in your nature journal.
We take our journaling supplies with us on every trip we take. Our recent trip to the desert in Arizona was no exception. Here is a photo of what I packed to take along with us in case we felt inclined to stop and draw.
This is the dollar store box that holds all the supplies. I am sure you can find something similar if you try the dollar store or Wal*Mart or another local discount store. This one is the perfect size for slipping into a backpack.
Here is what I take along inside.
Prang semi-moist watercolors-purchased at Michael's
Ziploc bag with assorted sizes of brushes
Scissors-never know when you will need these :)
Small yogurt cup for water
Black gel roller pen
Prismacolor Watercolor Pencils in a metal box (underneath the sketch books)
Sketch book 9 x 6 size with 60 lb paper- I carry two of these so the boys can use one too
That's it. I rarely need more than that for "on the road" sketching and painting. Inside the watercolor pencil box I do carry an extra sketch pencil. I don't worry about carrying water since we either have a water bottle along on the hike or we find some water where we are going like in a lake, a stream, or a river.
Drawing with Children Projects
Nature Journal Style
oil pastels big flow...
Blackberry vine and...
Poppy sketch
P3200028
P3200029
butterfly B
chalk pastel leaf
fall sketch B
Fall BM
nature journal water...
Pacific Tree Frog-na...
A.A.___10_Green_leav...
Oil Pastel Demonstration
How to Use oil pastels in your nature journal
Oil Pastel Demonstration-nature journal
In this video I attempt to give you some tips for using oil pastels in your nature journal. You can find more on my blog http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/harmonyartmom
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Drawing with Children
More Advanced Supplies
These will keep you going even longer. After you have mastered the basics with Drawing With Children, you will absolutely want to try these mediums with your children.
Colored Pencils
Demonstration of Various Kinds
Colored Pencil Tutorial
I give a brief description of Lyra, Prismacolor, Crayola, and Prismacolor Watercolor pencils.
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Watercolor Pencil Demonstration
Prismacolor Watercolor Pencils Demo
Demonstration of how to use Prismacolor Watercolor pencils
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New Guestbook
Shoshana
This is really helpful! Thank-you!
I hope you don't mind I've added a link to this on the Charlotte Mason network
http://CharlotteMason.ning.com
Posted August 16, 2008
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Jimmie
Printing out this text to pore over later! :-) Posted August 16, 2008 |
krista
WOW, thank you so much for putting this together. Some of these resources can appear overwhelming, but everything you do with them makes it manageable and fun! You're my hero, Barb!
Posted May 31, 2008
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Jimmie
WOW! This is an invaluable resource!! I will be back to pore over this again and again! Please add it to the CM group! Posted May 31, 2008 |
Des
fabulous, thanks so much for doing this. I will be using this book soon and i really appreciate all your hard work.
Posted May 30, 2008
Joy
Thank you for this Barb! This lens is a great resource!
Blessings,
Joy
Posted May 30, 2008
