Be Creative Every Day

I love this quote from Art Before Breakfast, by Danny Gregory.

Aha!   Calling All Kids.   When you were little, you made art all the time.  Remember?   Crayons, finger paint, poster paint, chalk, papier-mache, playdoh.You sang, you danced, you dressed up.   Your imagination was your constant companion.   And all your friends shared in your art.   You lived in an artist's cooperative.

Everyone around you was supportive.   Mom, Dad, teachers celebrated your work, saved it, pinned it up, stuck it on the fridge.  You were a star.

Why does that have to be just a distant memory?   Why can't you have that same spirit of creativity, brave exploration, open-eyed wonder... even for just 10 minutes a day?

That little artist is still in there, inside you.  Get that kid some crayons.

This book was my inspiration for a change in our schooling days.   Having a creative lad, who plays and builds paper craft toys regularly, who uses them to help learn math and play games, who extensively borrows my tablet to use different drawing apps made the change all the easier.

Tuesday, Wednesdays and Thursdays I set the timer for 15 minutes and we "do art".   We get our inspiration from a number of different sources, but predominately from the books below.

My son doesn't like to write in books (or draw for that matter).   So all we use these books for is ideas.    Using art sketch paper gives us more room to draw and and detail.  My boy using a full sheet and me using a half sheet.

from 642 Places To Draw

My son's favourite Idea book is the 642 places to draw book.   It is simply a bunch of blank pages with ideas printed in the upper corner of each section.    We simply leaf through the pages until we hit one that intrigues.   This one was "draw a greenhouse with exotic plants"

my son's exotic specimens

a more conventional greenhouse

My son had a whole lot of fun with this and drew on it over the course of 45 minutes.  (he just couldn't stop after 15 minutes so continued to draw while I read out-loud to him).

I have to admit, some of the idea presented to us make my lad scoff.   The idea of drawing what he had for lunch... he just really can't see the point of it.     Whereas a windy day has the lad grinning at the possibilities...

from doodle your day

Other ideas intrigue him... but "they don't leave enough room for me to draw what I want mom!"   This is why using a sketchbook is so handy.   Inspiration doesn't have to be limited by lack of room.  :)

from pocketdoodles for Christmas

I have to admit, it's simply fun to draw.   I don't much care WHAT I draw, as long as I have an idea of what to do.   (I know.. sometimes I'm limited)    It's actually rather neat some of the ideas presented to us.   LIke the fun of drawing the home of a hobbit. :)

my efforts

I love how we inspire each other to try new things.   I love the stories he comes up with to go with his drawings... because being creative in one way helps us be creative in other ways as well.  :)

my son's efforts

The Art Before Breakfast is a rather neat book.   It talks about all the different ways you can do art, as well as talking about different art techniques.   It shows options for how to encourage doing art spontaneously ... draw your children, draw your pet, draw your morning coffee, draw the stranger or a friend, draw the animals that you see and more.   Just draw, and draw some more.      Then to make sure you don't get stuck in a rut draw with something unusual like lipstick, mud or a paintbrush.

There are so many ways to draw, so many things to see and do and recreate.

For 15 minutes every day... just draw.

I have found it makes for a more settled boy if I give him time to just create, and because we have these lovely books for inspiration it takes the pressure off of having to come up with ideas on our own.

All these lovely books were sent out to me by Raincoast books.  

Product Details:
PocketDoodles for Christmas.  By Anita Wood.  
642 Places to draw.  Published by Chronicle books.
Art Before Breakfast.   by Danny Gregory.
Doodle Your Day.   By Anita Wood.