Art Deep Dive

For Christmas, I knew my 6 year old daughter E would want something art related. I was browsing Amazon for an age appropriate how-to-draw book that also wasn’t low quality. Finally, I found the perfect one that had high reviews, was shipped and sold by Amazon (a must for me to avoid most of the garbage on the site), and had a wide range of things to draw. It was also priced well, so it wasn’t too expensive. E loved the gift and still talks about how it was her favorite drawing book ever (even tonight!). What I didn’t anticipate was that my 4 year old son C would be equally interested in it.

I remember when C was barely 3 years old and he always thought E was a way better artist than him. He tended to shy away from art for that reason (my speculation and observations) and he also didn’t quite know how to grip a pencil correctly. When he got closer to 4, he could grip the pencil correctly and with some encouragement from E during some shared art sessions, it really boosted C’s confidence and interest in art. Pretty soon, he was coming home with tons of art from daycare over the last few months. He even was obsessed about drawing elaborate gingerbread houses over the holidays while at daycare. On the days he was home, C would be next to E learning how to draw from the book I got E as a gift. It’s great to see C so interested in art now and they are having a blast drawing happy toast, watermelons, eggs, and all kinds of things. Most importantly, they aren’t fighting!

I’m glad that E was so encouraging of C when he was first showing more of an interest in art. It’s one thing if my wife and I would say it, but it’s another thing when the big sister he looks up to is so encouraging. And I’m glad that C is interested in art because he really is a creative person (I can tell by other parts of his life like his wittiness, which definitely comes from me!). This was a great change that was in the making over many months and it’s in full blossom today. Here is to clearing more space in the garage so I can store their masterpieces!