Drawing Concept and History

What is your drawing history? Where have your notions of the role of drawing in art come from? How do you manage your “drawing anxiety?” After reading Kalin’s chapter, describe how you might mentor an anxious draw-er into the joy of mark-making.
Write out the questions you will ask your parent about his/her child's learning characteristics (based on readings you have done); the programme they are working on; areas the parent might like you to explore with his/her child.

For me, I would say drawing came pretty naturally. I remember when I started drawing. I have definitely progressed since then. I remember trying to draw people and family at an early age. The earliest I remember was when I was five. My drawings of people were your typical children drawing with oval stick figures. I suppose part of what inspired me to draw was anatomical books that my mom had. I used to flip through those and I thought that the images were very fascinating. I also remembered that I would show my mom my drawings and she used to criticize them for not being realistic. Eventually I learned to draw from looking at the object and images as opposed straight imagination. I realized that this was fairly easy for me and that I had a natural talent for it. I guess it runs in my mom's side of the family because two of my aunts are very good at drawing as well.

Art for me when I was a child was about the ability to draw something accurately and precisely. It was also about producing an aesthetically pleasing piece. I guess going into it further, art for me was being able to produce these pieces for the pure joy of creating visuals. Art required talent/ skill. Now I would say that art has definitely evolved because of its open definition. I would say that as for my personal bias, I would still believe my definition of art as child to hold true, but now to be more inclusive of following a concept which does not necessarily need a all technique and aesthetics. I would definitely include the part where I thought it was for the pure joy of creating.

If I was working with a child who was afraid to draw, I would tell them this. All they have to do is try to create for the pure joy of it. There are times when they need to be proud of themselves without having to think about other people's judgements. Art is a process where one develops their skill and that every piece they work on, works towards that.