Basic Drawing - Breaking it Down for Beginners & Children

Basic Drawing – Breaking it Down for Beginners & Children   

When I first decided I was going to start teaching art to children, back in 1995, I had no clue where to start. So, I got myself a copy of the book “Drawing with Children” by Mona Brookes. She has a lot of great info on teaching art to children in her book – some very useful tools, worksheets and lesson ideas. And, over the years I am still using some of her ideas, have abandoned some and have come up with some of my own. But, I want to talk about a couple of the things in her book, which I decided to use and still find useful.   

(Now (today) – I no longer have a copy of this book, so I’m going from memory and from what I can see on Amazon.com when I click on “Look Inside” the book. I also did do a speech on some of this when I was taking a speech/public speaking class back in 2005.)   

In her book she has a chart (which I won’t show here since it’s copyrighted) that shows what she calls the “Five Basic Elements of Shape.” I don’t completely agree with some of this, but here they are:   

• Dots (anything that resembles a filled-in dot, oval shape, etc…) 
• Circles (Any empty/not filled-in circle, oval, closed curvy shape, etc…) 
• Straight lines 
• Curvy lines (wavy lines, arcs, etc…) 
• Angled lines (two straight lines that connect at an angle)   

She basically makes the argument that all drawing & painting can be broken down into these five elements. And, For the most part I agree with this. Except for:   

• I believe you could argue that any filled-in circular shape (that isn’t a small pin-point dot) could be described as being a combination of an empty circular/closed curved shape PLUS a series of close-together (touching) straight lines (or even curvy lines for that matter) that fill in the space inside.   
• And, I also believe that the “Angled Lines” could be simplified to just 2 or more straight lines, rather than even having a category for straight lines that connect.   

So, I believe you could simplify her list of five basic elements down to just four:   

• Dots/points 
• Circles (empty circular/oval empty shapes) 
• Straight lines 
• Curvy lines   

And, you could probably even argue that circles are just curvy lines. So, you really only have dots, straight lines & curvy lines – for everything!   

At this point you may be thinking – so what?! This is obvious. Duh! But – if you have ever tried to teach art to children, or to adults (or anyone) who feels/believes that they “can’t” draw, or if they have any reservations about drawing or self-esteem issues – this is a tool that can help break it down into something attainable – something that feels easier. And, if you then combine it with the next idea – it can be amazing for helping to break the ice and “set the stage” or the mood for someone to decide that they CAN do it. That they CAN draw.   

The next part is key (in my opinion) and is actually what I gave my speech on – back in 2005. From what I remember- this is also in Mona Brookes’ book. But, as I said up above – I no longer have a copy of her book, and Amazon doesn’t have ALL of the pages of the book available to view – so I’m pretty sure it’s in her book – but not 100% sure.   

Here’s how I would explain this next idea:   

If you can draw a dot, straight line, and curvy line – then you can draw/write the alphabet.  And, IF you can write the alphabet – YOU CAN DRAW!  It’s as simple as that.  All the rest is practice, observation and hand-eye control.  And, the last part is just having the desire to draw.   

I am imagining that perhaps there are some elementary school teachers that will hopefully find this and read it and be able to use it in their classes. This is great for 1st, 2nd, 3rd graders to know. But – really it’s great for any age, and it’s a good point to repeat & remind about. In my opinion the more you can stifle the “self critic” and inspire more self-esteem, the better!   

If you can write the alphabet – you can draw!