I recently discovered the work of the author / illustrator Peter Reynolds, after a recommendation on Twitter. He’s a rather inspirational artist (and founder of FableVision.) I’d enjoyed his work previously on the covers of the Judy Moody series of books written by Megan McDonald, but it was only through Twitter, that I found his work aimed at a younger audience.
The recommendation was for Peter’s books, ‘Dot‘ and ‘Ish‘. I read them to my own children and the story of the characters discovering their artistic potential has proven motivational not only for them, but it’s also stuck in my mind and has become a very helpful tool in the art workshops that I teach also.
All too often, I hear ‘I’m rubbish at art, I can’t draw….’ and I spend much of my time encouraging children to ‘give it a go’, not to rely on constant rubbing out and starting again, and to have confidence in their mark making. A lack of confidence seems to be such a big issue in teaching primary-school age children art skills. It always surprises me.
I was delighted then, when I discovered that yesterday, September 15th was ‘Dot Day‘.
It’s the anniversary of ‘Dot’ being published and arty folk from all over the world celebrated by doing something ‘Dottish’.
Our little corner of the UK, joined in too – with my year 6 art club group ‘Saving the Dots with doodles’. We enjoyed a series of fun doodling excersises, to warm up for class. Each one started with a blank square of card and simple dot. The children were timed for a minute, then 3 minutes, then more…. and challenged to come up with doodles that all started with that one simple dot. The class was fun…. and loud and everyone had a great time. The class began with everyone fired up for more – What better way to start off a new term? so thanks are owed to ‘Dot’ for proving a very good starting point.
S’cuse the pun. Point. Dot. geddit? No. Never mind…. ;-)
