Draw like an Egyptian

 Sophie has been spending a lot of time drawing pictures of all the different Egyptian Gods and other characters.  She is getting really good at creating scenes of Ancient Egypt.  What better way is there to pass the time while you listen to audio books.








This is the book I picked up at the library which has been a great help for her drawings.

I think I need to to find her a little better way for her to add color to these drawings because the markers are not my favorite medium. Our colored pencil stash is sadly lacking at the moment. I need to grab a new box soon. One of those school supplies I should have stocked up on while they were on clearance a month or so ago, but forgot about them.

Here is how the book explains to draw the figure of Isis. 

Isis is especially important because that is who Sophie says she is for Halloween. She has an Egyptian costume. She wanted wings but I just don't have the energy to throw that part together for her.

Here is Sophie's version of Isis.

She has been very busy! And now knows so much about all the Egyptian gods. She can tell you what animal head each has and what kid of hat each wears as well.

I think she is doing a great job! She now draws these on every scrap of paper she can find. She doesn't even need the book to look at for directions. They are now engraved into her memory.

Girls and Free Time

Sophie was in distress this afternoon when she couldn't find her How to Draw Animals book. She had gotten it off the shelf and couldn't remember where she had left it. This book along with her sketch book are often busy together.  When she doesn't have anything pressing to do this is usually what she chooses to do with her spare time.

Today, after she found the book, she spent a good amount of time laying on the floor drawing and drawing while I was reading my book, Molly napped, and the boys played outside. She goes outside to play a lot but evidently today she had something in mind that she wanted to do and luckily the other kids were out of the way so she could accomplish it.

Henry got a new Webkinz pet for his Birthday.  When I saw it I thought it was a duck bill platypus but Sophie said it was called a google and was a duck of some kind. So today she dug out her animal encyclopedia (She keeps it by her bed for a little late night reading) and looked up platypus. She went to work drawing, labeling and writing about a platypus in her sketchbook.

When she was finished she spent a lot of time telling me all about what she learned. I knew they were mammals but laid eggs. She told me all about these very different mammals.

I love it when she learns new things just because she loves learning and not just because I tell her to do it. This was completely unprompted and at her whim.  Her drawings are getting really good too.

This is what Molly does with her time.

She loves to play with my pots, pans, and bowls that are in one of the lower cabinets. I feel like I am always putting my bowls back where they belong. She has been exploring other cabinets lately to see what fun things they hold. This was a particularly good day because I was distracted making bread.  She got her hands into the forbidden cabinet where the flour, sugar and other baking supplies call home. Good thing the flour bucket was almost empty or else I would have had a much bigger mess to deal with.

Teaching Themselves How to Draw

My kids always prefer to do things on their own. They really don't like me to give them lessons on to do things. I have to do things in a little more round about way. I tried Drawing with Children last year and got through a few lessons but Sophie just fell apart each time because she didn't think she was doing it well enough. If I ever made any suggestions she would flip out and the lesson would quickly be over. I have more or less left her on her own for the last few months. We do have a few How to draw animals type books and she has been looking at those but I really thought she needed something that would help her learn to draw.

I recently got a copy of Mark Kistler's Draw Squad. It was recommended from a few different sources. And I thought we would give it a try. It is a more self directed drawing course. Sophie can go through the lessons herself without me doing anything except nodding and telling her she is making progress. I try really hard to not tell her it looks great unless it truly does. I usually try to tell her she is getting much better at something or that I can see she is moving in the right direction. I am trying to focus on drawing well as a process and not an event. It is something she will have to work at. After one lesson she isn't a master but she is practicing the technique.

I really am impressed with how much just a few hours with this book has improved her drawing. She is giving things depth and shading. I can tell she is reading the text that goes along with the lessons because she uses the drawing terminology when she comes and shows me her drawings in her sketchbook.

Ian decided that he too needs to learn to draw so he is having Sophie teach him as he goes through the first few lessons.  

They spent a good two hours just drawing in their books today. Ian has started taking his sketchbook with him everywhere. I just recently had to get him a new one. He finally filled up the old one I had given him.

The sketchbooks are working really well still. I don't have loose papers everywhere and my kids are learning to use all the blank spaces in their books. They love looking through all their old drawings to see their progress too.