Mistakes To Avoid When Supporting Your Budding Artist.
Sketchifer
Salutations, Sketchiteer -
It’s no secret that being a creator comes with some mentally tough challenges. Burnout, perfectionism, and worse still 🫠
So here’s some practical advice to inculcate grit, and craft a growth mindset. Perfect for assisting your kid-Michelangelo; or if this is your journey, simply apply these same kindnesses to yourself 🫶
Plz Avoid.
Praising Ability
As social creatures, peer approval is something we all crave. But generalized compliments about ability, or quality of work can be damaging, and lead to a fixed mindset.
Instead of praising skill, focus on complimenting effort. You might use phrases like:
“Great job putting extra thought, and care into your work!”
“Woah, looks like you worked really hard on that. Which strategies did you use?”
“I love that you learned something new!”
Not Looking Back At Previous Accomplishments
The scrutinizing eye is always a few steps ahead of the hand; we can see what’s inaccurate, before we can consistently hit the bullseye. And creators can become quite tunnel visioned to their current project.
A simple, but powerful tool is to show them work they created a couple months ago, so they can see how much growth has already been achieved. Improvement can often be imperceptible to the doer, who is within the thick of the forest - focusing solely on their next step forward; but entirely obvious when given a bird’s eye view of the path thus far traversed. Progress is astonishingly fast, it just takes the right perspective to see it.
(From our student, Jonathan. Just a couple months apart.)
Pushing Them Too Hard
Whether a pre-teen, or an adult, you’re not going to become a professional after several years of drawing. Mastery takes time. Being overly concerned with technique is a good recipe for burnout.
When we have fun, we learn faster, and we feel more positive while attempting challenging concepts. Prompt curiosity, use socratic reasoning, and let them build a passion first.
Solving Problems For Them
Say it with me - “Don’t. Draw it. For them.” If you do, kids will begin to believe they can’t work out the solution on their own, and become dependent on your assistance.
Instead, ask them leading questions without directly providing the answer. You might also draw with them side-by-side. Point out when you make mistakes, and model a positive, growth mindset.
Not Making Art Available
Art being available goes beyond owning proper drawing materials. We’re also talkin’ about time, place, and ease of access.
Set aside time to doodle. Keep art supplies out in the open, not stored away. Follow your favorite illustrators on art websites (ArtStation, Deviant Art, etc.), and make visiting museums a priority!
Not Enrolling In A Class
Alright yeah yeah I know, we’re biased on this one. But the internet is the Wild West of art education. Often confusing, rarely structured and always a lone cowboy’s journey.
A private or group class takes care of the hard work of organizing your education, so you can focus on what actually matters - because drawing is quite enough work in, and of itself. Additionally a school provides community. A place to find your people, and accountabili-buddies to keep you drawin’.
Think less; Draw More.
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