I spent some time yesterday teaching elementary school kids how to draw cartoons. I started doing this when my oldest son Gabe was in first grade. He’s in 6th now and I’ve gone into his class each year to work with the kids on drawing. My youngest son Noah is in first grade this year and so this was my first time going into his classroom. I really love working with kids of all ages but the little ones are the best because they don’t have any fear of drawing yet. Pretty much all kids love to draw and color but eventually most people think “I can’t draw” and so they give it up often never draw again. It’s a bummer but these kids haven’t reached that phase yet. One of my favorite quotes is from Pablo Picasso and it goes:
“All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.”
This is why I love drawing with kids. I try to give them some tools and encourage them never to give it up.
Here's me up in front of the classroom doing my thing
I have a little series of steps I go through to teach them how to draw a real basic face.
Then I give them some comic panels and they get to make their own comics.
I love walking around and seeing all the jokes they come up with. Obviously I've got a pretty great job here but if things hadn't worked out this way, I can absolutely see myself teaching art to kids. They are also a super easy crowd. I drew a comic about a monkey popping out of a birthday cake that had the entire class laughing so hard a kid almost peed their pants. Nice to know I still got it.
-Gabe out
