Drawing requires really looking at your subject, Michela Huston said. So teaching children to draw also means teaching them to look closely. For the past year, she's been teaching that skill at the Bella Vista Public Library to children who are homeschooled.
The Homeschooler's Corner meets once a month, year round, Library Director Roxie Wright said. They usually meet on the second Tuesday of each month at 10:30 a.m.
"There are lots of homeschoolers in northwest Arkansas," she said, adding that she's happy to help them with a place to meet, but Huston has done all the organizing.
They agreed to meet all summer. Some families continue school through the summer, but others take a vacation.
Dee Marin Patterson said her children are on vacation from home schooling, but like many other families, they get bored over the summer. An art class was the perfect compromise.
"This is just fun," she said.
"There just aren't enough programs for home schoolers," Huston said. She has families coming from all over the region to attend her drawing class. All ages can participate, although she tailors a slightly different lesson for the youngest students.
Last week, she taught the older students how to draw a face, but let the youngest ones cut out features and glue them to a blank face she provided.
One secret to drawing a face is to use guidelines, Huston told her class in the back of the library. Use a pencil, but draw as lightly as possible so the guidelines can be erased later. Then she had them use the one that divided the face in half vertically to position the eyes.
"Take your time," she told the class.
"Small eyeballs look like zombies," she warned.
After the class, Huston said she is self-taught. When she was a child, she learned to draw from a book.
More recently, she has used books and other materials at the Bella Vista Public Library to refresh her skills.
This month, they concentrated on faces, but in previous lessons they have drawn cats and dogs, horses and fruit. She plans to do a lesson on vanishing points and explain perspective to her young students. Eventually, she may move on to origami when she runs out of things to draw.
The library and Walmart have provided all the materials, she said, although so far it's only paper, pencils and colored pencils. She believes they would be willing to purchase more supplies, if needed.
For more information about the program, contact the library at 479-855-1753.
General News on 07/22/2015