Marker Ink Wash Drawing

Marker Ink Wash Drawing

Recently I watched Cindy Foley's Ted Talk on creativity and how young people perceive themselves as being artistically gifted.  I feel that too often I hear people tell me that they feel they are not artistic or creative.  At a young age some students are told they are very creative and art teachers and other adults praise these students on their ability to draw and paint realistically.  On the other hand, other students do not receive the same kind of praise for their artwork and therefore deem themselves as not being artistic or creative.  This mindset is ingrained in children's minds and they carry this with them for the rest of their lives, believing they are not creative individuals.  This is a sad occurrence that happens too often in art classrooms.

As I have grown as an artist and realized my desire to be an art educator, I have often wondered myself what constitutes something to be art and what makes someone an artist.  What I believe to be true is that everyone is creative in their own way and everyone is an artist is their own way.  Yes, I do mean everyone.  But by saying everyone is an artist really mean that no one is an artist?  I do not believe this to be true.  Art can be more than just drawing and painting on a piece of paper or canvas, art can be found in everything and in everyone.  Maybe this philosophy is a little on the free-spirited side.  But I would rather children be taught at a young age that they are all artists instead of having so many children grow up with the mindset that they are not creative individuals.

And on that note let's talk about making some art!

When doing still life drawings it's good to have your students experiment with using wet mediums such as india ink wash.   Another medium you can use to create a wash drawing with your students is washable markers.  Students can do contour drawing in pen or marker and than go back with a brush and water.  This is a cheap way to get achieve ink wash drawings.  Students can draw on the paper and add water to the paper or can add water to their paper and add marker.  Students can also create a palette of colors and add water to create some color swatches.