Activities & Sports

My 8 year old wants to draw like me. Art class, or just sketch together on weekends?

maple_sketch_8332

I've sketched all my life, mostly pen and ink, mostly buildings and street scenes. My son has started sitting next to me with his own notebook and copying whatever I'm drawing. He asked last week if he could 'go to a class and get good'. There's an art class near us in Somajiguda on weekday evenings. It would fit with the van and the after-school arrangement. But from the student work they showed us, it looks like a lot of colouring within templates and competition drawings. Part of me thinks he would learn more sitting with me on Saturday mornings than at a class. Part of me thinks that's just me wanting the time with him, and that he needs a teacher who isn't his father. I can't tell which.

5 comments

  • ivory_kettle_4397

    Our elder daughter did a class like that from about 8 to 11. She learnt shading and perspective, and she also learnt to draw the same peacock for every competition. What she remembers fondly now, at twelve, is drawing with her cousins in the holidays. I think the two things gave her different things. Could you do both, but choose a class that doesn't look like a template factory?

    • maple_sketch_8332

      That's probably the honest answer. I didn't love the class we saw, so I'll look for another one. If there's somewhere that teaches observation, drawing from real things, I'd happily drive further for it.

  • cobalt_paper_1289

    A class gives him technique and a peer group, and you give him the habit and the reason to draw. A father can teach well, but children often take correction more easily from someone who isn't at the dinner table with them. If the class near you is mostly templates, I'd keep looking rather than settle for it.

    • jade_piano_4892

      this. my son takes feedback from his teacher. from me, never 😂

  • linen_drum_5483

    or just sit with him on saturdays and see if the 'get good' thing lasts a month. classes will still be there

  • ochre_pool_755

    One thing we did before signing up for a class for our daughter: asked to see work from children who had been there two years, not the display board by the door. The display board is all the best pieces. The two-year work tells you what they actually teach. We said no to two places this way.

  • rose_marigold_8535

    What does he want: to draw well, or to sit next to you? The answer changes everything. If it's the second, a class won't replace it.

    • hazel_river_3974

      That's the question I keep coming back to as well. My daughter wanted lessons in exactly the instrument I play, and it took me a while to see she mostly wanted the evening with me. We do both now, the class and a Sunday session at home that has no 'lesson' in it.

Add a comment

Share what happened for you. Plain text; be kind and specific.

Keep going

Keep reading

More from the parents who were here.