BXIV - You hate to be rude but you really must go

Leaving me to wonder if I’ll know
The words that I say that give me away
As being unworthy of you every time
Acetate - Speechwriters LLC

What is your drawing history? Where have your notions of the role of drawing in art come from? How do you manage your “drawing anxiety?” After reading Kalin’s chapter, describe how you might mentor an anxious draw-er into the joy of mark-making. Write out the questions you will ask your parent about his/her child's learning characteristics (based on readings you have done); the programme they are working on; areas the parent might like you to explore with his/her child.

I was one of those kids that had the ability of representational drawing, thus never had the 'I can't draw so I won't do it' mentality. However, I did have the 'this isn't good enough' mentality constantly. My notions of the role of drawing in art are that it is important. I've grown up cherishing my skills as a drawer, and I feel that those skills have given me the ability to build upon it and learn other aspects of art. I think that's something I've learned from experience as well as my family. My mother and father were always artistic and they nurtured it within me - and my mother encouraged me to have a critical eye to understand how I can critique myself to become better. So I have a personal attachment to drawing in art, and those notions are personal.

My drawing anxiety, these days, are mostly because I know I can do better if I practice - thus any anxiety is my knowledge that I should but haven't practiced - however it's not due to the fact that I feel that I am 'bad' at it. I feel that I've already encouraged a few people that believe that they aren't 'drawers' to enjoy 'mark-making'. It has a lot to do with encouragement and making it understood that 'good drawing' doesn't come out of no where - it comes with experience, just as any other skill and any other task. The negativity of 'that's wrong' is definitely NOT the way to approach the situation. Having the student learn how to critique, I feel, is what makes a good artist and that's that.

For my unit plan, I've decided to take the suggested route of creating an illustrated children's book with my child. Questions I asked the parent were similar to the following: What is your child doing artistically at school and at home? What does your child enjoy doing artistically? recreationally? What are subjects in school that your child is particularly interested in? What do you feel are your child's strengths, in general and artistically? Are there any developmental concerns you have about your child? Is there anything you'd like your child to learn or work on? How is your child doing in school? What is your child's favorite part of school? What is your child learning in school at the moment? I feel the variety of these questions allowed me to get a sense of the kinds of things he gravitates towards to and how the child may react to certain activities. I feel, also, that some of these questions were directed at the child as well as I feel having the child answer the questions made the answers for the questions more rich in context from both the parents and child's view point.