When God Made You (a book review)

I like to include books in our Easter baskets each year, and this year I found one so lovely I bought it for my godchildren, too! I love a book that puts beautiful illustrations and poetic images in children's hands, and even better, this book challenges them to think poetically, too. When God Made You is a delight. We don't celebrate Easter until later this year (see why here), so I'm still waiting to share it with my kids, and I can hardly wait!

Each page introduces a new child from a different culture and with different gifts. It goes on to explain the unique recipe for each child: seeds, fizzy candy, drum beats and wood. My oldest daughter loves drawing connections to metaphors, so I believe she will like thinking about how these "ingredients" work together to make each child's unique skills and strengths. The book ends by asking, "What beautiful things was God thinking when He made you?" I expect we will have silly and serious conversations about what beautiful things in our world might make up each of us.

The book clearly presents God as the maker of people (and beauty!), but doesn't go much farther to explain God. This has the lovely affect of encouraging children to see God through his creation, and leaves the door open for you to discuss your faith in the way you choose.

The illustrations initially look like fanciful watercolors, but the more you look, you can see illustrator Megan Elizabeth Gilbert included collage elements as well. The pictures are full of new things to find with each reading.

The author Jane Meyer encourages children to write or draw their own page for "When God Made You," and send it to her! Here are some instructions I put together to get my kids started, with my own little entry below. I'll have to share later when the kids do their own.

1. What do you do really well? (an action, e.g. painting)
2. What do you like about that? (looking, color, being playful)
3. What kinds of things help you do it? (brushes, pigments, flowers, icons)
4. Where do you live, and where do you do your action? (Tennessee, upstairs)
5. Write your explanation of what God was thinking when He made you!
6. Draw a scene of you doing your thing in your place. Be sure to show what is unique about where you live, and include the elements that you like and that help you. Hide some of these elements here and there so people don't see them all at first (because isn't that how God hides things in us?).

When God made Laura, he spattered her cheeks with copper and tickled her fingers with foxgloves. Then he gently opened her eyes and brushed her lashes with sunlight and clay and gold leaf. Stepping aside and pointing, God said, "Laura, paint!"



*This book review contains affiliate links, but I bought the book and reviewed it out of my own delight!

Time Scavenger Hunt Printable

We studied time last year, and this lead to a little printable activity I wanted to share with you. We started with our little clock and our math workbook, but I wanted to do something a little more fun. I made up a quick Time Scavenger Hunt by drawing some pictures of a few things I knew would happen today. When they happened Lou had to write down the time and add hands to the clock. Easy peasy, but lots of fun! Since I made it last year, we've used it again now and then when we needed a refresher.

She wanted to do more so I made up some printable pages. I drew in the drawings, and will let Lou write "when the clock coo coos," "the baby cries," and "lunchtime." You could easily mix it up by writing in the event and letting them draw the picture, or writing in a time, and let them watch the clock to see what's happening when the time rolls around.

I use a .05 copic pen to draw with a nice black line. I made a few variations of the pages, and one includes some reminders for how to read the clock.

Grab the printables below!

Daily Illustration Project: Fool Daily

Well, friends, its time I [nervously] let you in on a little secret. 

I've challenged myself with a daily illustration project. I am attempting to draw a quick comic every morning and post it on Fool Daily. My style is still a little shaky and I'm exploring different subject matter and media, but I'm enjoying the technical challenge! 

I'm trying to keep it fairly simple so I don't fizzle out, but that possibility is always looming. I've waited two weeks before sharing, to give myself a chance to build up a habit.

school hours from Hourly Comic Day

I would be remiss if I didn't mention that much of my inspiration comes from Connie Sun's beautiful daily illustrated status messages. I started following her a couple of years ago after reading about her on NPR, and then this interview on The Rumpus. I wanted to be a cartoonist when I was a kid, but it was one of those things that seemed far away and unrealistic (like being a ballerina or zoo keeper), until I started following Connie. Somewhere along the way, I lost interest in being a zoo keeper, but I still love the idea of drawing comics.



So, I'm making a beginning, hoping to see it improve and flourish! I hope you'll check it out!

Printable Thank You Cards

We've been talking about gratitude at our house this year, as you may remember from this recent printable gratitude unit. A big part of that is remembering to write thank you notes for kindness and things we receive from others. After I used up my stash of thank you notes, I made this little bundle of printable notes, so that I would always have some handy. I am finding it very helpful for me, maybe more so than the children, to take a few quiet minutes and reflect on the kindness of dear friends in our life and to make that gratitude tangible.

This bundle has 4 simple designs of hand drawn illustrations of some beautiful things in our home: origami butterflies, our new little budgie, an antique globe, and a pinwheel. I made the cards print black and whit, two to a page, to conserve ink. You can print them blank inside, or with fill in the blanks for children who may appreciate writing prompts (as mine do).

I printed them on 60lb paper. This has a really nice feel, but goes through my printer more easily than heavy cardstock. Since they are black and white, I used colored paper, and added a few touches with colored pencils and metallic pens to make them a wee bit fancier.

The kids balked at writing thank you notes for all of their gifts at first, but they have grown to enjoy it - especially with the fill in the blanks and coloring cards. These make them a little fun without being as much work as making a whole card from nothing. 

The printable bundle is available in my shop.

Yay!

J found a blank book I'd made a few years ago, and was very excited when I told her that it was blank so that she could fill it up with her own story. She worked diligently, narrating her story to me, and then copying the words into the book. I like the surprise ending. 

"Yay, we're going to have a new baby."

"Yay, the baby came out." and "Yay, the new baby is having a birthday."

There are no more words, but the baby continues to grow and have birthdays. 

We must stack tables on top of tables to make the cake high enough for the baby to reach.

Finally, the baby has grown taller than the chimney,
which says puff, puff, puff, and the Mommy stands nearby.

Art Week! Thursday: Storytelling and Comic Books

THURSDAY MORNING was hard work, but was maybe my favorite part of Art Week (wait, have I said that every day?).  To participate in this activity you'll need to buy How to Make a Comic Book from Art Projects for Kids. This little guide could easily be used by older kids, and maybe is more directed for kids in the 8-12 age range. But my 6 year old did just fine with lots of guidance. She had to work really hard on this, and I was really proud of her efforts. She can give up on complicated projects easily, and so I was glad to see her learning that everything, including art, is better with hard work. My four year old had been begging to play with play doh, so she spent the day nearby working with play-doh while big sister and I made a comic.

We spent the morning planning out our story, dividing it into 8 panels and then drawing the panels. We did the lettering as we went along. This is the story L devised:

1. L tells mommy, "I want to be an artist!"
2. So Mommy and L and J paint and paint.
3. L thinks, "Whew! It's hard work to paint."
4. They painted and painted, and didn't give up until...
5. the painting was finished and it was beautiful.
6. When L was 17 years old, she went to art school
7. where she learned about painting.
8. And when she was all grown up, she was an artist.

We wanted to tell the story with mostly pictures, so with each frame we asked, "how can we show what's happening in this sentence?" We would discuss different options, and then draw. I corrected several drawing mistakes as well, explaining proportion and angles for the tables.

We also used the facial expression guide included in How to Make a Comic Book, which was really helpful and fun. We would discuss the feeling in each picture, and then look at the examples and decide which type of eyes and mouth and eyebrows would best illustrate that feeling.

It took us about two hours to complete our 8 panels - like I said, it was hard work for a 6 year old. I have some nice black ink pens, and so I inked the drawings for her while she took a break. Older kids could definitely do this themselves (and L could have as well), but we had already worked so long, I wanted to give her a break.

Another thing I did, after inking the drawing, was scan it into my computer. I know sometimes when the kids color things, the original drawing gets a bit lost. I was so proud of her work, I wanted to be able to save the original. I'm really glad I did. I also scaled the drawings down to fit the 8 panels onto one page (they were originally on 2 pages). The tiny-ness of the new drawing made them feel more like a comic, and we both got a kick out of that.

THURSDAY AFTERNOON we returned to color the comic. I gave L total freedom with this, although How to Make a Comic gives more guidance with color that would have been helpful. L colored one of the copies I made instead of her original with oil pastels which made nice bright colors.

I also spent a bit of time coloring her drawing digitally with Adobe Illustrator. I had lots of fun with this, although L thought that I didn't use enough colors. :)

We finished up the day by looking once again through our art books for famous paintings that had elements of storytelling. We noticed facial expressions, or details that were included to help suggest the story.

And then I selected some of my favorite children's books with great illustrations to talk about how stories are illustrated, and to notice the different styles of painting. We're big fans of Mo Willems (especially the way he uses the visual presentation of the text) and Patricia Polacco. Jan Brett also uses her illustrations to give extra details that aren't included in the text of the story. After selecting some great books, L enjoyed reading these again, this time paying more attention to how the text and the pictures go together and how some parts of the story are told through the pictures and not the text. 

Again, a very structured and detailed project was really satisfying and lots of fun. This was also a sneaky way to get her to do some writing without so much complaint. I think bookmaking may be a great way to encourage her to practice her writing in the future - so I see many more comic books in our future! And reading with comics seems to be a next step as well, so I'm on the hunt for good graphic novels/comic books for younger girls. This list looks really good, but I'll also take recommendations!

Keep up with the rest of Art Week here:

Get Ready
Monday: Experimenting with Materials and Textures
Tuesday: Landscapes and Space
Wednesday: People and Portraits
Thursday: Storytelling and Comic Books
Friday: The Exhibit

Let's Draw Funny Faces: a little book

If you sat next to me in high school, or college, at the dmv or anytime when I was on the phone - you probably know I like to doodle silly faces.

They were like legos for me. I'd start with eyes, and then figure out where a nose would fit. Then you'd begin to see a personality, so I'd draw a mouth to match. The features would define the facial structure, so building the cheeks and chin around them was a natural next step. This was a lot of fun for me, addictive and endless. I never knew what the faces would look like when I started, and there were never two alike. 

I've been wanting to make a little book like this for a long time, ever since I woke up in the middle of the night with the memory of that funny cartoon book from the 80's with different eyes, noses and hairstyles, that you trace to make a million different characters? Remember that? I forgot the title. 

Anyway, after making L's drawing book, I was on a roll. I made this book in an afternoon. It's by no means exhaustive, but a handy little reference, let's say. It's not necessarily meant for kids like the last one, it has more words and more complex shapes. Mostly, this was just fun to make, and I hope it will be fun to draw from!

Like the other drawing book, it only includes minimal space for drawing, so it's best if paired with a blank book. Download your copy here, available until July 25th. The book is available in the shop. See my tips for making books in the previous post.

What do you doodle?

Let's Draw!: a book for kids

I like to draw. I doodle all the time. I just jump in and do it.

But when L wants to draw, she's afraid to try. "I'll mess it up! It won't look right."

I worry this is my fault. Because she sees how quickly and easily I draw something and it looks like the thing (not to say it's an amazing drawing, just, you know - a horse with four legs and a head). I don't want her to be so afraid that it won't look right that she doesn't try.

Because honestly, drawings that don't look right, can still be full of so many good things that are so easily lost when you are pursuing a correct drawing.

Top: Mommy and Daddy 
kissing at their wedding
Bottom: Untitled

Because art is about so much more that representation. It's about play and process, looking and seeing and interacting, taking risks, moving things with your hands. It's a way of learning and engaging the world.

So what can you do?

I don't know if this is the right way to approach this only-sort-of-important-(but-really-maybe-very-important) matter of creativity to my kids. I was an art major, but I skipped all the art for children classes, so seriously - I don't know how to teach. But here's what I'm doing:

I made L a little art book with few words, and step by step pictures of how to draw basic things: a house, a dog, a bird, a girl, a giraffe, etc. I tried to keep the drawings simple and not at all fancy. I am hoping she'll see that simple shapes go together to make pictures, and that if she can draw these simple shapes (and she can), she can draw anything.

Of course, I also don't want her to think this is the "right way to draw a dog" and just copy it over and over. But I hope - hope - instead it will give her the confidence to put shapes together and make up her own pictures.

The book is more of a reference than a coloring book, so I also made her a blank book to go with it. I showed her how to follow the steps first, but then she did most of these drawings by herself while I chased her sister around the room. She added stairs to her house (so you can get from the door to the window), and connected the sidewalk to the road. She really took it as a prompt, and then didn't worry that it looked a little different from the book, which made me really proud (relieved). So far, I'd say it's going pretty well.

So tell me, (seriously, tell me!) are your kids afraid to draw?
How do you encourage pressure-free creativity?
Check out my book Let's Draw, and tell me if your kids like it.
(It'll be here until July 25th before moving to the shop, so get it now!)
You can find this book in the shop.
Stay tuned for a post on how I assemble my books. I appreciate your comments!

I've started sketching a few more drawing books to come over the next few weeks. Some animals, dinosaurs, and silly faces. Let me know if you have any requests!