Thank you Binah + Kids-n-Art!

seeker

Sun, Aug 02 2015, 7:37 pm

So I have typically looked down a bit on step-by-step art instructions. I feel that it is more beneficial in general to teach kids to look and draw what they see or feel. But my kids roped me into doing a step-by-step from the Binah magazine ~~with~~ for them and I really had fun and learned something new! It was a watercolor pencil project. I happened to own a small set of Crayola kiddie watercolor pencils that I never really used much (from my own childhood actually) and now I learned how they can really be a great medium. Even just using the basic 8-color kiddie set of pencils, we produced a pretty nice picture and it was so satisfying how the pencils give you a lot of control while still achieving a painterly effect. I still want to learn how to do real watercolors better, among other art skills, but until I marry off my kids and retire this may be my new favorite.

Step-by-step is still not my favorite teaching/learning method; I think it has its place but don't see the value in whole books full of step-by-step for different pictures. But I have to say this was a very beneficial column for our family today. Granted it ended with the same perfectionist meltdowns as most projects tend to, but I had a good time and learned something I really like.