Follow these step by step exercises and see just how easy
and how much fun it can be to draw. Just by initially putting simple shapes
together and then adding more refined details even those with little artistic
talent can produce common recognizable characters.
For both children and adults, the exercises are designed to
be fun, a way to promote long term interest and skills which will be perfected
over time. Drawings don’t have to be perfect no one has to see the results. Ideally
the drawer should just set out to impress themselves and if they persevere and
draw regularly they will discover, as with anything in life, their ability will
improve. They should feel comfortable that they can make mistakes and that as
their confidence grows they can change or add to the details of each character
to suit their own creativity and imagination.
If children in particular do these with the aim of just
having fun I’m happy. But in the process they may be gaining many benefits.
Drawing promotes fine motor skills and manual dexterity. It stimulates the
brain to grow in the areas that learn how to observe. It encourages an eye for
detail and children will begin learning how to make choices and comparisons
between different aspects like shapes, proportions, tones, colour and sizes. Drawing
allows children to develop eye hand co-ordination and the ability to map
components and make sense of visual symbols which are used in so many other
areas of education and life. And in an ever increasing visual world as
experienced through television, the internet and computer games drawing can
have a profound impact on the development of skills children can use to process
information and solve problems.
