Marydean Draws: art with kids

Showing posts with label art with kids. Show all posts

If you've been to my house or follow my Instagram feed, you probably know that having art on my walls is important to me.

Art brings such joy to my home, so I'd love to share with you my best tips for framing your artwork!

1. Use a mat or a thick frame to showcase the art. This is a never-fail one. A mat always makes artwork look 10 times classier, especially with a thick mat. If you don't use a mat, try a thicker frame.

Matted painting (done by my son) in this Dick Blick frame + thick frame

Amazing Grace Print with a thick mat

pine Ikea frame with mat

2. Gallery wall it. My interior designer sister says gallery walls are classic and timeless! Group your gallery wall with a similar color that connects them, but use a mix of art styles, frames & sizes. Mix abstract art, photos, kids art, graphic styles, and typography. Mix wood and metal frames. Mix sizes, too, but be sure to have one or two bigger pieces to stand out and add visual weight to the collection.

Prints from the new collection in the shop

3. Thrift your frames. Frames can be expensive, so I always look for good frames at thrift stores. I love when I can reuse both the frame and the mat.

Thrifted frames
+ Wendy Brightbill abstract painting (a favorite artist of mine!)
+ bird print from Printspiring

4. Think outside the frame! I found this wooden pants hanger at a thrift store and it makes a simple way to hang a piece of art and easily switch it out. Magnetic frames like these** are another fun frameless way to hang art.

There you have it--my best tips for framing and displaying art! Is there anything else you'd like to know about art for the home?

If you're looking for frames to order/buy:

I love the pine and boxy white frames from Ikea. Most come with mats, so they're easy to use
These gold frames from Amazon** are very nice. I ordered some for a wedding gift recently.
These modern gallery frames in rose gold from Dick Blick look so pretty on the wall

*I'm so happy for you to enjoy my coloring pages and printables for your personal (not commercial) use! Use for Bible studies, church groups or events, and Sunday school classes are all fine! If you're in doubt, I'm happy to answer any questions. All artwork and photos are copyright Marydean Draws. If you share this, thank you (!), and as a courtesy, please link back to this post and not the PDF file.

**affiliate link. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

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December 4, 2019

My four best tips for framing and displaying your artwork

Basic Bible doodling with Marydean Draws

Hey friends! I hope you enjoyed last week's post on ways we can work towards racial unity, starting in our homes (and hopefully then in our nation)! I know this is still on my heart.

Today, I want to introduce you to one of my favorite ways to study the Bible, and it's so simple that anyone can do it and all you need is a pencil, some paper, and your Bible.

While there are a ton of resources and nifty supplies out there for Bible journaling right now (and I love seeing women engage in the Word in creative ways), for my personal studying, I work best with a pencil and any scrap of paper nearby!

So why Bible doodling?

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” (Col 3:16 ESV)

I find this is one of many ways I can think more deeply on God’s Word. It’s a way to let God’s words “dwell in me richly” and thus radically change my life and thinking.

When I write out God’s Words and think of them in a visual way, I find I think on them longer and recall them better. It's as if I've created a "hook" in my brain (I think music works in a similar way).

I think Bible doodling is especially effective with kids. I use it when teaching Sunday school all the time.

So what can you draw? Here are some possibilities:

1. Parts of a passage. Start by reading your focal passage over and over. My current Bible study method is to choose a book and read through it a bunch of times--sometimes super slow and sometimes in larger chunks. You'll see that I'm reading through Colossians.

As you read, underline key words and ideas. Pay attention to where you see ideas or words repeated. Who or what is the subject? Think about what the words mean and how they fit in with what the passage or book as a whole is communicating.

Then try sketching from the passage. Use ALL CAPS, underlining, different lettering styles, images, and line breaks to communicate the meaning.

Here's an example from my reading in Colossians 3:

2. Write and illustrate a single concept or excerpt from a verse. TIP: Draw in a frame so you can separate your drawings on a page.

Here, I drew the concept of the Word dwelling in you richly (I have no idea where the anthropomorphic hearts came from--just an oddity of my brain, I guess):

3. Summarize and illustrate a passage in your own words. Ask yourself, “How would I sum up this passage in the simplest way?” Or write out a prayer based on what you’ve read.

TIP: If you don’t know how to draw something (like a throne, say) try googling an image. I do this all the time! I don't always know how to draw something, but I do know how to see it.

Don't forget the heart of it.

This is not really about making pretty art, using fancy materials, or perfecting your lettering (although have fun with it and enjoy being creative)! And it's not even about growing in knowledge alone. This is a way you can grow in love for the God who loves you and wants to speak to you through His Word. Then you can grow as His follower and help others follow Him too!

Want a little extra help with your lettering? I'm sharing my favorite ways to "dress up" letters in a free printable today! You can download your printable lettering guide HERE or by clicking the image below.*

A simple introduction to Bible doodling with Marydean Draws

AND . . . I recorded two lettering videos. The first is me playing with some capital letters (using a heavy Tombow graphite pencil--my fav. I told you I'm not fancy, right?):

And in this one I letter a (mind-blowing) concept from Colossians 1:22-23 with some messy fake calligraphy (using a fine tip Le Pen--a gift from my mother-in-law and fun to use. So maybe I'm a little fancy . . . ):

Well friends, welcome to basic Bible doodling! I hope this inspires you (like it has for me) to dig into the Word and draw some truth!

*I'm so happy for you to enjoy my coloring pages and printables for your personal (not commercial) use! All artwork and photos are copyright Marydean Draws. If you share this, you're awesome (!), and as a courtesy, please link back to this post and not the PDF file. Thank you!!

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July 27, 2016

Bible doodling: a simple introduction + free printable basic lettering guide

We sure need good news in our house. We're experts at sinning and wanting our own way (especially me!). We need rescue. We need for Jesus to work in our hearts through His Spirit. We want to obey God, but we find we're very resistant!

I've been thinking about ways we can share the Good News with our kids--here at home and at church. With my kids, a combination of both art and music have been great tools for helping things to "stick" in our brains.

I also want to share the Goods News story in the context of the larger story of what God is doing and has been doing since creation. So, I've created a couple of resources that might help us do that!

On the blog today, I'm giving away this printable (the link to the file is at the bottom of the post) that includes the following:

the Good News Story narrative
a blank Good News Story book
the Good News story pictures to go along with the narrative
discussion questions for the Scriptures referenced

ideas for how to use this tool

For my girls, I printed out one blank booklet and one with pictures, cut them into eights, and then stapled them together. As I told them the story using the narrative, my six-year-old drew her own drawings by copying mine. My four-year-old colored half of her pre-printed booklet before running off (she's not much of a "maker"). Afterwards, I asked Sarah to retell the story to me. She's still learning it, but we're starting!

With the verses referenced in the Good News Story booklet, I created a set of printable Scripture cards available as a digital download now in my Etsy shop. Each Scripture has a full-color card, a black and white coloring page, and a discussion question. I plan to use these as part of our Bible time for homeschool this year coming year.

My hope for these resources is that, as we use them, we begin to let God's word make its home in us. Our children/disciples will be given convincing evidence of the truth of these things if they see them lived out daily. Remember that our disciples do what we DO.

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God." Colossians 3:16

This week, in celebration of launching this project and in appreciation of my friends and readers, you can use the code GOODNEWS and get 20% off your entire order (good through Wednesday, July 1 and for anything in the shop)!

You can access to Good News Story booklet and additional resources HERE! As a very friendly reminder, these are free for your personal use. Please don't repost, sell, or alter in any way. If you have a question about using them, let me know!

I hope this is a helpful resource for you disciple-makers out there. Will you let me know how you use yours? Thanks!

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June 24, 2015

Printable Good News Story Booklet

Hi friends! I have another memory verse printable coloring page for you! You can see them all here.

You can ask your kids (or adults!) a few questions about this verse:

What's required of us to become children of God? (receive Him/believe on His name--remember that the faith to do this is a gift as Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us)
What is the gift that we get from God?
What does it mean that you get the right to become a child of God? Why is that a good thing? What are you before this?
Who's "name" is "His name" in the verse? Why does His name have power?
What do you think it means to be part of God's family?

I just got a free Kindle version of a book called Messy Church by Ross Parsley, and started reading it last night. He talks about how church should be more like family and less like an institution. And that's what this verse says we are, right--family? Parsley writes,

"But when you evaluate a church from a family perspective, it changes the way you analyze everything. Love become the motivation that guides your critique [he's talking about the idea of "church shopping"]. You approach the process from a completely different paradigm. You think about what you can add to this family rather than what it can do for you."

My church is my family. Not an organization. Not an institution. Not a club. Not a support group. A messy, lovin' and loved family.

You can download the printable HERE. Please remember that these are completely free for your personal use only. Please ask me if you'd like to use them in any other way!

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May 20, 2015

Printable Scripture Coloring Page: John 1:12

The girls and I have been working on these memory verses the last few weeks, so I thought I'd share printables for you to use too!

You can download them by clicking here:
As in Adam/1 Corinthians 15:22
For by Grace/Ephesians 2:8-9

My printables are free for your personal use!

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April 22, 2015

Scripture Coloring Page Printables: As in Adam & For By Grace

My girls and I have been memorizing Isaiah 53:6 this week in anticipation of Easter. We've been talking about what it means to go astray from God and how we all do it! God is so good and isn't okay with losing his wandering sheep. He loves us so much He planned for Jesus to lay down His life in order to take the punishment for our sins.

Here's a coloring page you can work through with your kids any time (but Easter is really great).

These are the instructions (also printed on the page):
1. Draw some sheep wandering away from the Good Shepherd. Write your name on one of them.
2. Write some ways that we go astray from God in the boxes under “sins.”
3. Thank Jesus that He loves us so much that He took the punishment for our sin on Himself at the cross!

You may also want to read the whole Isaiah 53 passage and see how it amazingly points to Jesus long, long before His coming!

Click HERE to download and print. The page is a standard 8.5x11. All my printables are free for your personal use!

Happy Easter!!!

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April 1, 2015

Easter Scripture Printable Coloring Activity Page

For art these past few weeks we've worked on making some polar bears for homeschool, so I made a polar bear facts printable for you to download for your kiddos!

I realize it's not a very exciting coloring page since polar bears are white and penguins are white and black. Ha ha. At least the coloring-averse child will be happy! Feel free to add some light blue and gray to your polar bear's fur.

If you want to make the polar bears below, you can get instructions here from Artventurous.com. We used oil pastels for the whole project. Oil pastels cover the black paper really well, and you get to explain how a polar bear's skin is actually black! We also added fabric scarves and a red paper hat.

These are done by the three and five-year-olds at home:

My printable are free for your personal use! Download the polar bear printable here!

January 6, 2015