Leigh Hyams sent me the following notes. —Richard Whittaker
"I found this script today in a forgotten portfolio. It was dictated to me by my four-year old granddaughter, Annalena, who could not write then, but she knew how to advise people to paint and draw. I like her advice enormously, not to mention her attitude..."
— Leigh Hyams, San Miguel Allende, Mexico
Excerpts from Annalena's advice on painting and drawing:
• Take some paint, some colors, and with your paintbrush, put one color on your paper and take another color on top. Mix it and you'll find a new color is comin' up.
. When I don't have anything to do and get bored, I start painting and then I just can't stop and it makes me feel good.
. Take any piece of string. It doesn't matter what kind. Cut it if it's anything like yarn. Put chalk or paint all over it. Put your finger on the very top and grab the other end of the little thing that's stickin' out and pull. Press it on the paper. Then you have the beautiful marking of paint or chalk on the paper.
. Please take your paintbrush and some paint. Paint whatever you want. Scribbles can be very pretty.
. Take markers, some friends and a big piece of paper. Take turns drawing on the paper. Don't fight on whatever somebody draws.
. Go outside and pick some flowers. Press the flower or leaves while dragging them across your piece of paper. A surprise will come out of the flower.
. Get some wash-off markers and draw a tattoo on your arm, your legs, your chest or even on your forehead. Don't wash it off.
. With a pencil you can draw a mountain, a dog, a fish, a stream, children going for an Easter egg hunt or you could draw anything with a pencil. When you're done, put it wherever you want to put it.
. Take paint and paintbrush and water and then take your wet paintbrush and put it in any color and just make little twirly lines with your paintbrush. Put your paintbrush into the water and then into another color, and then back into the water. Now your water has color. Now just shake it over your paper and make little dots and it won't be water anymore. It will be paint. If you like the color of your water, just draw with it. Sometimes it looks like a different color on your paper, but it's still pretty.
. Find a stick and take it home and take a piece of paper and a bottle of grown-up ink. Put your stick into the ink bottle and on your paper. Just make funny lines and the ink will come off the stick on the paper. It's pretty hard to make one, but you can make a face, a heart or a person drawing with ink. I'm just giving an example, but you can make a watermelon or anything else you want to make with ink. And you can always scribble.
The late Leigh Hyams was a distinguished artist. Early on she was a studio assistant for Phillip Guston and close friend of Meyer Shapiro. She followed her own path traveling widely and teaching workshops all over the world. "It's the artists who are saving the world," she said.
TO OUR MONTHLY NEWSLETTER
Share Your Comments and Reflections on this Conversation:
On Jul 31, 2010 vidya wrote:
How does it matter who said it or who wrote it? It felt nice to read these words. And one wants to try to paint the way mentioned above.On Jul 25, 2010 Maya wrote:
Sorry, Debbie. I have to agree with Hermione and Alex. Their comments are not negative, they're insightful. I'm a first-grade teacher, and no child I've ever seen in my classes ever spoke like that. I don't believe this little girl said all that. The words and the way they are put together are not typical for that age, no matter how bright the child. It's also much too wise. Seems to me the grandmother wrote it. I think the point of any Web site is to convey life-affirming messages -- real messages.On Jul 25, 2010 Debbie wrote:
Sorry to see the negativity of the comments of Alex and Hermione..apparently they miss the point of the website etc..I thought it was lovely and quite typical of a sweet, bright four year old.On Jul 25, 2010 gayathri wrote:
loved them all...thank you much for sharing....esp. the pick some flowers...me going to try it with my daughter...On Jul 25, 2010 Alex wrote:
Annalena sounds too bright. She reminds me of those motor mouth kids of old sitcoms that ruined the show, though at the time everyone was saying "What a funny, smart kid." Show us her doing her work (a video, please) and then we can believe this.On Jul 25, 2010 HERMIONE wrote:
Pretty good advice, but I don't believe all of this came out of a four-year-old's mouth. The syntax in most of the pieces of advice is beyond the scope of any four-year-old, however intelligent. I should know. I'm a linguist.On Jul 24, 2010 golda wrote:
After getting a BA in Art, I realized I had to forget everything I had "learned" and let something bubble up from inside..... strange creatures appeared,eyes, sillies, scaries, etc.liberating, freeing, moving.... yes, be a little child and PLAY....
On Jul 23, 2010 Aloysious wrote:
This is a great lesson from a tender six year old..! No time is useless it depends how you use it! please thanks I have learned that.I am children work I'll use it, share and encourage all children God has entrusted to us to try it.On Jul 23, 2010 Katherine wrote:
I teach workshops n getting into creativity, and this advise i will use, perfect! thank you, a real blessing to reconnect with the joy of it all!On Jul 23, 2010 Maureen wrote:
I did lots of crafts and painting with my children. It was all about process and not result. The process was very freeing. And kids never care if your stick person has miss-matched legs! It was a great lesson in letting go of perfectionismOn Jun 6, 2009 Bill Hayes wrote:
Annalena...you are very inspiring, just like your Grandmother!On Feb 21, 2009 Joe wrote:
What wonderful advice.I've been painting for over 50 years and have been trying to paint like a child. Picasso said: "I am Picasso and I paint like Picasso, but I would like to paint like a child."On Feb 21, 2009 Oma wrote:
I just read the other day that a mom always had her pre-schooler paint on colored construction paper. They saved the child's artwork and used it for greeting cards. What a nice little gift for family and friends in our big country.Anyone who names their child Annalena is destined to become an artist. Simply beautiful!
Oma in St. Louis
On Feb 20, 2009 ThePhoenix wrote:
I am heading to the toy store tomorrow to buy paints and plain paper to let my inner child draw and paint what ever she wants and hang it on the frig! SMART KID!On Feb 20, 2009 babblingbrook wrote:
What I just learned from a six year old.....don't wait to start a painting until you're sure exactly how it will look when it's finished ! Just start !!!