Kid's Art

I am completely fascinated by kid's artwork- I love the looks of it, and strive to recreate that same unabandoned quality in my own artwork.  I have a master's degree in Art Therapy, so I learned a lot about the subject in school, and have always looked forward to watching my children develop artistically. 

Until recently, neither of my boys were very interested in art though, to my chagrin.  But lately, Noah (4 yrs) has been showing an interest, which I love! 

The above was sort of his first real "person" schema.  He drew these guys every day for a couple months- always with the pointy neck and a belly button!

 And now he's progressed to these sorts of characters.  He's trying to figure out hands, so sometimes they're the scribbles like on the right drawing, and sometimes they're the huge claw-like appendages like on the left drawing.  Personally, I love the claws, because I think they look like wings!

One thing he likes to do is have me print out a picture from the computer, which he tries to draw.  Above is his version of Spiderman.

 And his latest art projects are these intricately-folded pieces of paper, which are then taped together with about fifty pieces of tape!  Here's one I found taped to the wall in my bedroom!

Here you can see all the delicate craftsmanship that goes into one- ha ha!

And, so as not to leave Riley (5yrs) out, here are a couple of his drawings.  He's becoming a good little artist as well, although he's not nearly as interested in it as Noah is. Most of Riley's drawings are a result of my bribing him to draw!

  

But Riley's very good at looking at something and drawing it.  The above is Mac and Lightning McQueen, which he drew by looking at his toys.

I know that my kids aren't necessarily great artists compared to other 4 and 5 year-olds, but it's the process I love so much- watching their skills develop, and the way their brains work while they're working.  I learn new things all the time while watching them create- it helps me with my own artwork!