RainbowSprinkles Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 she was writing in her journal today about wanting to be an artist when she grows up. she does like to draw and be creative with all sorts of things she comes across. i haven't given art too much thought yet. i'm not sure where to look or where to start. what kind of art supplies would you get for a child that's very interested in art? is there a curriculum? or would you just buy books with art prints in them and try to copy them? i would so appreciate your input:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Barb B Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 What age is your daughter? My dd (age 12) has loves art. I think one of the best things we did for her was to make sure she had time for art. Get a variety of supplies and let her be. I decided not to look to outside art classes, I wanted her to develope her own style without feeling there was one right way to do things. I did buy how to draw books. She never follows the steps in them, but will look at the final picture and draw (not trace) that. So, then she started looking through our picture books for characters to draw (for a while she loved disney characters). We found some great dvd's at Seton - the first one we have done is on pastels. We liked these too. I occassionally have picked up books like water color books. . . And then it is just let them be and see what they like. This can really vary with different children's interest! Get a variety of materials and watch her interests and talents grow! Barb Oh - having an artist in the family is great - I love framing her art and placing throughout the house! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pip Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 My 11 yo loves art. We have many of her pastels throughout the house. I would go to an art supply store and get some advise on products. The best I can give you - don't go for the economy version. Not saying you have to go top of the line, but cheap versions won't give you the results you like and just frustrate her. We had a friend's dd give our dd art lessons. Her teacher was a college student. It worked out great. She didn't press our dd to go into a medium she wasn't interested in. They would often just spend the lesson sitting outside looking for shapes in nature and how colors blended, and then disucss how to transfer them to her work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rafiki Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newbie Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 My dd's did private art lessons for eight yrs. Invaluable. Both dd's love art, and are good at it. Until last year the oldest was going to AI, but she changed. She has not had art for two yrs and forgot some of her stuff, b/c this yr. she has Fine Art and is doing an oil, but her skills are not up to par. So I guess you have to keep painting every day, just like piano. Anyway, best advice is any classes you can get your hands on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
i.love.lucy Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 My husband is an artist and he always said that yes, it's a gift that some people have and some don't, but you still have to train it. Get her into some classes if she's old enough. Go gentle at first and see if this is not just a passing fancy. If she's old enough to be seriously thinking about future career direction (like high school) then I would get her some books about making a career in the art field. Not to sound cynical, but I think only teachers are paid less. It's a tough business. If she winds up majoring in art in college, as my dh did, she will have to work with ALL mediums - watercolor, oil, pencil, charcoal, 3-D modeling, nude figure drawing, the works. Better to get her used to working in different mediums now as you never know how it will pan out. There are a hundred different ways you can turn art into a career if you know what's out there and can be prepared to face the job market! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RainbowSprinkles Posted October 23, 2009 Author Share Posted October 23, 2009 thanks everyone:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardening momma Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 (edited) I wanted to be an artist when I grew up too. For Christmas during my 6th grade year, my parents got me a bunch of art supplies--oil, acrylic and watercolor paints, nice brushes, brush cleaner and oil, acrylic and watercolor paper pads. They put it all (except the paper) in a fishing tackle box. It made a great art box, and I still have it. A couple of the brushes were too long for the compartments in the box, so Dad cut out a bit of a couple dividers so my brushes had a place. I had a great time just experimenting with all the supplies. In 7th grade I took a couple of afterschool art classes offered by my school. I think we mostly did drawing. Sometime in jr. or sr. high I had a couple of watercolor lessons from a lady from my church. I learned a lot from her. I went to college for art education, but found I didn't like being told how to do art and did not pursue college art classes after the first year. In hindsight though, I did learn a lot and should have continued. Doing it someone else's way can teach you a lot, even if you don't care for it at the time. My grandmother used to paint with oil. In her younger days she worked for a photography studio and did the colorizing of the sepia photos they took (with watercolor, I think). She did great work. My mom has a large photograph of herself that my grandmother took at the studio (she did photography there also) that my grandmother colorized. My grandmother changed the dress to blue and changed my mom's green eyes to blue also. :001_rolleyes: It's something that gives us a chuckle whenever mom talks about it. Grandma was pretty stubborn, and I guess she wanted mom's eyes to be blue? :001_smile: Anyway, I'm so fortunate to have my grandmother's paints, brushes, art books, unused canvas boards and the table-top easel built by my grandfather. :crying: Edited October 23, 2009 by gardening momma Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovedtodeath Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 :bigear: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FaithHopeLove Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 My ds loves Draw Write Now and it also helps his handwriting! We always have a large supply of construction paper, large roll of paper from our local newspaper (they sell the ends of rolls for a coupl dollars and it lasts a long time -- it becomes our indoor sidewalk in the winter months) , computer paper, paint, markers, crayons, colored pencils, lots of tape, glue, clay etc. He also loves k'nex and smaller legos. Sometimes we'll check out art books from the library. Much of the time he just likes to create from his own imagination about what he is learning in Science and History. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovedtodeath Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 This is what I did: I got some good colored pencils that are for scrapbooking at my local store. From Rainbow Resource I got kits: a drawing class kit, a charcoal kit, an eraser kit. I also got watercolor magic. There are some great books by Usborne that have little projects in them. They are called "How to draw..." but there is more than drawing in there. Also at Rainbow Resource. There are a bunch of videos on youtube that teach how to draw and how to paint. DD loves watching those and is very good. She isn't very keen on Draw Write Now. I am signing her up for Mark Kistler's lessons and she is excited about that. She also will ask me to draw something so that she can watch me and learn. (Of course, that only applies if the person she is watching is any good. lol) I took art in high school, I had a painting win an award and get sent to museums. I got some kind of partial scholarship that I never followed up on. I had friends who entered the same contest. They were very good and I looked up to them. One that I am in touch with is an electrician. I did graphic design for a couple of years, but when my dd says she wants to be an artist, I assume nothing will ever come of it. I encourage her for now, of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blueridge Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 (edited) Our oldest also wanted to be an artist...and now she is! :D When she was very young, around 5, she begged us to buy her an ancient set of encyclopedias at a garage sale so she could look up (and draw) all the different types of skunks there were! What a hoot. So animals were her 'thing'. We bought lots of nice but inexpensive drawing paper at a craft store that was loose in a box. She would go through hundreds of sheets in a month, drawing everything she could think of. We started with regular pencils, moved to artist drawing pencils, and the cheap colored pencils were set aside for Prismacolors. We also got pens, pastels, and paint, but she naturally went to and stayed with the Prismacolors. Today all her work is done with them. So get an assortment of mediums and your dd will gravitate to the one she feels most comfortable with. Since she was into animals, we also got cheap coffee table animal books for inspiration and started collecting nature guides for accuracy. So we let Mr. Audubon teach her! ;)You can teach her good ways of organizing her supplies. Y'all have fun!! ETA: We bought her colored pencils at Timberdoodle Company, and now she gets her supplies online at Dick Blick. Edited October 24, 2009 by Blueridge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lolly Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 Quality supplies. Paper, pencils (drawing), erasers of different types, q-tips (invaluable according to dd), access to the internet (lots of information out there!), paints. My dd also has a drawing tablet for the computer that she now uses constantly. It has been invaluable. Mine is one of those who simply will not take classes. She despises them, plus a little more. She just needs time and materials. She makes it happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joanne Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 I'd have her "study" about known, recognized artists. There are several ways, but here is one: http://www.getinvolvedineducation.com/pdfs/For-Program-Managers/Meet-the-Masters-Program-Manual.pdf I'd also encourage learning about creative endeavors in other respects. Some ideas: animation: http://www.currclick.com/product_info.php?products_id=21297&it=1&filters=0_0_0_0&manufacturers_id=138 artists of many types: http://www.currclick.com/product_info.php?products_id=22213&it=1&filters=0_0_0_0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovedtodeath Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 Great ideas Joanne. Thanks for your input! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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