BOOK REVIEW: Drawing workshop for kids

I could not have been more excited when Samara of the fantastic PURPLE TWIG contacted me about her beautiful new book DRAWING WORKSHOP FOR KIDS. She very kindly emailed me a few preview pages from the book and I just had to get my hands on a copy.

When my book arrived I was not disappointed, it is BEAUTIFUL.

I can not express here quite how much I LOVE this book. I feel it really crosses the boundaries of being a wonderful introduction to drawing techniques for children but also so inspiring for adults.

As a kid I always drew, being good at drawing was my thing. But as I grew up, even though I studied art and design at University and work in a creative industry, I rarely ever draw. I enjoyed so much sitting down with my kids and trying out some of the projects from this book. It has inspired me to start drawing again as an adult, just because I love it.

So if you want some awesome activities to start your kids off drawing, want to ignite your lost love of drawing or you always felt you ‘are not good at drawing’ but wanted to try. This book is for YOU!

Drawing Workshop for Kids strives to inspire children (and adults) to investigate drawing and develop their own approach to art, building creativity and confidence. The book includes an introduction section that gives you an outline of Samara's approach to creativity, advice on how to use the book and detailed information about recommended art materials. It then moves onto a series of 8 warm-up drawing exercises; simple activities that can help your child relax into the creative process, grow their confidence and learn new drawing skills. Next the book gets into more detailed drawing projects. It includes 19 beautiful projects which introduce new materials and skills, including ideas around creating depth, composition and observation.

My son particularly loved the CREATING A MACHINE project. (He is very into technology and inventing his own crazy constructions.) The idea of the project is that you use a selection of kitchen utensils as the subject for observational drawing, then cut out the drawings and compose them into a collage making an imaginary machine. Although he did find the observational drawing tricky (I sat with him and did some drawings alongside to help him out), he love the composition part building his machine. Instead of gluing the collage down, he had the awesome idea to make the parts move, so he glued the drawings onto a cardboard backing and used split pins to animate his machine!

Although most of the projects in the book are suitable for age 7 years plus, there are a few that can be adapted for younger children. My 3 year old loved the idea of the BUG COLLECTIONS, so we gave it a go and I have to say I think it is my new favorite art project. The results are just so beautiful! The process is pretty simple, the children draw and paint their favourite bugs (I helped my little one to draw the outline of the bugs and she painted them), cut them out and then glue them into a tray (which they decorate first) to create a beautiful collection of bugs.

I can not recommend this book enough, it is just so beautifully presented with wonderful photography, it is a pleasure to read and my little ones have found it so inspiring.

So just to summarize, the book includes:

• 8 warm-up and 19 in depth drawing projects
• Clear beautifully written instructions for each project which give you a guide to the materials used, how to set up the space and provocations to spark your little ones creative process.
• Beautiful colour photographs of all the projects.
• A guide for recommended art materials.
• The activities are suitable for ages 7+

We stock this book and a range of other beautiful children's art and craft books on our website.

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