Unlucky Arithmetic for Teachers
Thirteen Ways to Raise a Non-Artist
By S. Rebecca Leigh
1. Point out nonsensical drawings (ducks don't wear shoes) and nonsensical color choices (grass is never lavender). 2. Beware of children with paint-encrusted hands and ink-dyed fingers; they're classic signs of troublemakers.
3. Children should critique their own work, not each others'.
4. Squash the talk; it disrupts the creative process. Besides, real artists work in quiet.
5. Encourage sketching with one kind of pencil - the regular kind. Once you start accumulating varieties, you'll only encourage tool pickiness. A pencil is a pencil.
6. Absolutely, positively no creating in-the-style-of another artist. Children have to find their own voice.
7. Context Schmontext. They don't need to know how art is relevant to their lives. Let them make stuff. Period.
8. Always show a model. Granted, individuality is nice but children need to see what their end product should look like. (Be on the lookout for those risk-takers, though.)
9. Remind children that really good artists are born with talent that can't be learned. Still, tell them to try their best anyway.
10. Insist that children sit in their assigned seats when they create. There is no reason to walk around and look at what other people are doing.
11. Refrain from showing children your own artwork. Real art is in books.
12. Avoid offering too much choice. Creative license can lead to chaos and charade. Promise.
13. Dodge 3D art at all costs; it's messy and a space hoarder. 2D art is good enough so stick with that.
I love the thought and creativity that went into this list. I keep it posted in my classroom as a reminder of what NOT to do! :)
The original article by S. Rebecca Leigh explains her decision to adapt the list "Unlucky Arithmetic: Thirteen Ways to Raise a Nonreader," by Dean Schneider and Robin Smith, for artists.
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