Wednesday, May 11, 2016

The mermaids from an 10 year old mind

Sketching is a pastime in our household.  We often draw animals or creatures or funny looking people.  We're not artists, we just do it for fun.

Not to brag, but I'm better at drawing than my kids.  I've practiced more.  I try to teach them how to think about what they're drawing to make it more realistic, and to look at the actual object or another drawing to figure out how to draw things better.

For the most part that's worked out.  My kids' drawings have improved over time.

Recently my daughter was drawing mermaids.  What she drew was from an overhead view of a mermaid, looking down on her swimming.  The hair was long and flowy, and the mermaid had a straight body down to her fin area, that tapered then flared out.

I was about to 'correct' her about the curves of the body - draw a skinnier waist, and fuller hips to make her look more realistic.  But I realized something before I spoke - she was drawing a 10 year old mermaid.  10 year olds don't have curves - she drew a perfect adolescent mermaid.

I'm glad I didn't say anything there, but it makes me wonder how many other things I've 'corrected' when really I've just had a different point of view.

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