In her book Elementary Brush Work Studies, Elizabeth Yeats suggests that brush drawing takes advantage of the child's natural delight in color, but that they take little interest in outlines. Brush work, Yeats says, "teaches him to draw... by means of color, training him by degrees to feel the value of outline, or rather form. By Brush Work we make the beginning of painting so easy, that even the youngest child in the Kindergarten or infant school can produce with his brush a result which pleases him so much that he is eager to try again. Every time he tries to paint a flower, leaf, or bird, his power of observation, his sense of colour and form, and his appreciation of the beauties of Nature are exercised, thus helping to train him in artistic feeling, which feeling, if developed, will make him both a happier and a better human being." A bold and encouraging statement, don't you think? And I think Charlotte Mason shared a similar sentiment to this. Here is a quote by W.G. Collingwood, from a Fesole Club paper in the Parents' Review: “Art, when rightly directed, is educational, for it trains not only one faculty, but all the faculties together; it trains the hand and the eye, and it trains the head and the heart; it teaches us to see and to see truly; it teaches us to think--that science can do; but it teaches us also to admire and to love; it disciplines the emotions.” Needless to say, brush drawing is not merely busy work, or an extra "fun lesson" to do when you have time. It is important moral training that helps your child to be a better human being and live a more happier, more abundant life. “This is what we wish to do for children in teaching them to draw–-to cause the eye to rest, not unconsciously, but consciously on some object of beauty which will leave in their minds an image of delight for all their lives to come.” - Charlotte Mason, Home Education With that in mind, please enjoy this free printable with the first plate from Elementary Brush Work Studies by Elizabeth Yeats. Several lessons could be made from just this one plate! First Lessons in Brush Work - Download
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