Artists For Kids

Contemporary artists should be a part of any art education program. Melanie Smythe is an artist from Texas. She is a botanical illustrator who loves to draw flowers. She uses many techniques including pencil, pen, ink, graphite crumbs on mylar, watercolor, colored pencil, computer drawings, etc. Her work is called scientific illustration, which accurately depicts plant life found in nature. Scientific illustrators are always telling a story using drawing and composition to visually explain the structure, organization and relationship of an object. Smythe works together with scientists to be able to interpret and reconstruct her images with accuracy. Her art work is a great addition to art education since she applies creativity to science. Smythe brings art to kids by participating in Abrakadoodle’s Artist of Distinction program.

What Kids Can Learn From Smythe
(Art for Kids)

Melanie Smythe studies each flower before drawing it. Children can learn so much about nature while observing a flower. They can learn about the flower’s structure while using different techniques to represent it. Children can learn to use watercolor by blending colors, creating value with thin overlapping strokes, drawing lines, texture and more while painting a flower. Melanie’s art helps children appreciate nature by representing it through her unique style – a blend of creativity and science.

Smythe inspires creativity in children with her style which uses dots instead of lines. She teaches children to use this technique of applying hundreds of dots in a pattern to produce a flower. The dots are put closer together to make the image darker, and farther apart to make it lighter. This technique is called stippling, and children learn how to represent light and shadows. Her style lends itself to art education at its best!

Learn more about her work at:

http://www.naturalselections.us/

Art Education for Kids

Nature is in the eye of the beholder

What if we never came to know Georgia O’Keefe, with her vividly enchanting, bigger-than-life nature paintings? The world would have missed out on her giant, colorful flowers and the emotion captured in her desert landscapes. Hers is a cautionary tale for those who over-direct, restrict or push children to imitate the ideas and art forms of others. Georgia O’Keefe is one of the most famous American female painters, and she revolutionized modern art. She had to overcome the need to satisfy someone else’s idea of how her art should look in order to fully develop her potential. Early in her career, O’Keefe became discouraged and decided to destroy her work because she felt that each piece was created to satisfy someone else’s ideals. Ultimately, Georgia’s own design sensibilities won out, and her paintings won the hearts of viewers everywhere.

Are your children passionate about nature? Encourage creative expression by sending your children outdoors with a large tablet, pencils, markers and/or paints (Crayola® has a whole line of “Outdoor” products!) and suggest that they explore nature in search of something special to them. Prompt them by asking, “What do you see that looks interesting to you?” Send them on a nature treasure hunt. Use that flower, tree, insect, animal or plant as an object of inspiration to create their unique works of art. Ask them how this living part of nature makes them feel and to use this feeling when they create their artwork. Perhaps they are attracted to the changing colors of the sunset and wish to paint a watercolor capturing the scene. You should remind them that they do not need to make their art in any particular size, shape or color. Let them react to their setting in a way that works best for them, and remember that the process is as important as the finished product!