I am an artist and my 6 yr old daughter wants to be one too, how can i encourage her?

Question

The thing is, she gets discouraged very easily. She'll try to draw something like what I'm drawing at the time, but she always gets frustrated and disappointed in herself and usually ends up crying saying 'i stink' or 'im no good'. She wants to be as good as a professional artist and I've tried telling her so many times that she's only six and that it will take years of practice. She accepts that but still gets frustrated and is never happy with her work (even though its pretty darn good for a six year old, and I tell her that too) I've tried buying her 'real artist' tools like pastels and goache and nice brushes etc... instead of regulating her to crayons and pencil like most kids, though she still uses that stuff sometimes too. I hoped buying her those things would help her feel like a real artist (whatever that is anyway) but she still just gets upset. Do any of you have any suggestions on how to positively encourage a girl who gets frustrated and discouraged so easily?

Answer 1

Coming from someone who used to be in your daughter's shoes--just keep on telling her that she's good for her age, and that it will take a lot of time to reach your level. But definitely praise her a lot, hang her artwork around the house. Maybe in a couple months, try comparing recent work to old work, to show her how she's improved.

Oh! Or, if you have any of YOUR old work, show her that. Then she'll see that everyone has to start somewhere, and that it's not impossible to become great.

Good luck! :)

Answer 2

when you do artwork together do it so it's about the process not the product because she will be disappointed that hers doesn't look like yours. when you draw with her figure things out together so she'll start seeing it differently rather than looking at yours and wanting to do it like you. For example, drawing a cat-- start with the head and ask her "how does it look to you?" and she might or might not draw a circle. some kids don't  that you would draw a circle head, then add ears, etc... If you go ahead and draw a circle and then ears and she tries the same on her paper there could be a chance that her circle is "wrong" and the ears aren't "as good as yours" and that's when she could get upset.  it's neat when kids come up with their own ideas. as a teacher i can tell when kids copy each other- they're also the kids who usually compare. also, compliment her on her choice of colors, a broad and bright stroke, etc. rather than what it is. (ex. "your cat looks so happy with that twinkle in his eye and his tail sticking straight up!") try not to use words like, "thats really good"- 'cause anything other than that is "bad" then. use praise words like "creative", "you took your time", "that must've been tricky to do that".

Answer 3

I work in a school and I strongly believe that art is very important for children. We use many different mediums while creating our art work - finger paints, crayons, glue, glitter, color pencils, origami, sponge painting, water colors, markers and so much more.

When I hear a child complain that they are no good at art...I tell them that there is no such thing as bad art. Then I tell them to  look at nature..often we are inspired by it...nothing is perfect in nature and so art should not be about perfection but having fun while doing it. I encourage each child to look at each others art with open eyes and to see the difference, while working with the same material.

I am not a trained artist or teacher....I only wish that teachers when I was in grade school had been open and encouraging. It has taken me along time to understand this.

Good luck and have fun.

Answer 4

don't let her draw what you're drawing/painting. Schedule some time for her to draw by herself when you're not drawing

Answer 5

I think if u want her to become 1 encourage her by taking her to art classes.  Get her a paint kit. Paint by number works really well.  Teach her ur ideas and just make sure she has fun doing it.

Answer 6

fingerpaint together!!!! tell her how good she is and tell her she's gunna be the next leonarda davinci or something

lol :)