Art is Fun

Today we started the day with our art course.   It is an art course I bought via Udemy.com a couple of weeks ago in the Udemy sales.  I hear there are more sales on the site at the moment.  It takes the learner through a step by step process.   It really is an incredible course.

My kids are far too hard and critical of themselves.   I am not sure how many times I reminded them that the guy doing the course has been an artist for many years, this is the first time they (my kids) are doing this course.  You can’t expect to be Picasso on your first time.

Now when I say you can’t be Picasso after one lesson – I am amazed at how well the girls have done after a couple of lessons.    This is a mummy brag moment!  I think they have done brilliantly…..  both older girls aren’t 100% happy with their efforts.    They are just too hard on themselves.  I am the queen of their fan club so I know I am biased…but I think their efforts are great.

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We are all so hard on ourselves.  Watching the girls feel frustrated and annoyed with themselves for not drawing their eye perfectly the first time, they never tried to do this type of drawing, was for me a realisation that we all tend to have a perfectionist expectation on ourselves.   Life just ain’t like that though.

Many people have a go, fail, and never have another go again.

Fear of failure is a thing, but to achieve anything good in this life, we need to get back on the horse when we fall off.    Falling and getting back up builds character and resilience in us and this is important for when we come up against challenges in our lives.

At the same time we need to put challenges into perspective.  It’s unreasonable to think that most people become Picasso after a couple of lessons.   I wonder what Picasso was like in the early days of his career.  At what point did he think art was the career for him? It doesn’t matter if you want to become an Artist, a chef, a writer, a candle stick maker – to be good in any area, it takes a lot of time and practise.  Having a little talent is great, but if we don’t use it – we may as well not have had any talent in the first place.

If you are interested in an online inexpensive art course head over to Udemy.com and choose ‘The Ultimate Drawing Course – Beginner to Advanced.  Udemy.com have sales all the time, so keep an eye out for it.  If you are interested in learning a few artistic skills.  Another option – a free option that the kids love (particularly the two younger ones) is the Kids Art Hub channel on YouTube.   If you like cartoon characters, LOL dolls, My Little Pony, the Incredible Hulk, Batman, and a whole lot of other characters, this one is great.   I love watching it with the kids, the art teacher (father) talks so lovingly to the kids.

Art is one of those subjects I have found really hard to incorporate into our homeschooling program, but arming myself with tools to help teach is a fantastic.  Takes some of the pressure off!  Sometimes we need to outsource some subjects we find challenging. I like the idea of art, but I am quite challenged in the area.

See ya next time.
Xo