american girl doll portrait

With vacations on the list, I had just one student in the drawing class this week. At the end of the prior class, I asked what she wanted to spend the hour drawing and what I learned was she, like a lot of little girls, was a huge American Girl doll fan.

She wanted to practice drawing her doll.

And so this week, she brought her doll, Rebecca, to class.

I was quite excited to create a lesson on drawing the face in such a fun and inviting way for a seven year old.

Even so, it was not without it's challenges and we spent the first half hour just focusing on parts of the doll face and gaining confidence.

Then using a pencil, she began to create a final drawing. It was very rewarding to watch her get more and more excited as the drawing near completion. She was so proud of herself, which was a long way from the frustration she had felt earlier when struggling with the mouth.

At the very end of the hour, I gave her some conte crayons to add a bit of color to her drawing. 

7 year old

I think she did a wonderful job and learned an awful lot about portrait drawing, however the bigger lesson here was not giving up when something is hard. What she really walked out the door with was a sense of real accomplishment, empowerment if you will, knowing she can do anything- even when it at first feels like she can't- if she doesn't give up.

All thanks to an American Girl doll named Rebecca.