Ms. Becca - Independent Children's Art Instructor

Ms. Becca - Independent Children's Art Instructor I'm a professional artist and an independent art instructor for ages 4-18. Teaching joyful art-making

03/13/2021

Super fast mini drawing lesson!

Literally every 'How to draw' book when I was growing up! Drove me absolutely nuts! I promise I won't do this to your ki...
03/11/2021

Literally every 'How to draw' book when I was growing up! Drove me absolutely nuts!

I promise I won't do this to your kids!

Let's talk about directed drawing.Parents are being inundated with this approach as THE way to teach kids how to draw. ...
03/10/2021

Let's talk about directed drawing.

Parents are being inundated with this approach as THE way to teach kids how to draw.

But is it?

I’m gonna have to give this one a HARD NO.

Do I believe step by step instruction has its place in a well-rounded art program? Absolutely.

Do I believe it is the best way to teach drawing skills? Not at all. And I actually think it can be harmful, especially in an early-childhood setting.

Why? Directed drawing is a creativity killer!

Let me paint the picture... young child wishes to draw a firetruck. Child does directed drawing of how to draw a happy cartoon firetruck. Child now has ability to draw a happy cartoon firetruck - hooray!

But what’s missing?

Actually, this child has been completely deprived of the opportunity to stretch their creative problem-solving muscles!

Instead of working at this problem independently, visualizing fire trucks in their mind's eye, and ultimately developing their own unique method, style, and approach, they have simply been provided an external method to follow step by step, as well as a final image to duplicate.

Over time, the child will likely become increasingly reliant on external images, procedures, and approaches. They may have great technical drawing skills but their own creativity and ability to draw expressively will be greatly diminished.

In this image - Elliot figured out how to draw firetrucks completely independently. He spent time thinking about the various components and shapes, and discovered an approach that worked to his satisfaction. The pride and confidence that comes with this is so motivating to a young child! Notice how he draws them over and over to perfect his method. My job as his teacher - to stand back, observe, and only offer nuggets of guidance when he most needs it.

Bottom line: Kids need the right balance of freedom and guidance to grow their creativity and joyful art practice!

I redid my whole teaching setup today! I'm so happy with how it turned out because it solves my lighting issue and now ...
03/09/2021

I redid my whole teaching setup today! I'm so happy with how it turned out because it solves my lighting issue and now I have a wall behind me that I can play around with decorating!

"Wait so how do I sign up for your classes again?"I get this question a lot, so just want to make sure it's super clear ...
03/08/2021

"Wait so how do I sign up for your classes again?"

I get this question a lot, so just want to make sure it's super clear for y'all.

So all of my classes are currently hosted on
I love Outschool!!

Not familiar? Let me introduce you!

So Outschool is a secure online learning platform for children to learn from an amazing variety of independent teachers.

Teachers like me develop their own curriculum and create unique classes to meet their students' needs.

Honestly, there are so many amazing teachers and I'm just grateful to be carving out my own little happy corner of the platform, developing joyful young artists!

All you need to do is head to https://outschool.com/?signup=true&usid=abuOxghW&utm_campaign=share_invite_link
create a parent profile and add your child(ren). Then start browsing classes!

There's a few different class types - one-time, ongoing, multi-day, and flex. I'll let Outschool tell you more about this - they've got great FAQs and customer support.

The link in my bio will take you to my teacher profile page.
There you can read my bio, check out my class offerings, and read reviews from other parents.

Oh and if you click the 'Follow' button - Outschool will send you an email whenever I create a new class or section!

Got more questions? Send me a DM!

When I first met 11 year old Mary* in my ‘All About Faces’ class, she was quite shy and not very confident in her drawin...
03/07/2021

When I first met 11 year old Mary* in my ‘All About Faces’ class, she was quite shy and not very confident in her drawing abilities.

I often have my students rate their confidence and comfort with drawing faces on a scale of 1- 10 at the beginning of class (1 being “I’ve never drawn a face before and I have no clue what I’m doing” all the way up to 10 being “I’m so amazing I could teach this class right now and do a better job than Ms. Becca”)

Mary rated herself about a 5 or 6.

I still remember the look on her face at the end of class as she shared her practice “I think I’m more like a 7 or an 8 now!”

Mary went on to enroll in every single new class I offered, even re-taking a few, and frequently offering support to other new learners. The best part was getting to see her wonderful personality shine through more and more, as her confidence increased.

Sadly, one of the drawbacks to teaching online is that I don’t always get photographic evidence of my students’ work to share with you (swipe to see super blurry zoom screenshot where she didn’t want to show me the whole face lol).

But ya’ll know I’m much more concerned with the ongoing practice anyway so you’ll just have to take my word for it that she’s made fantastic progress in her work.

This is 100% my favorite part of my work - engaging and connecting with young artists and creating a warm and encouraging environment for us to come together and enjoy the art of making pictures!

xoxo

Ms. Becca

(*This learner’s name was changed to protect her privacy. Her actual name is as unique and creative as she is!)

Do you have a reluctant artist on your hands? You’ve tried everything you can think of, but they still resist any kind o...
03/06/2021

Do you have a reluctant artist on your hands? You’ve tried everything you can think of, but they still resist any kind of drawing or art activity?

Chances are they are resisting because they are actually afraid of “doing it wrong” or not living up to perceived expectations. I see this all the time!

Here’s 3 simple ways to refresh and reset your child’s relationship with making art

🥇Focus on the process over the results!

This is something that the families I work with will tell you I’m like a broken record about - because it’s really important! As parents, we need to create an emotionally supportive environment, free of judgement or critique where the emphasis is on the act of creating rather than on any sort of finished product.

Seek out process-oriented teachers, classes, and activities.

🥈Make art materials easily accessible!🖌️

Provide a comfortable age-appropriate space where art can be made readily and independently whenever the inspiration strikes.

Show your child where everything lives, explain any necessary rules or boundaries, and let them know it is there when/if they need it. Then back off, walk away, don’t bring it up again and wait to see what happens!

🥉Find a great art teacher! 👩‍🎨

I know, I know, I’m an art teacher so of course I’m going to say this, but hear me out!

Often kids resist things more when it comes from their primary caregivers so a fresh human might make a big difference.

Plus professional art educators have a wealth of knowledge, expertise, and experience that can help draw a reluctant artist out of their shell!

It's true 😊
03/05/2021

It's true 😊




Curious what your kids will get out of working with me?🍭Preschoolers (Ages 4-6)- Ability to use and care for art materia...
03/04/2021

Curious what your kids will get out of working with me?

🍭Preschoolers (Ages 4-6)

- Ability to use and care for art materials independently and appropriately

- Development of fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination

- Increased confidence and intrinsic motivation for engaging in joyful art practice

- Managing BIG emotions, like frustration and disappointment

- A fun, nurturing, and social class experience!

🤸‍♀️Primary (ages 6-8)

- Development of creativity and self-expression

- Practice making bold decisions, thinking critically, and overcoming frustration

- Fluency in the language of visual art

- Foundational art vocabulary, techniques, and theory

- Improved skills and comfort with a variety of media

- Familiarity with a broad range of historical and contemporary artists, styles, movements, and artworks

- Self-confidence and a sense of accomplishment

🧠Elementary (ages 9-12)

- Introduction to formal drawing instruction in a warm, inclusive, and encouraging environment

- Knowledge of human proportions and features + how to draw them correctly

- Addition of effective new “tools in their drawing toolbox” from learning new techniques, theory, and methods

- Introduction to observational drawing - unlocking a path to be able to draw anything and everything!

- Improved confidence as they successfully apply a new level of desired realism and complexity to their work

- Opportunities to practice giving and receiving valuable constructive feedback

- Development of a healthy growth mindset and dedicated joyful art practice

- Loving guidance and mentorship from an experienced artist

Check out (and follow) my Outschool profile [link in comments] to learn more about my class offerings!

Address

Henderson, NV
89002

Website

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