ok so DD is a good artist. yep she's 2. she can draw faces. with 4 eyes and 2 noses sure but she still says thats a face and it is actually recognisable as a face. she was drawing a pic the other day while i was checking her hair for nits (daycare fun) and when asked what it was she said it was buggies in her hair. sure enough you have a look and there is sribble at the bottom of the page. as she has curly hair we draw her with scribbled hair when we draw her so it makes sense.

now i had a friend there who has been an early childhood teacher for over 20yrs. she tells me its amazing that a child her age is able to concentrate long enough to draw such a complex picture. its apparently amazing she has the hand eye co ordination to do such a drawing. her bugs were tiny scribbles a couple of milimeteres big. there was about 30 of them only on the top of the paper. the hair was at the bottom.

this is suprising to me. i did know she was tallented at the whole concentration thing. i didnt realise that shes tallented at the rest of it.

we started to debate about whether it was because she is straight out tallented in this area or it was because i've given her art stuff since before she was one in her high chair. ive always drawn with her. i've always made it was huge part of her everyday life. what do you think? is she actually tallented? or is it because of my influence?

i dont particulary like art. lexi has always loved it. therefore we try to do an art activity a day be that painting, drawing, painting your feet and hands and stomping on paper, making collages, using spray bottles to spray a peice of fabric and make patterns ect.

whats your thoughts on it?

I would say her hand coordination is extremely good for her age. My oldest two are nearly 4 and 2.5, and only recently have I seen DD (the oldest) producing anything that looks even vaguely like a face. ie face, two eyes, mouth.

I'd say your influence is that you give her every opportunity to develop to her full potential; and the rest comes on its own.

It's probably a mix of both - because she likes it you do it alot, because she does it alot, she is gaining skills quicker! Doesn't hurt to indulge her interests...

I just love the artwork of this child prodigy - still blows me away anytime I look at it.

http://www.artakiane.com/akiane_art.htm

I think that most parents will spend time drawing with their children and providing drawing opportunities for them. It is probable then that as she is not getting treated very differently to the majority of children her age she is talented in that area. Nobody can tell, of course, at this age if it will even out as she gets older but I would certainly make sure she has lots of opportunities to draw and that her work is displayed.

My dd has just turned 4 and has always loved drawing. She was very early at doing faces and arms and legs etc. I always thought it was a combination of a natural flair and the fact the I spent a lot of time drawing with her and encouraged her in her little art projects.

Well then along came ds the scribbler. He is 2 and does not have the same concentration levels as dd and never really seemed interested in drawing at all. Imagine my surprise when I sat him on my lap to do a kindy fundraiser plate and he came up with this
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y291/ingr...ndrawing001.jpg
My only input was when he said he was going to draw the track I suggested he change colours. Oh and I did the writing
I was truly gobsmacked at the result as he has shown no interest in drawing before and even since then it takes a lot of encouragement to get him to sit down to draw. He was 2 years 7 months when he did this.

I'd say its a bit of both. She probably has some talent, but it's developed more than it might normally would have if you hadnt spent so much time drawing with her. Artistic talent is a just like talent in other areas (such as sport). You may have some natural talent there, but the more you do it, the better you will get.

I'm constantly amazed about the things DD draws and writes. She draws things that we havent sat down and shown her how to (such as cats and dogs) and will write numbers and letters completely out of the blue. That being said, we do give her lots of drawing and painting time, so what talent she will have will be developed more because of the time she spends doing it.

I love kids drawings, I've already got a few ready to frame because they are gorgeous!

Amanda

Not sure there's anything to give an opinion on.

I was told by an art teacher once that we all develop to a certain ability(I think it was to an 8 year old level, but obviously it happens at different rates in different people) of drawing and that some people with practice and/or natural ability will develop this further.

I'd say it's a bit of both (talent and encouragement) and would definately encourage it more if she's interested.

The ability to draw/paint is one of the most important things in my life besides my family.

I'd say it's a mix too. Some parents don't do a lot of arty things with their kids, some people do more sporty things or numbers things etc. So with encouragement she'd be more inclined to choose that type of activity.

But I do think she sounds quite ahead for her age in that department, only going on my own children of whom three were nowhere near that level at that age. Doesn't necessarily mean she'll be the next Monet, but it's nice when something comes easy to them!

I think her imagination is good too. My 2 year old can draw people etc, but only if I ask her too, given paper and pencil and no instruction she will most likely just scribble.

I think I still draw at an 8 year old level

DD1 has been a good drawer since she was 2, faces, 2 eyes, mouth, hair, although she went through a phase where she disliked drawing noses and if I drew one she would scribble it out she loved drawing planes etc. I also loved drawing with her, so maybe she learnt it off me.
Though her kindy teacher said she was very artistic.



Agree.

I think that equates to artistic talent!

Chelsea's pics always blow me away. I really do think she has genuine talent.

My dd was drawing faces with hair and ears at two, I don't think it refects much on her artistic talent of supreme giftedness. I think it's actually more common than most people think- and when taught to do it most children will. In the childcare centre I work at quite afew toddlers can do quite complex drawings.
Why is this in wdyt?