A Blog for People Who Like to Draw

Drawn! is a collaborative weblog for illustrators, artists, cartoonists, and anyone who likes to draw. The blog listings at Drawn! are a treasure-trove of talent. It's addictive. I keep telling myself I'm just going to visit one more blog entry at Drawn! and then go get some "real" work done. Every day there's something new to look at.

I've posted a link to Drawn! under my "PG-13" blog list because this is a blog that has listings with adult themes and content, but Drawn! is also chock-a-block with stuff that is wonderful for young people. So I suggest that parents go to Drawn! and start bookmarking blogs to share with their kids.

One example is the wonderful illustrated literary blog, "Boogie Woogie" (see owls above), maintained by a dad and his kids, listed under my "Blog List for Young Artists." I found this at Drawn!. Not only is Boogie Woogie charming, but the idea itself is one that can be replicated by any family wanting to share family time, books, and art.

Drawn! is also a wonderful resource for art teachers. If you have a Smart Board in your classroom, there are many avenues for using these blogs to supplement instruction.

Blogs for Younger and Older Artists

Art Farm has two blog list headings: "Blogs for Younger Artists" and "PG-13 Artists' Blogs".

These blogs, for the most part, are maintained by artists. I post blogs because they are wonderful resources for learning about art technique, being introduced to new art, taking glimpses into the wonderful world of keeping art journals (for example, Vickie Henderson, a birder, who keeps journals about bird watching), etc.

Another example is Artist Duane Keiser, pictured here with his painting of a giant PB & J sandwich. Keiser does lots of food still lifes and his blog explains his process. What I like about this, for kids, is that it shows them, much the way Andy Warhol did with his soup cans in his time, that the most mundane subject matter from everyday life can be the stuff of art. What I like even more is that it shows kids that not everything is done on Photoshop. This is done on a big canvas, with messy paints and a fistful of brushes, and the guy has to know basic perspective, composition, color theory, and how to paint and draw to get this accomplished.

My ratings guide for my blogs list come with this disclaimer: I cannot guarantee what will or won't appear on a blog from day-to-day (or even moment-to-moment). Blogs are maintained by other people. These people may post whatever they like whenever they like. What I have done is visited each site personally, looked through them, and posted them on my site because I believe these blogs are well-established, have artistic merit, and have educational value to my audience.

My rating system is based on what I would allow my 10-year-old daughter to look at. Every family is different, so you must use your own judgement.

Anything under "Blogs for Younger Artists" I would have no problem allowing my daughter to view unsupervised. Anything under "PG-13 Artists Blogs" I would view first before deciding whether or not to let my daughter have access (it's just like the movies, some PG-13 rated films are fine for younger kids. It's the parent's call).

If you find these blogs useful, please take a moment to let me know by commenting to this post. If you find a blog that you believe should be moved to the "PG-13 category", I would also appreciate a heads-up.