The Art of Illustration

It's often difficult to tell where our children's influences may have come from, and when they might just demonstrate the skills they have learned from observation.

So far, I have refrained from formally teaching Tiger to draw, simply because he seems to be quite happy with his work and has not shown a specific eagerness for instruction.  Besides, I am well aware of the hang-ups many adults have about their perceived inability to draw because of some unsuitably premature instructions at some point in their early childhood.

Therefore, I was both surprised and very pleased when one night, of his own accord, Tiger announced that he wanted to draw as I read him the bedtime story.  I suspect the influence had come from him watching the illustrator at work at The Nutcracker concert.

The story I read was The Wheel on the School.  I read it at normal speed, not slowing down at all.  Tiger was provided with a set of Crayola markers and an A4 sketchbook, and he made the illustrations as he listened to my reading.

The basic storyline is about a group of Dutch village school children's efforts to attract storks to start nesting in their village after many years of absence.  Below are Tiger's illustration of the whole story, which will make more sense to someone who is familiar with the book. 

This post is linked up to:
1) Homeschool Mother's Journal: January 4, 2013
2) Collage Friday - Feeling Renewed and Refreshed
3) TGIF Linky Party #59
4) Homeschool Hobbies and Handicrafts - Jan 4
5) Look What We Did: January Link-Up
6) Share It Saturday
7) The Sunday Showcase - Sharing the Best Kids Activities of 2012