Directed Drawing and Creativity

When I describe my teaching method for drawing as a "directed drawing" exercise I sometimes get the comment that directed drawing stifles creativity. Another comment is that "directed drawing only encourages the student to mimic the teacher". Not only do I disagree with these comments but I would go so far as to say that, in most things that we learn as children, we learn as a result of direction and mimicking our teacher, parent or siblings.

For most people who are attempting something new, often the best way to learn is to find someone who can teach us. As children we learn by watching and as we get older we learn by listening to those around us. In our growing up years we are often taught by being directed through a series of steps. What direction provides in general is the framework on which we can build our skills.

In the school setting this idea of a framework applies to most areas but in particular to reading, writing and math. Students are first introduced to the letters of the alphabet by seeing the letter and then go through a series of exercises to learn how to write that letter. Often they are shown how that letter is formed on paper by a series of directed steps. This applies to math as well, when learning how to put the numbers on paper first and then moving on to more complicated equations. Drawing in my mind is really no different than learning to create the letters and numbers.

Drawing is a skill that can be taught. The same as we have a framework for writing there can also be a framework for drawing. When this framework is applied it will allow the student to gain skills that will move the student in the direction of becoming an artist. In the case of drawing the steps are quite simple. If a person can draw circles, squares and triangles then they can draw just about anything that they can see. The trick is to learn the steps and sequences. My experience has been that most children from kindergarten and up can draw the three basic geometric shapes. The trick then is to "direct" their attention to where these shapes are in an object and then provide the steps to complete a drawing of what they see.

So do directed activities stifle creativity? For the purpose of this discussion I will use Shakespeare as my example. No doubt William Shakespeare had to learn to read and write just like any other child in school. I believe that he would have been shown or "directed" in the shaping of the letters and words. No doubt Shakespeare, like children today, learned to write by copying or mimicking the sentences put in front of them by the teacher. I don't believe that this in anyway stopped or stunted his creativity as a writer. He went on to become on of the best known authors of plays, poetry and sonnets. For a more modern example I look at my teenage son who is learning to drive my car which has a manual transmission. A lot of time is spent directing him on how and when to shift gears. He spends time watching how it is done and then he gets the opportunity to practice what he has learned. In the beginning he sticks pretty close to what has been taught. Will he get creative with his driving skills and my car later? I have no doubt that he will. The same applies to drawing.

In a recent class of grade six students, they were learning how to draw three dimensional houses. Once the instruction was finished their assignment was to draw their dream house. Most of the children thought in conventional terms of a square house and peaked roof. One child decided that her dream house was a light house and used her newly learned skills to draw what she envisioned. Was her creativity stifled because of the earlier directed drawing lesson? I don't think so and would like to think that the lesson gave her confidence to move on to something different.

Perhaps art like music is unique in the sense that if a person is not as good as they think they should be then they feel that they can't do that activity. From the spontaneous drawings of young children we move to judging our artwork against others. In addition,

1. "since many classroom teachers feel that they "can't draw" themselves, surely they can't be expected to teach drawing to children. Given the lack of encouragement from adults in this area, it is not surprising that many children stop drawing around the age of eight or so."    - Tony Godfrey – from Drawing Encounters with Children

The above scenario does not have to happen. Directed drawing is one of the best ways to give confidence to the teacher for their abilities as well as the student. The "I can't" is soon turned into "I can", and once you feel you can then, creativity blossoms.

In response to the comment, "directed drawing only encourages the student to mimic the teacher", I would have to say this: teacher led activities should open doors and a good teacher will then encourage the student to explore beyond what has been taught.