Everyone can draw
Have you or your child ever wanted to draw something but didn’t know where to start? Drawing, like speaking and writing, is a way to express ourselves, and yet it doesn’t nearly the same attention as reading and writing in our early years. And it’s a shame because drawing can be pretty easy if you spend some time getting the basics down. Simple shapes we can all draw, like circles, squares, and arcs can be put together to create almost anything!
Drawing comes before reading and writing
Before my oldest son started kindergarten we had a group parent-teacher meeting a few months before the school year started. She warned all of us that the kids were going to do a lot of storytelling through drawing next year, before they started learning to read and write. The message was clear, “If your kids aren’t already drawing and coloring, get them going!”
Teaching my son to draw
I have spent my life drawing and doodling all kinds of things. Now for the first time I needed to teach someone else how draw. I asked my son what he wanted to learn how to draw and out came “a monster truck”. I knew his patience and level of pencil control was limited, so I found myself breaking things down into small steps with super simple strokes and shapes. Slowly but sure a monster truck emerged!
From there on we sat down and drew all sorts of things, and when kindergarten finally arrived, he had a mental grab bag full of simple drawings he could put together to tell all kinds of fun stories.
Why I made Otoons
With Otoons I want to share the those same techniques I used with my son to help him getting started drawing. And hopefully make the barrier to drawing a little lower for you and your child. I really believe anyone can draw, and draw well with a few good tips and a little practice.
– Patrick O.