One of the best ways to learn new skills is by watching. Here is the example of a 12-year-old who learned to paint mountain chain silhouettes in acrylics simply by watching me.

Jayjay

Jayjay and I attend the same Saturday to Sunday art group which engages in a different medium of art every weekend. Jayjay is only 12 years old but he puts most of the adult artists to shame. Everyone believes that he is just naturally talented, because he can draw or paint anything he wants. I know better, because I have been watching him, and I have asked him many questions about where he learned things.

Jayjay's mother is an artist who supports the family with her aboriginal art. Jayjay has several siblings, but he is the only one who never misses a weekend. He rides his bicycle to get there, and that is not easy here in Winnipeg when we have snow and ice on the road and when it is bitterly cold. Jayjay really wants to be where he can learn about art.

He has learned many of his skills by watching his mother. He and I got to be friends the first time we met. I thinks he looks at me like a substitute grandma.

I am the only person in the group who does not have an aboriginal background, so I have a different style of painting from the others in the group. Jayjay is always hanging around me, because he likes my art, and he wants to learn new styles of painting. He especially likes the way I paint misty mountain chains. I have developed my own style of painting them, first in watercolor, then in acrylics, and then in oil.

And Jayjay is always watching me.

On Saturday, he told me, "I know how to paint mountains like you now." Then he showed me. He had indeed learned to paint like me.

I have tried to teach my method of painting to other people who want to learn, but none of them have done as well as Jayjay. Why? He has had the patience to watch me, and that is how he learned.

Copycat

That is also how I learned to draw as a preschooler. I watched my older brother draw. He was never willing to explain anything to me, but I learned by just watching him and then imitating him.

I don't believe in copying a picture, but I do believe that one of the best ways to learn is by observation. That is how most people learn to do everyday chores like cooking and cleaning. That is how I learned to draw, and that is how Jayjay has learned to paint mountain silhouettes.

© Traute Klein, biogardener